by Mary Dell’Erba | Mar 2, 2022 | General
A powerful arts education, as defined by the Hewlett Foundation, inspires students to bring their full selves and their communities to the learning space and invites students to make choices about the kinds of art they create and the stories they tell, as well as to...
by Nate Marcarelli | Sep 6, 2017
This Education Trends report explores research on how the arts bolster the development of deeper learning skills, provides examples of programs that successfully increased access to the arts in education in public schools, and includes state- and local-level policy...
by Zechen Su | Dec 10, 2023 | General
China’s Sundance: A Closer Look at the First International Film Festival The First International Film Festival, often likened to China’s version of Sundance, holds a prominent position in discovering and nurturing new filmmaking talent. Its Chinese...
by Grace Chavez | Oct 4, 2023 | General
Through qualitative interview analysis, our research team uncovered several common themes across participant interviews. “Perfectionism. Burn-out. Alone or in front an Audience. Versatility. “We all struggle with creative expression sometimes. Or as artists we...
by Katie Rainey | Aug 9, 2023 | General
Setting out to co-write this post, we (Katie Rainey, co-executive director of Teaching Artist Guild and Eric Booth, co-founder of International Teaching Artist Collaborative) put down a few initial thoughts about our shared focus—advocacy for teaching artists and arts...
by Sofia Pineda-Velez | Aug 2, 2023 | General
Why don’t more students pursue art in higher education? For many students, art is more of an outlet rather than profession, and in a world where student’s lives revolve around academics, art gets sidelined. For our research, I interviewed Liam, an international...
by Alex Chadwell | May 4, 2023 | General
The first time I encountered the concept of cultural democracy was on a 2 train in Brooklyn. I was on my way home from my teaching artist residency at P.S. 203. One of the books I read to pass the time on that commute was New Creative Community: The Art of Cultural...
by Krystal Johnson | Mar 30, 2023 | Policy
Spring has officially sprung, bringing warmer weather, fresh blooms and a new round of updates to the ArtScan database! AEP collaborates with the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education and Education Commission of the States to update this resource to equip...
by Mary Dell’Erba | Nov 23, 2022 | Policy
Since the release of the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) results, countless articles and analyses have revealed the same troubling trend: reading and math scores declined at an alarming rate for fourth and eighth grade students in the 2021-22...
by Karen Cueva | Jul 11, 2022 | General
We at The Lewis Prize for Music believe that young people with access to Creative Youth Development music learning, performance and creation opportunities will grow into flourishing community members. We identified the second cohort of Accelerator Awardees through a...
by Alexandra Etscovitz | Apr 8, 2022 | General
Remember when teaching was “only” about high achievement, standardized testing, active shooter drills and differentiating our instruction? All kidding aside, the fact that educators have been juggling those demands with the new educational landscape of...
by Jenna Masone, Ed.D. | Apr 4, 2022 | General
How do we make school improvement efforts impactful and lasting? Traditionally, school improvement efforts only address academic improvement and fall short in impacting the whole school. Alternately, the arts are often tapped to improve schools yet fall short because...
by Tom Keily | Mar 28, 2022 | General
The journey of a child through making meaning was one of the foundational learnings from the Arts Education Partnership’s work on The Arts and Literacies. Specifically, meaning making supports students to develop knowledge, awareness, appreciation and empathy of...
by Gene Lyman | Mar 21, 2022 | General
Individuals navigate the world through the senses and textures of life, grounding us in our common humanity. Linking literacies and the arts encourages fluidity between disciplines, creates space for multiple forms of meaning making and prompts flexible thinking...
by Suzanne Hall | Mar 7, 2022 | General
My first encounter with interdisciplinary instruction did not happen voluntarily. During my first year of teaching music, I was responsible for implementing the Drop Everything And Read program during my class time. My lack of expertise as a reading teacher made me...
by Alex Chadwell | Feb 28, 2022 | General
My work as a teaching artist and arts administrator centers student artmaking. I have not always approached teaching and curriculum through a perspective that maintains the essential role of the teacher as a facilitator of learning and, in the case of arts education,...
by Sarah Anderberg | Feb 22, 2022 | General
“In curatorial practice, attending to decisions made in selecting, organizing, analyzing, and documenting content, as well as reviewing the evidence of learning, opens layers of realizations and insights for teachers and their students. Increasing opportunities to...
