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| Welcome!
The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE) is a member of the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network.
OAAE was founded in 1974 and has established and maintains a network for communication, cooperation, and advocacy. OAAE has more than 8,000 members including students, parents, educators, administrators, citizens, artists, and arts advocates. Organizational members include the Ohio Music Education Association, Ohio Art Education Association, OhioDance, Ohio Educational Theatre Association, Ohio Citizens for the Arts, VSA arts of Ohio, WCET, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Wittenberg University, Greater Columbus Arts Council, and many more arts, education, and cultural institutions. Individual members unite with the organization members to serve as liaisons for arts education in Ohio.
OAAE exists to ensure the arts are an integral part of the education of every Ohioan. We develop and support innovative collaborations between schools and cultural institutions to promote the arts as equal partners in the educational enterprise. OAAE speaks on behalf of arts education before policy-makers and provides strategic input to the Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Arts Council, local arts organizations, school boards, parents, and educators. OAAE is a leader in professional development of teachers through in-services, conferences, symposiums, and the development and dissemination of information resources.
Our advocacy work, which includes weekly e-mail updates to our members has helped increase public awareness on such issues as operating and academic content standards, the education budget, and work undertaken by the State Board of Education, Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, and the legislature.
We welcome you to take a look at a partnership advocacy project OAAE recently completed with CET Learning in Cincinnati. Speak Up! For the Arts is an arts advocacy toolkit for parents and teachers that helps demonstrate why the arts are important in the education process and how to develop your voice for the arts. CET Learning, OAAE, and Ohio Citizens for the Arts have partnered to provide the most current and effective advocacy materials to help you work to keep the arts in your schools.
The toolkit includes a DVD with two videos: Speak Up! For the Arts - Teachers, parents, administrators and artists speak up about the impact the arts have on learning and the need to support arts education and Advocate for the Arts - Practical advice about how to meet with your state and local representatives. The Speak Up! For the Arts DVD is available for free for a limited time. If you have any questions or comments contact us: arts@cetconnect.org
OAAE also participates in the national and state Arts Day activities, Creative Ticket-Schools of Excellence Campaign, and the OAAE Arts Education Awards. These events are held annually and help to acknowledge teachers, principals, schools, community arts organizations, artists, and citizens that demonstrate commitment to quality arts education programs.
The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education is funded in part for its day-to-day operation by the Ohio Arts Council. This support makes it possible for the OAAE to operate its office in Columbus and to work statewide to ensure the arts are an integral part of the education of every Ohioan. Support for arts education projects comes from the Ohio Arts Council, The John F. Kennedy Center, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, Ohio Music Education Association, Ohio Art Education Association, Ohio Educational Theatre Association, OhioDance, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council. We acknowledge and appreciate the financial support received from each of these outstanding agencies and organizations.
We welcome your participation and membership. Please contact us for additional information and discover how you can be involved in our efforts to support arts education for all Ohioans.
Donna S. Collins
Executive Director
614.224.1060
Current News Story:
2010-03-02 09:54:51
Arts on Line Update - 03-02-2010
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Dear Arts Education Advocate:
An important initiative regarding arts education in Ohio schools is about to get underway and we need your assistance. The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, the Ohio Arts Council, and Ohio Department of Education have joined together to create the 2010 Ohio Arts Education Survey to determine the status and condition of arts education at the school level. The Survey will provide administrators, policy makers and community leaders with an analysis of arts education. |
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"The arts play a significant role in our effort to develop the creative imagination of our students and foster curricular innovations across disciplines at every level of our educational system. This research with other strategies will help us chart a future course of action and guide us in building the public will to provide high quality arts learning experiences for all young people in our state. I strongly urge principals and their staffs to participate in this important initiative."
~ Deborah Delisle, Superintendent of Public Instruction | |
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Principals were sent an email alerting them to the survey and providing them information so that they will be prepared to participate. The online survey will open for data entry on March 15, 2010. Principals will receive a link specifically for their school at that time. Please let your principal know that you stand ready to support this important effort on behalf of arts education.
The survey is designed to minimize the reporting burden on principals and teachers by eliminating duplication of data already being collected by the ODE. If at any time you have questions regarding the survey, or your next steps, please contact Donna Collins, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education at 614-224-1060.
| If you are in need of assistance don't hesitate to contact your OAAE leadership team at 614.224.1060
Until Next Time,
Donna Collins
Donna Collins, Executive Director
Joan Platz, Information Coordinator
Janelle Hallett, Member Services Coordinator
Linda Johnson, Administrative Assistant
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| 128th Ohio General Assembly |
The Ohio House and Senate will hold committee hearings and sessions this week. The House and Senate Education Committees will not meet this week. The House Elections and Ethics Committee, chaired by Representative Stewart, will meet on
March 2, 2010 at 10:00 AM in hearing room 122. The committee will hear testimony on HJR15 (Letson) State General Assembly Districts.
