Across the nation, a number of urban school systems are boldly experimenting with arts-based models of whole school reform. Research and evaluation results suggest that these initiatives are revitalizing schools and positively impacting students’ lives. Such programs demonstrate that arts education can engage students and move them toward success in school, work, and life; energize teaching and school leadership, and once again make our schools the dynamic and vibrant hubs of community engagement.

Join us in San Francisco during National Arts in Education Week for a national conversation about how arts learning can help reclaim our urban school systems and re-engineer the future of America’s cities.

For full press release on the AEP Fall 2011 National Forum in San Francisco, click HERE.

Click "Presentation Summary" for a detailed synopsis of each session

Program Information

Plenary Sessions
Breakout Sessions: Unifying the Classroom and Community
Breakout Sessions: Renewing Preparation and Practice
Breakout Sessions: Transforming District and State Systems

Plenary Sessions

Keynote Speaker: Milton Chen, Author, Senior Fellow and Executive Director Emeritus, The George Lucas Educational Foundation

Education Nation: The Arts as Leading Edges of Innovation in Our Schools

Dr. Milton Chen is senior fellow and executive director, emeritus at The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF), a non-profit operating foundation in the San Francisco Bay Area that utilizes its multimedia website, Edutopia.org, and documentary films to communicate a new vision for 21st Century schools. He served as executive director of GLEF for 12 years and has been the founding director of the KQED Center for Education (PBS) in San Francisco, director of research at Sesame Workshop in New York, and an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He received an A.B. in social studies from Harvard College and his Ph.D. in communication research from Stanford.

His book, Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools , was selected as one of the 10 best education books of 2010 by the American School Boards Journal . Perhaps most importantly, on his 50 th birthday, he was named a Jedi Master by George Lucas.

For more information about Milton Chen, please visit http://www.edutopia.org

California Creates: Statewide Innovation in Arts Education
Session Organizer: Amy Shimshon-Santo, Independent Scholar, CA Education Leadership Institute Team Member
Panelists: Craig Cheslog, Chief Policy Advisor, California Department of Education; Malissa Feruzzi-Shriver, Board President, California Arts Council; Larry Powell, Superintendent, Fresno County Schools

California is expanding its educational vision, policy, and practices to promote creativity, innovation, and economic development. The California Department of Education (CDE), the California Arts Council (CAC), and California County Superintendents (CCSESA) are working together to address structural obstacles to arts education and debunk myths that undermine access to arts education. This statewide process is meant to align diverse stakeholders from Arts advocates to policy makers, from industry and community leaders to K-20 educational institutions and the non-profit sector. All students need access to the Arts and innovative learning strategies to prepare themselves for high school graduation, college and careers. Creativity and innovation spur educational achievement and are crucial skills for participation in the new creative economy. California leaders are working together to build public will, impact public policy, and design innovative approaches for funding and sustainability that will support 21st Century teacher preparation, and spark collaboration along the K-20 educational pipeline.

From Sea to Shining Sea: Shared Learning Across Three Urban Arts Learning Initiatives
Session Organizer: Gigi Antoni, President and CEO, Big Thought
Panelists: Dennie Palmer Wolf, Principal, WolfBrown; Marinell Rousmaniere, Project Director, Arts Expansion Initiative, Edvestors; Marna Stalcup, Program Manager, The Right Brain Initiative

The recent release of the President's Committee on Arts and the Humanities report, Reinvesting in Arts Education, makes a strong case for the power of arts learning to transform public education. In this session, leaders from three large-scale arts learning initiatives across the country – Boston, Dallas and Portland, OR – will discuss their communities' approach to building systemic public/private collaborations to increase access and equity in arts education in order to improve student engagement and achievement.

Breakout Sessions: Unifying the Classroom and Community back to top

Small Group Sessions:

How Can Arts Education Change the Culture of School Districts, Schools and Communities?
Session Organizer: Annie McNally-Dienes, Director of Education, Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio
Additional Presenter: Mark Cross, Director, Interchange

What systems and practices facilitate change in schools, in arts organizations and among partners in the community? How do you define culture change? In 2004, through the Ford National Arts Education Initiative, Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio (YANEO) in Cleveland and the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis joined seven sites across the country in developing models for improving public education through arts education. Director of Interchange, Mark Cross and Annie McNally-Dienes, Director of Education at Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, both former classroom teachers, bring a unique perspective to the discussion of student and teacher needs and the landscape of schools. In this session, Annie and Mark discuss the complexities of managing collaborative partnerships and their successes and challenges in the effort to increase access to arts education in two urban school districts through the Ford initiative.

