| Session Title: Multiple-Perspectives on Measuring Arts Infusion Efforts |
| Multipaper Session 382 to be held in Panzacola Section H3 on Thursday, Nov 12, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM |
| Sponsored by the Evaluating the Arts and Culture TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Min Zhu, University of South Carolina, helen970114@gmail.com |
| Abstract: Educational programs that infuse or integrate arts in the curriculum were developed based on the belief that quality education in the arts significantly adds to the learning potential of all students. Although arts infused programs have been shown to benefit students' social, emotional, and physical development, current achievement-based accountability initiatives promote an emphasis on measurable evidence of academic achievement and cognitive benefits. Findings regarding the effect of arts infused programs on students' academic achievement, however, have been inconclusive. One variable that may explain disparate achievement levels among arts schools is how the arts infused programs are implemented (Yap, et al, 2007). The varied approaches to implementation may be attributed to a lack of consensus about what constitutes the nature and scope of arts infusion. The purpose of this multi-paper session is to present two perspectives on measuring arts infusion implementation efforts. |
| Arts Infusion Continuum (AIC): A Best Practice Perspective |
| Min Zhu, University of South Carolina, helen970114@gmail.com |
| XiaoFang Zhang, University of South Carolina, jae2008@gmail.com |
| The inconclusive findings on the effect of arts infused programs on student achievement has prompted evaluators to investigate arts programming and infusion implementation strategies of arts schools with disparate achievement levels. They found that one of the main differences between the high achieving and low achieving arts schools was the level of arts infusion effort. Attributing the differing arts infusions levels to varied definitions of arts infusion, the Arts in Basic Curriculum (ABC) Project convened a task force to develop instruments that would clarify the definitions for and identify levels of arts infusion efforts. This presentation will focus on the arts infusion research and the development of the Arts Infusion Continuum (AIC) that aimed to provide schools with a best practice framework for thinking about their schools arts infusion efforts. Finally, the presentation will conclude with a discussion of the development of the AIC measuring tool to evaluate arts infusion effort. |
| Understanding Arts Infusion Efforts Using the AIC-Measuring Tool |
| Grant Morgan, University of South Carolina, praxisgm@aol.com |
| The AIC-measuring tool comprises two parallel surveys with 100 Yes/No statements that describe arts infusion efforts based on the AIC. The two surveys are parallel in that words in several statements were changed to target either the arts or other content areas. Of the 47 schools, 868 other-content-area teachers and 207 arts teachers responded. A total of 63 items resulted after recoding several dichotomous items into polytomous items. Two dimensions were determined using the Mokken Scale analysis. Each dimension was scaled using the Rasch modeling program, WinstepR, to determine item level information and scale scores. This presentation will provide details regarding the statistical procedures involved in computing teacher-level and school-level scale scores for each arts infusion dimension. Furthermore, the interpretation of the diagnostic information regarding school's levels of arts infusion efforts based on the scale scores will also be presented. |
| Understanding How Teachers Approach Arts Infusion |
| Tara Pearsall, University of South Carolina, pearsalt@mailbox.sc.edu |
| Ashlee Lewis, University of South Carolina, ashwee301@hotmail.com |
| With the intent of further understanding teachers' approaches to arts infusion, an open-ended question was included with the AIC-measuring tool requesting that teachers describe their arts infusion experiences. Approximately 600 teachers from the 48 schools who responded to the survey provided a description of an arts infusion experience. An extensive content analysis was conducted to identify themes among teachers' descriptions. The major themes identified within teachers' statements included (a) purposes and benefits of providing arts infusion, (b) approaches to arts infusion instruction, (c) knowledge and understanding of the nature and scope of arts infusion, and (d) challenges and obstacles to arts infusion. During the session, the presenters will discuss the themes identified and include several examples of arts infusion experiences as described by teachers. |
| A Curricular Integration Framework: Synthesizing Implementation Strategies |
| Ching Ching Yap, Savannah College of Art and Design, ccyap@mailbox.sc.edu |
| A review of arts integration literature and the content analysis of teachers' arts infusion experiences revealed that most teachers implement arts integration by using sample units or lesson plans created by arts integration specialists. Some who attempted to create their own arts integration lessons were confronted with challenges, which they attributed to a lack of understanding of the concepts of arts integration implementation. In this presentation, the author will share a conceptualized framework for developing integrated lessons. This framework is designed based on content analysis of sample arts integration units or lesson plans. Because the author believes that integration should be co-equal and emphasize both arts and non-arts content areas, the framework is described as a curricular integration framework. Finally, the author will demonstrate how the framework may provide evaluators with indicators to measure arts integration efforts based on implementation strategies used. |