The School Funding Advisory Council, chaired by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Deb Delisle, will meet on March 1, 2010 starting at 11:00 PM at the offices of the Ohio School Boards Association at 8050 North High St., Columbus, OH. The Traditional Public/Community School Collaboration Subcommittee will meet at 11:00 AM, and other subcommittees will meet starting at noon. The full Council will begin its meeting at 2:00 PM. Information about the Council and its agenda is available.
The League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund, Midwest Democracy Network, and Ohio Citizen Action will hold a forum on redistricting on March 1, 2010 from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM at the Downtown Columbus Metropolitan Library auditorium, 95 S. Grant Ave. in Columbus.
The Capital Square Review and Advisory Board, William E. Carleton executive director, announced several events at the Statehouse in Columbus celebrating Women's History Month in March. The "Ladies' Gallery" website will be launched on March 2, 2010 to "...serve as a resource about Ohio women in government and the suffrage movement in the early 1990s." Events, tours, and exhibitions featuring the work of 25 women artists and original editorial cartoons associated with the Women's Suffrage movement created by Billy Ireland of the Columbus Dispatch have also been scheduled. For more information please visit the Statehouse website and the new Ladies' Gallery website.
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| Hearings Begin on Reauthorization of ESEA |
The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, chaired by Representative George Miller, held hearings on H.R. 4330, The All Students Achieving through Reform Act, on February 24, 2010. The hearing initiates work on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act.
H.R. 4330 creates a new competitive grant program to expand "successful" charter schools for students in low performing school districts, and is expected to become part of ESEA. Testifying on the bill were Eileen Ahearn, Director National Association of State Directors of Special Education; Eva Moskowitz, Ph.D, CEO and Founder Harlem Success Academy; Thomas Hehir, Ed.D, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Robin Lake, Associate Director, Center for Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington; Greg Richmond, President National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and Caprice Young, Ed.D., President and CEO KC Distance Learning, Knowledge Universe. Their testimony is available.
The U.S. House Education and Labor will begin hearings on March 2, 2010 on the reauthorization of The Child Nutrition Act.
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| President Obama Addresses NGA |
President Barack Obama addressed on February 22, 2010 members of the National Governor's Association (NGA) at their annual winter meeting.
The President outlined his administration's plan for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and require states to better prepare students for college and careers by adopting common academic content standards in reading and math as a condition for receiving Title 1 funding. The plan also gives states with college- and career-ready standards in place, priority to compete for funds allocated through the Effective Teaching and Learning programs in literacy and STEM, also included in the administration's FY11 budget request. The plan encourages states, school districts, and other institutions to align teacher preparation programs with college and career-ready standards, and provides $400 million in grants to help states develop new assessments based on the new content standards.
A fact sheet about the President's education plan is available.
View the President's speech.
Also last week Secretary of Education (February 25, 2010), Arne Duncan, testified before the House Budget Committee chaired by Representative Spratt, on the Obama administration's FY11 budget for
the U.S. Department of Education. The $3.8 trillion federal budget includes $77.8 billion for the U.S. Department of Education.
Read Secretary Duncan's testimony.
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| GAO Report on Federal Education Programs |
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The General Accounting Office (GAO) released in January 2010 a new report on federal funding for education entitled "Federal Education Funding: Overview of K-12 and Early Childhood Education Programs". The report reviews federal spending for education programs for the years 2006 - 2008 and answers the questions:
- What is the federal expenditure on K-12 and early childhood education programs?
- What are the characteristics of these programs?
- To what extent have these programs completed evaluations?
The report also reviews funds allocated for education through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The report does not include federal funds for child nutrition programs or school infrastructure.
According to the report the federal government supported 151 federal K-12 and early childhood education programs between 2006-2008 with an estimated cost of $166.9 billion. Most of these programs served disadvantaged students. 65 out of the 151 programs have been evaluated, including some of the most costly programs. Five programs accounted for almost 66 percent of federal early childhood and K-12 education. Those programs are Title 1 Grants to Local Educational Agencies; Special Education; Head Start; Child Care Mandatory and Matching Funds; and Improving Teacher Quality.
The federal government also provided $85 billion in discretionary funding for 14 existing and three new K-12 and early childhood education programs under ARRA. $48.6 billion of ARRA funds will be distributed to states through the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. 82 percent of those funds will be used to support early childhood, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education.
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| Restoring Prosperity in Ohio |
The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program and the Greater Ohio Policy Center released on February 22, 2010 a study entitled "Restoring Prosperity: Transforming Ohio's Communities for the Next Economy". The study is the result of ongoing work since 2007 to identify "prosperity drivers" of the "next economy", such as innovation, human capital, infrastructure, and quality places, and new ways to govern to build on, and better align, Ohio's assets to improve Ohio's economic prosperity.