Building Community Support for Arts Education: Lessons Learned from Kennedy Center's Any Given Child Program
Session Organizer: Barbara Shepherd, Director, National Partnerships, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Additional Presenters: Erika Boardman Kraft, Arts Education Coordinator, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission; Deborah Brzoska, Arts Education Consultant; Candy Schneider, Vice President of Education and Outreach, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts

Bringing together a broad cross section of the community for long-range planning has been a powerful strategy for building consensus around the issue of arts education. In this hands-on session, participants will learn about the components of the Any Given Child program and examine tools used to gather data about arts education resources. Representatives from the Las Vegas, NV and Sacramento, CA Any Given Child sites will share their insights and discuss ways to replicate this program in participants' home communities.

Partners in Transformation: Mapping the Impact of Cultural Partners in Urban Schools
Session Organizer: Susy Watts, Arts Teaching and Learning, Independent Consultant
Additional Presenters: Leni Boorstin, Director of Community & Government Affairs, Los Angeles Philharmonic Association; Jane Burrell, Senior Vice President, Education and Public Programs, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Andy Finch, Co-Director of Government Affairs, Association of Art Museum Directors; Heather Noonan, Vice President for Advocacy, League of American Orchestras

The session addresses mapping and evaluation tools used to objectively analyze cultural organizations' achievements within urban education in clear terms, the emerging role of cultural organizations, and defines the successful partner traits that translate to urban school settings of varying sizes. We will determine key messages and stories that such tools can communicate about the collaborations between urban school districts and cultural organizations.

Lunchtime Roundtable Discussions:

Arts Every Day: An Integral Part of Education in Baltimore City Public Schools
Session Organizer: Kathy Beachler, Director, Arts Every Day
Additional Presenters: Amy Rosenkrans, Director of Humanities, Baltimore City Public Schools

Baltimore City Public Schools CEO, Dr. Andres Alonso, has said, “To be great, schools must have: great principals; great teachers in every classroom; instruction that reaches all kids, with their many different needs; the freedom to create a unique learning community; and involved parents and communities.” Learn how Arts Every Day, in partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools and Baltimore City's arts and cultural organizations and teaching artists, collaborated to design a model to strengthen existing high-quality arts instruction, integrate the arts into classroom curriculum and provide access for students to the arts and cultural resources in Baltimore, with the goal of building stronger learning communities and nurturing more socially connected, academically engaged young people.

Data Habits of Mind: Reflection and Learning From Two Urban Arts Education Partnerships
Session Organizer: Tom DeCaigny, Senior Consultant, The Improve Group
Additional Presenters: Leah Goldstein-Moses, President, The Improve Group; Jessica Mele, Executive Director, Performing Arts Workshop

Urban education reform is a broad landscape with initiatives as diverse as America's student population. Where and how do the arts fit in? What is the role of a community arts education organization at the education reform policy table? Do we have the evidence to be taken seriously as influencers of policy? Is there a future for public education that transcends popular notions of continuous “reform”? What role do data and evidence have to play in sustaining our work over time? These questions will guide this small group exploration. Two community-based arts education organizations will share their experiences within two diverse urban education reform environments—New Orleans and San Francisco. From there, participants will explore the role of community-based arts education organizations in reform efforts across the country with an emphasis on the value of community partnerships, ongoing reflection and the role of evidence in sustaining quality over time.

Breakout Sessions: Renewing Preparation and Practice back to top

Small Group Sessions:

The Power of Partners: Strategic Arts Learning Collaborations – Arts Education Initiative
Session Organizers: Eric Engdahl, Asst. Professor, Teacher Education, CSU East Bay; Dave Donahue, Professor, Education, Mills College
Additional Presenters: Joan Davenport, Professor, Teacher Education, CSU East Bay; Linda Kroll, Professor, Education, Mills College; Cathleen Michaels, Teaching Artist; Louise Music, Coordinator, Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE); Ann Wettrich, Instructor, California College of the Arts; Peg Winkelman, Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership, CSU East Bay

This session will explore how the work of the Arts Education Initiative (AEI), a Ford Foundation funded project based at the University of California, Berkeley, has played out in two different settings: at a large state university education school where a teacher education and educational leadership program built collaborations for training pre-service teachers and administrators in the importance of the arts; and across a strategic partnership among K-12, higher education, ACOE and the communities they serve.

