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Proposal to Scorch the Earth in Toledo Public Schools
There are times when the little policy matters seems irrelevant. Who cares if a subject is declared “core” by your state department of education or USDOE? Take a good look at this story coming out of Toledo. It is a rather stunning example of how a school district is proposing the elimination of all certified…
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The Outsourcing of Arts Education
A good many of you must have read the article in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times that looked at a Burbank parochial school that had chosen to let go of licensed theater faculty in favor of bringing in actors to teach theater. Facing enrollment drop, Burbank Catholic school gets creative in staffing theater program By outsourcing…
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College and Career Ready: A Possible Major Goal for the new NCLB
Oops, I did it again. NCLB is out! We’re talking about the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. A front page piece appeared in today’s Times about where ESEA is headed. Annual Yearly Progress (AYP), the engine of NCLB, appears to be heading for the hills, to be replaced by a broader measurement of progress, and…
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The Times They Are A-Changin’: National Funding for Arts Education
Those who have been around the block a few times will probably see this as just another instance of the vicissitudes of funding. We’ve seen any number of large scale funding initiatives come and go; any number of major funders for arts education come and go. Once upon a time there was the JDR 3rd…
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The Third Annual NYCDOE Arts in the Schools Report: Cognitive Dissonance
This week the NYCDOE released its third Annual Arts in the School Report. Along with about thirty colleagues primarily from the arts field, I attended the report presentation at the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The document itself must be applauded for all the work that went into it. In this difficult economy,…
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US Secretary of Education Is Convinced that Arts Education Raises HS Graduation Rates
”I’m convinced when students are engaged in the arts, graduation rates go up, dropout rates go down,” Duncan said. One thing we do know about graduation rates and arts education in New York City public schools, is that the schools that offer more arts have higher rates of graduation. It’s in this report. And, according…