Rob Schultz
For many years, the Mesa Arts Center (AZ) conducted a successful program with Lowell Elementary, a Title I public school located in one of Mesa’s most challenged neighborhoods. The basic premise was to send a teaching artist to work with two grade levels, and introduce the students to a particular literary work. Those same students would be brought to the Center to view a live theater performance of that literary work created and presented by the Center’s in-house theater for young audiences program, at no cost to the students. Reinforcement of classroom teaching would occur through the integration of theater and language arts. The kids would enjoy Q&A with the actors, and classroom teachers would be provided with additional resource materials for future use. It was a valuable, simple, easily-replicated formula for arts integration.
But, change happens. Severe cuts in the Center’s budget eliminated its theater for young audiences program. A new aggressive emphasis was placed on K-3 reading objectives in Mesa Public Schools. Lowell Elementary principals came and went. Assessment expectations were heightened. So, change was embraced, starting with a renaming of the program from the informal “Lowell program” to “Literacy through the Arts.”
Needing a new cadre of teaching artists, the Center strengthened, deepened, and expanded its partnership with Arizona State University’s Theatre for Youth graduate program. Now, a new Literacy through the Arts resident project manager would come on board to recruit and direct a renewable source of qualified teaching artists from A.S.U. through funding from the Mesa Arts Center Foundation. Arizona College and Career Readiness Standards would formalize teaching and assessment methods. Greater emphasis would be placed on sequential learning. And, A.S.U. would benefit from a real-world teaching experience for their graduate students.
Literacy through the Arts program goals were re-evaluated and fine-tuned. Lesson plans were aligned to standards and arts integration. Formative evaluation would now be conducted by the teaching artists. More emphasis was placed on pre- and post-assessment by the classroom teacher, supported by the teaching artists, as well as post-evaluation done by the students themselves. The program Curriculum Map was updated and expanded – Kindergarten residencies would explore phonemes, phonetics, and expressing thoughts and feelings through interactive theatrical re-telling of stories. By 3rd grade, students will participate in collaborative conversations, speak fluent sentence structure, and create engaging narrative text.
Perhaps most importantly, the evaluation process will be enhanced so that a clearer picture of program results can be compiled and used to lobby potential funding agencies for increased support. Both formative and summative evaluation will be used to collect program data. We did this to a lesser extent in the past, but the partnership with A.S.U. gives us additional leverage for growth in this critical area.
See? Change is good!
Do you work in Arts Education? Have you heard about Americans for the Arts’ Arts Education & Advocacy Preconference at Annual Convention this year? The opening keynote will be by the NEA’s Director for Arts Education, Ayanna Hudson, followed by detailed case studies and a site visit to the famed Pearl Cohn High School recording studio. The sessions will leave you with a practical set of tools you can take home and use to make the case for Arts Education!
