Effective advocacy is a chorus number, not a solo. Our voices are much more powerful when they are joined with others who share our values and objectives. Here are some of the other key players in arts education advocacy.
Americans for the Arts is the nation’s preeminent arts advocacy organization, creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Their major goals include: more money for cultural programs, arts education for every child, and community development through the arts. Americans for the Arts also organizes the annual Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC, co-sponsored by EdTA. The website includes an extensive arts information clearinghouse and valuable resources for advocacy. www.artsusa.org
More than a hundred organizations from the education, arts, corporate and private foundations, and government sectors, including EdTA, formed the Arts Education Partnership to promote the arts as a vital component of every child’s education. “Partnerships” is a recurrent theme in their work, whether private and public partnerships or local, state, and federal partnerships. Their website includes updates of local, state, and federal policy and programs effecting arts education, with links to research and other resources in arts education. www.aep-arts.org
In almost every state, there is a multi-arts alliance for arts education, active in advocacy. Collectively, these state organizations form the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network. The Kennedy Center Department of Education provides coordination, training, and leadership at the national level, but membership is maintained at the state level where most educational policy is made. KCAAEN maintains links to all of their state affiliates at their website. www.kennedy-center.org/education/kcaaen/
You won’t have to go far or wait long to get the information highlighted in this section. Just click on the link, download, and print if you like it. Most require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development received much praise when it was published in 2002. The volume summarizes and discusses sixty-two research studies selected by James Catterall of UCLA, Lois Hetland of Harvard, and Ellen Winner of Boston College. These studies examine the effects of arts learning on students’ social and academic skills. Essays by prominent researchers explore the implication of studies in each art form, and theatre is well represented. The compendium costs $25 and may be ordered by downloading this PDF file: http://aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/linksflyer.pdf. You can also read the report online for free at http://www.aep-arts.org. The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation documents the positive outcomes of integrating the arts into education and youth intervention programs. The report describes how economic vitality depends on a highly educated and creative workforce. To download the fourteen-page report from the National Governors Association, go to www.nasaa-arts.org/nasaanews/nga.shtml. Why Your Child Needs the Arts Advantage and How to Gain It is a handy brochure based on Gaining the Arts Advantage. It features specific recommendations targeted at each of these groups: community members, school board members, superintendents, principals, district arts coordinators, and teachers. www.aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/Why%20Your%20Child%20Needs%20the%20Arts.pdf Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning is a collection of seven research studies. The articles by James Catterall and Steve Seidel clearly demonstrate the importance of theatre education. artsedge.kennedy-center.org/champions/ The long awaited National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Arts Report Card is available as a short executive summary and in glorious full-length form. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=1999486 Project Zero’s REAP (Reviewing Education and the Arts Project) summarizes existing research in arts education, with implications for policy-makers and advocates. www.pz.harvard.edu/Research/REAP.htm “No Subject Left Behind: A Guide to Arts Education Opportunities” serves as a guide for state and local arts and education leaders to learn more about the new federal legislation, “No Child Left Behind,” and multiple opportunities for arts education. It provides a brief overview of the legislation and specific programs as well as links for additional information:
www.americansforthearts.org/pdf/no_subject_left_behind.pdf.
The links in this section will connect you to extensive resources. These are worth exploring at length initially to find what meets your needs. Then you can revisit them regularly for updates and additions.
The American Arts Alliance is a lobbying organization in Washington, DC, representing professional nonprofit arts organizations such Dance USA, Opera America, and Theatre Communications Group. Their website includes news and resources helpful to arts advocates in any arena. www.americanartsalliance.org ArtsEdge is a national arts and education network, maintained by the Education Department at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with news, teaching materials, and other resources. artsedge.kennedy-center.org/ ArtsWire is a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts which includes arts news, resources, and the unique “Spider School” for arts and technology training. www.artswire.org/ The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has links to education agencies in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, allied territories such as Guam, and Department of Defense Education Activity. www.ccsso.org/ The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has links to every state legislature, which is the primary source of policy affecting your school. Log onto this site as a “public user.” www.ncsl.org The National Endowment for the Arts website has their grant application forms, instructions, and lists of previous grant recipients, and also includes helpful links to other funding sources for arts and education, arts.endow.gov/ The U.S. Department of Education maintains a vast network of information about federal educational policy and programs, resources, and funding opportunities. This website is constantly updated. www.ed.gov/ Back to top of page |