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Session Title: The Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant Program: Evaluating the Impact of Arts Integration in Elementary and Middle Schools
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Panel Session 636 to be held in Palisades on Friday, Nov 4, 10:45 AM to 11:30 AM
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Sponsored by the Evaluating the Arts and Culture TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Tia Burroughs, Branch Associates Inc, tburroughs@branchassoc.com
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| Discussant(s):
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| Stephanie Saunders, Branch Associates Inc, ssaunders@branchassoc.com
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| Abstract:
The Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, supports education models that integrate arts into core elementary and middle school curricula. Model programs work to improve students' academic performance as well as their skills in creating, performing and responding to the arts. Organizations that receive the grants create and develop materials that aid others in model replication; therefore, evaluation is highly important. Grantees' comprehensive approaches for integrating the arts into elementary and middle school curricula are documented and programmatic outcomes are thoroughly assessed.
This panel will present two evaluations of arts education programs that have showed significant connections between arts education and academic achievement for economically disadvantaged and special needs students. Participants will hear details about program evaluation design, implementation, and analysis, as well as, hear accounts of successes and challenges experienced in the evaluation of each program.
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Evaluating the Impact of Arts Education on Students with Special Learning Needs and Inclusion Classrooms
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| Elizabeth Radel Freeman, The Improve Group, lizf@theimprovegroup.com
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| Jessica Mele, Performing Arts Workshop, jessica@performingartsworkshop.org
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In 2006, Performing Arts Workshop received a four-year Arts Education Model Demonstrative and Dissemination Grant funding Project ARISE (Arts Residency Interventions in Special Education). During the grant period, the Workshop provided weekly creative movement and theatre arts ARISE residencies to 63 third to fifth grade classrooms in the San Francisco Unified School District. Classrooms identified as Special Day Classes or general education classes with special education inclusion (or mainstreamed) students were eligible for participation in this quasi-experimental study. Evaluators collected quantitative and qualitative data through student surveys including illustrations; teacher and teaching artist surveys using retrospective pre-test methods; focus groups of teachers and teaching artists; observations of classroom activities; and review of school records including attendance data and standardized test scores. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss evaluation methodology including successes and lessons learned in evaluating this four-year arts education program, in addition to sharing key findings.
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Using Large Scale, District-wide Experimental Design Evaluation in Arts Education
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| Andrew McGowan, Rochester Arts Impact Study Enhancement, andrew.macgowan.rcsdk12.org
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| Deborah Harloff, Rochester Arts Impact Study Enhancement, deborah.harloff@rcsdk12.org
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The Rochester City School District Arts Impact Study, started in 2006, sought to establish a clear relationship between arts infused education and student achievement. While it seemed common knowledge among educators that infusion of the arts into the classroom improves student achievement, there has been sparse quantitative evidence to support this claim. This evaluation incorporated a true experimental design, which included the random assignment of nearly 30,000 students into treatment and control groups. Many of the participating students were from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Results of this evaluation showed a connection between arts the infused curriculum and student achievement. During the panel discussion participants will hear details of the project design and implementation. The evaluation plan will be discussed, including qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Participants will also learn about the challenges of implementing a study of this size in a large urban school district.
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