Project A.R.T.S. (Assess, Reflect, Transform, Succeed): A Model of Change for Transforming Arts Learning in an Urban School District
Session Organizer: Raymond Veon, Project Director, A.R.T.S., Atlanta Public Schools (APS)
Additional Presenters: Dr. Melody Mildbrandt, Project Evaluator, A.R.T.S. APS; Professor of Arts Education, Georgia State University

How do you transform arts learning across an entire, site-based managed urban school district? Our model of change is premised on 1) the belief that the greater a teacher's artistic and aesthetic expertise, the greater the impact on learning, and 2) that the exigencies of the 21st century and the realities of contemporary artistic practice require that we reconsider what and how we teach. The data driving this model comes from authentic student arts assessments, teacher performance in professional development workshops, and observations of classroom instruction. Our model explicitly targets disciplinary habits of mind, synthesis, and creativity in the arts. Our criterion of excellence is that a quality arts curriculum does not simply reproduce knowledge but empowers students to generate new knowledge, laying a foundation for each individual to develop their own creative stance. We will share our arts assessments and their positive impact on professional development and instructional practice.

Transforming the Urban Arts Education Landscape One Principal at A Time
Session Organizer: Antigone Trimis de Cartagena, Arts Education Master Plan Implementation Manager; Visual & Performing Arts Department, San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD)
Additional Presenters: Robert Daniels, Supervisor, Visual & Performing Arts Department, SFUSD; Carmelo Sgarlato, Principal, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts; Susan Stauter, Artistic Director, Visual & Performing Arts Department, SFUSD; Amara Tabor Smith, Dancer-Choreographer, BRAVO Project Mentor Artist; Lynda Tredway, Principal Leadership Institute Coordinator, UC Berkeley School of Education

Come join the San Francisco Unified School District's Visual and Performing Arts team as they host an interactive small group session to explore the exciting possibilities for transforming the urban education landscape through an innovative Principals of the Arts professional development model that puts the relationship between school leaders and artists at its core. How do principal leaders mirror and model the creative process through all of the work that they do? What are the gifts that individual artist-mentors bring to urban principals? How does the artistic process itself provide a powerful engine during these challenging times? Inspiration, information and implementation are three key words in this innovative San Francisco professional development plan, that models transformation and provides a roadmap to the 21st century.

Lunchtime Roundtable Discussions:

Building Capacity through Collaboration: Partnering to Transform Teaching and Learning in Public Schools Through Arts Integration
Session Organizer: Louise Music, Coordinator, Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE)
Additional Presenters: Sarah Anderberg, California County Superintendents of Education Services Association; Martha Barry McKenna, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Lesley University, AEP Higher Education Task Force; Lisa Donovan, Associate Professor, Creative Arts in Learning Division, Lesley University; Tana Johnson, ACOE, Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership Coordinator, Arts Integration Specialist Program; Mike McCarthy, Regional Director of Admissions, Lesley University; Charles McNeal, Education Director, San Francisco Ballet, Instructor, Arts Integration Specialist Program, Lesley University Graduate Student

Representatives from CCSESA, ACOE and Lesley University will share how their partnership's systemic approaches to re-understanding arts integration as an essential professional strategy is building capacity and expertise for pre-service and in-service teachers, as well as building a community of professional educators that can respond to the ongoing and changing learning needs of all students.

Special Education Arts Inclusion: San Francisco is the Campus!
Session Organizer: Keith Carames, Teacher, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts representing the Visual and Performing Arts Department, San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD)
Additional Presenters: Cecelia Dodge, Assistant Superintendent of Special Education Services, SFUSD; Heidi Hubrich, Special Education Teacher, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, SFUSD; Rachel Norton, School Board Commissioner, SFUSD

How do we connect special education students to the wider arts community in ways that are authentic, dynamic and powerful? How does the regular classroom teacher include special education students and collaborate with special education teachers to connect and honor the gifts these students bring to the creative table? Come find out how two San Francisco teachers are using the arts to make this happen. Framed by the policies adopted by the San Francisco Unified School District's school board, supported by the newly reconfigured San Francisco Unified School District Special Education Department and the ongoing work of the Visual and Performing Arts Department, the promise of the Arts Education Master Plan for access and equity in arts education is becoming a reality.

Transforming District and State Systems back to top

Small Group Sessions:

Not Your Father's Vo-Tech: Colorado's Creative Careers Initiative
Session Organizer: Sheila Sears, Arts Education Manager, Colorado Creative Industries
Additional Presenters: Karol Gates, Arts Content Specialist, Colorado Department of Education; Jennifer Jirous, STEM, Arts, IT Program Director, Career & Technical Education, Colorado Community College System

In an effort to illustrate the power of creativity and innovation in post-secondary and workforce readiness, three Colorado state agencies have developed a collaborative pilot program to support for “filling the pipeline” for creative industries. The goal is to support future workers in the creative industries and creative workers in all Colorado enterprises. The combined efforts of these agencies will help schools connect with and integrate Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming within arts integration and within middle school and high school course structures. Presenters will share tools they have developed to provide support to schools in connecting CTE programming to inquiry-based arts integration and help prepare students for careers in creative industries such as digital media, fashion, graphic and interior design, audio/video technology, film, performing and visual arts and interactive media.