According to the authors, "This report represents a significant milestone in the implementation of Greater Ohio's "smart growth" agenda for the state; and it provides a bipartisan strategy for recovery and revitalization of Ohio's economy, while enhancing the strong sense of community and the high quality of life that Ohioans cherish."
The report includes recommendations to "solidify Ohio's place in the next economy" through the following:
Build on assets in metropolitan areas:
- Preserve Third Frontier funding
- Find creative sources of funding for innovation-based economic development
- Significantly expand the state's advanced manufacturing network
- Create micro-investment funds
- Support Workforce Intermediaries across the state
- Substantially raise the number of Ohioans earning non-degree workforce certificates who enter long-term career paths
- Elevate "fix-it-first" as the central principle guiding transportation investment decisions
- Analyze and track ODOT investment decisions on the basis of greatest returns on investment
- Create a state-wide sustainability challenge competition
- Change how infrastructure gets funded in Ohio in order to support transformative investments
- Pass a legislative package of foreclosure prevention and corrective action bills
- Expand Ohio's land bank statute to apply to all the state's counties to help places address excess vacant land
- Develop an Anchor Institution Innovation Zone program -Establish a targeted neighborhood revitalization strategy program
- Modernize Ohio's planning statutes
- Create a state-level "Walkable Waterfronts" initiative
Catalyze Transformative Changes in Governances:
- Make the costs of school district administration transparent to Ohioans
- Push school districts to enter aggressive shared services agreements
- Create a BRAC-like commission to mandate best practices in administration and cut the number of Ohio's school districts by at least one-third
- Change state law to make local government tax sharing explicitly permitted
- Create a commission to study the costs of local government and realign state and local funding
- Catalyze a network of public sector leaders to promote high performance government
- Support the creation of regional business plans
- Reward counties and metros that adopt innovative governance and service delivery
- Align programs to make sure that state investments reinforce each other
- Establish a state-level cross-agency "healthy communities" initiative to develop new sustainable models for smaller cities
- Institutionalize a challenge grant program to reward regional comprehensive redevelopment and planning
- Implement a Community Development Action Teams (CDATs) program, particularly targeted at small and medium-sized communities
- Align state economic development program boundaries with metropolitan regions
Engage and lead the federal government:
- Secure an Energy Innovation Hub
- Take advantage of federal support for clusters
- Use federal Sustainable Communities funds to support smaller, stronger Ohio cities
- Press federal policy-makers to earmark funds for operations and planning for the new county-wide land banks through an NSP III or another federal program
- Put the needs of places that are not growing on the sustainability agenda
- Press federal agencies to explicitly reward multi-jurisdictional land use and transportation plans
- Support a cross-agency policy agenda to assist auto communities
- Develop a list of nationally significant projects based on merit-based criteria for potential application to a National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund
- Encourage the federal government to create incentives for shared service delivery programs
- Organize for a National Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory
Recommendations for Education: According to the report Ohio spends too much money on school district administration, and should direct more money to classrooms to improve instruction. The report recommends that the Ohio Department of Education "tie state formula aid" to districts' willingness to implement cost-saving measures; require school districts to report to the public administrative and instructional expenditures per pupil; and require school districts to share services such as personnel and health care.
The report states, "More pointedly, Ohio's share of spending on school district administration (rather than school administration such as principals) is 49 percent higher than the national average. It appears from projections in other states and from actual experience in Ohio that school district consolidation, or at the very least more aggressive shared services agreements between existing districts, could free up money for classrooms."
The report is available.
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| Assessment Systems That Support Quality Learning |
The Council of Chief State School Officers, Gene Wilhoit executive director, and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education released on February 26, 2010 a study entitled "Performance Counts: Assessment Systems that Support High-Quality Learning" by Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond.
The study describes successful assessment systems that ensure student achievement to "....enrich the discussion around comprehensive systems of student assessment and to help lead the development of more effective ways to assess student learning." It outlines "lessons learned" from best practices in the U.S. and other countries; potential responsibilities for participants; and steps that need to be taken by states to create a new assessment system.
The report notes that there are several purposes for student assessment systems, such as informing learning and instruction; determining progress; measuring achievement; and providing partial accountability information, but in the end, "...the goal of new standards and assessments must be to improve the quality of learning, not just its measurement. And the goal of education must be to improve the ability of students to survive and succeed in a rapidly changing world that requires a deeper knowledge base and greater use of thinking, problem solving, and learning skills than ever before. Investments that achieve these goals will pay dividends for every member of our society for generations to come."