by Clare Murray | Feb 15, 2022 | General
Have you ever listened to children discuss an emotive work of art inside a museum? By visiting an art museum, young children can learn to slow down, lean into simple thinking routines that they may seemingly “carry in their back pockets” and engage in thoughtful...
by Elizabeth Stuart Whitehead | Feb 14, 2022 | General
Literacy as it relates to reading and writing has been a passion of mine since I was an elementary art teacher early in my career. In my current role as a visual art supervisor for Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) in Maryland, literacy is a focus in every...
by Travis Marcum | Nov 16, 2021 | General
In 2010, Austin Classical Guitar (ACG) expanded our 20-year school-based guitar education program to the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center, a residential facility that houses a school within the Austin Independent School District (ISD)for middle and high school...
by Cassandra Quillen | Nov 12, 2021
AEP Affiliates AEP affiliates are a diverse group of organizations and individuals that conduct arts education-related work at the local, state, regional, or direct-service level. # 3Looms Creative Education Consulting A The Acadia Foundation A Child’s...
by Nate Marcarelli | Nov 2, 2021
How Theatre Education Transforms Students' Lives On stage, the audience sees a young person bow at the end of a theatre production. What the audience may not see: the hours of rehearsal spent preparing for this moment; their classmates poised on the catwalk shining...
by Nate Marcarelli | Oct 28, 2021
by Parker Nelson | Oct 12, 2021 | Practice
Fifth House Ensemble has been refining the design of our educational programming since our founding in 2005. With a mission of “tapping the collaborative spirit of chamber music” and years of experience building arts-integrated programming in public school classrooms,...
by Emily Barclay | Aug 12, 2021 | Practice
The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the educational landscape dramatically as teachers quickly transitioned to instructing, guiding and assessing in a digital landscape. The realities of assessment practices in the online music classroom are significantly different than...
by Casey Maddock | Jun 22, 2021 | Policy
Did you know that of the 54 states and territories tracked by the National Association of State Boards of Education, 50 have boards of education (BOE) responsible for setting education policy? And 24 of those include student representatives as members of their state...
by Jamie Kasper | May 11, 2021 | Policy
As we enter the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic and approach the end of a school year spent entirely within the pandemic’s shadow, we find ourselves questioning what impact changes in the education landscape will have on arts education throughout the United...
by Laurie T. Schell | Apr 27, 2021 | Practice
The impact of Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem was undeniable. The visual effect of red headband, yellow coat, updo with gold mini-cuffs. The hypnotic meter and rhyme delivered with authority and precision. The floating, choreographed hand gestures. The powerful word...
by Mary Dell’Erba | Apr 22, 2021 | Policy
Each year, Education Commission of the States tracks and analyzes trends in education priorities from governors’ State of the State addresses. In 2021, the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic were a common refrain among governors. Of the 42 states included in this...
by Jamie Kasper | Apr 15, 2021 | Practice
AEP recently published a series of success stories featuring partners’ and affiliates’ pandemic-related innovations. We asked common questions of each interviewee about factors that led them to innovate, relationships they had to leverage or build, barriers they...
by Lucinda Presley | Mar 2, 2021 | Practice
Since remote and hybrid learning are dominant modes of teaching for the foreseeable future, educators and students alike can benefit from STEAM learning strategies to promote engagement and learning across settings. Research suggests that STEAM (the integration of...
by Jamie Hipp | Feb 1, 2021 | Policy
“My 1st graders pantomimed today to illustrate understanding of vocabulary. Pantomime pairs well with a current science unit about animals and the structures they use to defend themselves. They loved it. I’m so thankful I took the arts integration class!” As...
by Cassandra Quillen | Oct 12, 2020
The 2019 AEP Annual convening took place Sept.11-12 in Alexandria, Virginia. Resources Program Roster of Attendees Concurrent Sessions Video Recordings Invisible OPENING REMARKS AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE Welcome Remarks:Jeremy Anderson, President, Education...
by Martha McKenna | Sep 8, 2020 | Policy, Practice
In our uncertain times, it is critical for all students to have access to arts education — provided by a highly qualified arts-teaching workforce — including classroom teachers, arts specialists, teaching artists, higher education faculty or members of arts and...
by Krystal Johnson | Apr 13, 2020 | Policy
Did you know that Nevada has arts education instructional requirements for K-12 public schools, youth centers, state facilities and detention centers? Neither did I, until I joined the team at the Arts Education Partnership and began working on ArtScan. As part of...