School Smarts: A New Model for Creating Meaningful and Diverse Parent Involvement
Session Organizer: Janelle Davila, Arts Education Project Manager/California State PTA
Additional Presenters: Carol Kocivar, Incoming President, California State PTA; Adolfo Melara, Acting Superintendent, South San Francisco Unified School District; Patti Yomantas, Chair, Special Committee for Arts Education, California State PTA

With support from the Hewlett Foundation, the California State PTA is piloting “School Smarts” a dynamic parent engagement and training program in 14 schools throughout the state. PTA leaders will share the lessons learned in our pilot year about using interactive and arts-based techniques to give parents the big picture of how the education system works, build communication and advocacy skills, and equip them to maximize their child's success, while at the same time, building a core group of diverse parent leaders who are energized and empowered to advance a quality education that includes the arts at their school and beyond. Also, learn more about PTA's SMARTS: Parents for the Arts network and the momentum that is building across California as PTA, educators and arts organizations promote a collective vision for a quality 21st century education that includes the arts.

State Budgets, Public Policy, and Public Advocacy
Ronald Cowell, The Education Policy and Leadership Center; Arts and Education Initiative

Join a discussion about the growing relevancy of public policy decisions concerning budgets and other key issues (federal, state and local) to arts education. Develop a better appreciation for the potential of effective public policy to better influence and support your work and the public climate for arts education. And improve your understanding of how policy decisions are made and about effective individual and collaborative public advocacy – what works and what you can do that will make a difference!

Lunchtime Roundtable Discussions:

A Tale of Two Cities: Arts Integration in Reno, Nevada and Memphis, Tennessee
Session Organizer: Brad Foust, Art and Music PDAE Grant Facilitator, Shelby County Schools, Memphis, TN
Additional Presenters: Martha O'Neill, Fine Arts PDAE Grant Coordinator, Washoe County School District, Reno, NV

Two PDAE grant project coordinators will compare and contrast the implementation of their grants over the course of the past two years with a look to the third and final year. The focus of this interactive session will be on how arts integration can impact and revitalize an entire school population in terms of administrator buy-in, teacher participation, levels of comfort using the arts, student engagement, and sustainability after the grant cycle has ended.

Every Voice Matters—A California “Listening Tour”
Session Organizer: Anne Bown-Crawford, Teacher & Director, Arcata Arts Institute
Additional Presenters: Craig Cheslog, Chief Policy Advisor, California Department of Education; Malissa Feruzzi-Shriver, Board President, California Arts Council; Larry Powell, Superintendent, Fresno County Schools

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) encourages states to develop innovative partnerships between arts advocates, policy makers, industry and community leaders, K-20 educational institutions and the non-profit sector to work together to create a healthy education environment founded on powerful arts education programs. As mentioned in the opening plenary session, the Arts Create California Leadership Team is conducting a series of ”Listening Tours” across the state to engage educators, school leaders, legislators, policy makers, consultants, creative industry, parents, and scholars in identifying issues, outcomes, and action items that will have the greatest local impact. All stakeholders must play a pivotal role to “ensure each student reaches his or her full potential by broadening California's educational vision, policy, and practices to promote innovation, economic development, and creativity.” This session will demonstrate one “Listening Tour” model, share additional information about Arts Create California, and gather input from both California and national stakeholders.

Lessons From a Partnership: The San Francisco Symphony's Continuum of Service Delivery to San Francisco Public Schools
Session Organizer: Ron Gallman, Director of Education and Youth Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony
Additional Presenters: Carlene Callejas, Elementary School Principal, SFUSD; Sammi Madison, Director of Education Programs, San Francisco Symphony; Susan Stauter, Artistic Director, Visual & Performing Arts Department, SFUSD; Michele Winter, Music Director, Lowell High School, SFUSD

The San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) have formed and sustained a vital partnership which provides a continuum of music education service delivery to San Francisco's public elementary and secondary schools. Join this discussion to learn how the partnership addresses various issues and imperatives inherent in alliances between urban school districts and arts institutions, including: how the partnership supports school district goals, strategies for district-wide implementation of programs, and sustainability. These and other aspects will be discussed using the Symphony's programs as examples—Adventures in Music (AIM), which serves every 1st-5th grader in every SFUSD elementary school (23,000 students; 76 schools), and the Instrument Training and Support program, which provides artistic and technical assistance to instrumental music programs in San Francisco's public middle and high schools. The discussion will include opportunities for brainstorming solutions to ongoing challenges, such as increasing parental involvement and heightening public awareness of the partnership.

Questions about the AEP Fall 2011 National Forum? Email aep@ccsso.org.