According to the report a student assessment system should do the following:
- address the depth and breadth of standards as well as all areas of the curriculum, not just those that are easy to measure
- consider and include all students as an integral part of the design process, anticipating their particular needs and encouraging all students to demonstrate what they know and can do
- honor the research indicating that students learn best when given challenging content and provided with assistance, guidance, and feedback on a regular basis
- employ a variety of appropriate measures, instruments, and processes at the classroom, school, and district levels, as well as the state level. These include multiple forms of assessment and incorporate formative as well as summative measures
- engage teachers in scoring student work based on shared targets.
Assessment systems in high performing nations such as Australia, Finland, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Singapore embed in the curriculum open-ended items that require students to analyze and apply knowledge, and therefore reinforce higher order thinking and problem solving skills. Student achievement on standardized performance tasks, such as an oral presentation, field work, portfolio, or project, is incorporated into examination scores, to provide "the most reliable indication of the actual abilities" of students. And, teachers are engaged throughout the assessment
process, and use standardized rubrics to ensure that scores are consistent and reliable. States already using some of these strategies include Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, and Vermont.
States should assume a leadership role to implement new assessment systems by developing "common core" standards; curriculum frameworks; "on demand" and curriculum embedded assessments; rubrics based on the content standards and provide clear examples of exemplary student work; an oversight/audit system to ensure consistency; support teachers as they develop instructional strategies and implement the new assessment system; and data information systems to support teaching and inform policy decisions.
The federal government should re-examine the role of the National Assessment of Education Progress; support research on design, outcomes, and consequences of curriculum and assessment; encourage the use of performance assessments in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; support initiatives to include knowledge of assessment and learning into pre-and in-service professional development.
The study is available.
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| Examining Charter Schools |
ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) recently released an "Info Brief"
entitled "Examining Charter Schools" by Christy Guilfoyle. The brief provides an overview of the charter school movement, which enrolls 1.5 million students in 5000 plus schools, and examines the
"significant questions" about how well charter schools educate students, manage their finances, and "...whether creating more charter schools will be better for the nation's schoolchildren." The brief examines the debate over charter school caps; the issue of quality; oversight; funding systems for charter schools; and virtual schools.
The brief is available.
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| New Tech Network Wins Grant |
KnowledgeWorks's subsidiary, New Tech Network, announced on February 24, 2010 that it has received a $2 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation. The New Tech Network includes 41 high schools in nine states that have implemented the use of technology and project-based learning. The grant will be used to increase the number of New Tech schools, and expand the capacity of the network.
More information about the New Tech Network is available.
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| FYI ARTS |
The State Arts Action Network (SAAN) reports last week that two state legislatures, Virginia and Minnesota, were considering cutting funding for the arts as the two states debate state budgets.
The Virginia House Appropriations Committee announced a plan that reduced funding for arts grants through the Virginia Commission for the Arts by 50 percent during FY11, and eliminated the agency at the end of FY12.
Minnesota's Governor Tim Pawlenty has introduced a budget that would cut funding for state arts agency and regional funding by 33 percent in FY11 and 66 percent in FY12.
An article in the February 14, 2010 Akron Beacon Journal entitled "Obama Cuts Arts Budget" by Dorothy Shinn, highlights the "disappointment" that arts education advocates are expressing about President Obama's proposed FY11 budget and federal funding levels for the arts.
The article notes that the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts is reduced by $6.2 million to $161.3 million, and funding for the Arts in Education (AIE) program ($40 million) is consolidated
with funding for the new Effective Teaching and Learning for Well-Rounded Education.
Read the article.
Dewey21C, Richard Kessler, executive director of the Center for Arts Education in New York City, also takes up President Obama's proposed education budget in a February 25, 2010 blog entry entitled "A Rapidly Growing Concern about Arts Education at the USDOE". Read the blog.
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This update is written weekly by Joan Platz, Information Coordinator for the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education. The purpose of the update is to keep arts education advocates informed about issues dealing with the arts, education, policy, research, and opportunities. The distribution of this information is made possible through the generous support of the Ohio Music Education Association (www.omea-ohio.org), Ohio Art Education Association (www.oaea.org), Ohio Educational Theatre Association (www.Ohioedta.org); OhioDance (www.ohiodance.org), and the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (www.OAAE.net).
Donna S. Collins
Executive Director
77 South High Street, 2nd floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6108
614.224.1060 dcollins@oaae.net
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Wednesday, 01-20-10
Arts On Line Update -01-18-2010
Monday, 01-25-10
Arts on Line Update - 01-25-2010
Monday, 02-01-10
Arts on Line Update
Monday, 02-22-10
Arts on Line Update - 02-22-2010
Tuesday, 03-02-10
Arts on Line Update - 03-02-2010
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