by Cassandra Quillen | Nov 6, 2019 | Policy, Practice
A trip to a museum provides opportunities to experience the world at different points in time — to look back at the past to see a world that may seem unimaginable now, to engage with current events and culture, and to think far into the future and about things that...
by Cassandra Quillen | Sep 24, 2019
2019 AEP Annual Convening Concurrent Sessions Invisible CONCURRENT SESSIONS: A A Youth Development Framework for High Impact: High School Internships in the ArtsPriority Area: Raise Student Achievement and SuccessPowerPoint PresentationLeaders from Exploring the Arts...
by Nate Marcarelli | Jul 24, 2019
2024 NAEP ARTS ASSESSMENT UPDATE “To date, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have adopted early childhood, elementary and secondary content or performance standards for any and all disciplines of arts education, with 32 of these states defining the arts as a...
by Cassandra Quillen | Jun 18, 2019
2018 AEP Annual Convening Concurrent Sessions Invisible CONCURRENT SESSIONS: A Learning From Two National Endowment for the Arts Research Labs Priority Area: Raise Student Achievement and Success PowerPoint Presentation Two NEA Research Labs will present on how they...
by Cassandra Quillen | Jun 14, 2019
The 2018 AEP Annual convening took place Sept.12-13 in Indianapolis. Resources Program Roster of Attendees Concurrent Sessions Video Recordings Invisible OPENING LUNCH AND WELCOME Welcome remarks from Jane R. Best, Director, Arts Education Partnership, Education...
by Cassandra Quillen | May 22, 2019
A clearinghouse of the latest state policies supporting arts education from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity. Explore Arts Education Policy in Your State ArtScan at Glance Explore a summary of state policies...
by Cheri Walsh | Dec 12, 2018 | Policy
Research shows that students in schools with arts-rich learning environments academically outperform their peers in arts-poor schools. Of course, the arts do more than nurture key competencies and transferable skills; they also teach craft and impart essential,...
by Arts Education Partnership | May 22, 2018 | Research
Creating and engaging with art has been a fundamental part of human existence for thousands of years. Archaeologists discovered musical instruments dating back more than 35,000 years, and music is linked to the origins of human language. Today, music surrounds us,...
by Brady Smith | Mar 21, 2018
Opportunity to Learn (OTL) Standards identify the resources that teachers, schools and districts need for all students to achieve at or above the levels suggested in the 2014 National Core Arts Standards. With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and...
by Jaclyn Rudderow | Jan 31, 2018 | Outreach, Practice
Starting a new music program is quite an undertaking, especially for a school principal who does not have a music or arts education background. These principals need a wealth of support and guidance to ensure they are taking the right steps. This is VH1 Save The...
by Mary Fulton | Sep 7, 2017 | Policy
America’s future economic growth depends on the strength of our world-class education system. The Arts Education Partnership (AEP), a center within Education Commission of the States, recognizes arts education as a key to ensuring students’ success not only in school,...
by Laura Smyth | Jun 28, 2017 | Policy
The California Alliance for Arts Education is in its fifth decade of making the arts a core part of every child’s education across the state, by providing policy expertise and mobilizing a statewide network of advocates and allied partners. We’ve spent the last six...
by Dalouge Smith | Jun 21, 2017 | Practice
Education has transformed over the past several years, motivated by the understanding that today’s students must be prepared to succeed in jobs that don’t yet even exist in our 21st century economy. Educators, policymakers, elected officials and philanthropists...
by Kate Wolff | Apr 27, 2017 | Policy
Arts in education stakeholders know that learning in and through the arts can enhance the learning experience, deepen engagement with a subject and inspire innovative thinking across academic disciplines. This month the National Assessment Governing Board released the...
by David A. Dik | Apr 4, 2017 | Policy
The Arts Education Partnership (AEP), a national network of organizations, is a center within Education Commission of the States dedicated to advancing the arts in education through research, policy and practice. As an AEP Partner Organization, Young Audiences Arts...
by Jennifer Glinzak | Mar 22, 2017 | Policy
To build on the Arts Education Partnership’s (AEP) work of aiding states in including the arts as they craft plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), AEP, along with its collaborators Americans for the Arts and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing...
by Jennifer Glinzak | Feb 7, 2017 | Policy
With the adoption of ESSA in 2015, the term “core academic subjects” was replaced with a “well-rounded education,” which, as defined by the law, includes the arts and music. Appearing more than 20 times throughout the law, this emphasis on a well-rounded education...
