MISSION

Art is Education is a community-wide initiative designed to foster achievement, promote retention and inspire innovation in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Infusing the district’s existing standards-based curricula with arts-integrated programming, Art is Education works to ensure that every child in every school on everyday receives the academic, personal and civic benefits that arts education provides.

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HISTORY

In 2004, Cleveland became one of just eight sites across the country selected by The Ford Foundation to develop a model in how to improve urban, public education through arts-integrated programming. Grant recipient Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio convened the Cleveland Integrated Arts Collaborative, a partnership of 30+ arts, cultural, philanthropic and educational institutions, which together created Art is Education.

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Art is Education is a collaborative program of 30+ arts, cultural, educational and philanthropic organizations in the greater Cleveland area. Partners, all of which serve a number of programmatic, advisory and administrative roles in the project.

One current focus of Art is Education is the integration of the arts into Cleveland’s literacy and language arts instruction. Using 3rd grade as a model, Art is Education has developed a number of curricular units that teach standards-based English skills while promoting fundamental understanding, appreciation and knowledge of the four primary arts disciplines – dance, drama, music and visual art. Each unit includes an experiential arts engagement (school or off site performance, residency, workshop or tour) provided by a local artist or institution.

National studies show that in-depth arts programs can increase standardized test scores in reading and math and create a positive school environment. Arts-integrated programming in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District confirms this. A recent study of ICARE demonstrated that fourth grade students with three to six semesters of arts-integrated programming performed significantly higher than students with one or two semesters of arts-integrated programming on 2004 Ohio Proficiency Tests (OPT) in reading, writing, math, science and citizenship.

 

Other demonstrable gains include the following:

• 84% of teachers gained a different perspective on their students’ abilities
• 88% of administrators reported an improved school climate
• 86% of teachers reported students worked more creatively
• 77% of teachers reported students worked more cooperatively
• 82% of teachers reported students were more self-confident
• 48% of teachers reported improved student performance in academic subjects
• 46% of teachers reported students learned academic subjects more easily

Art is Education Spring 2007 Pilot Results
A spring 2007 pilot of a 3rd grade Art is Education literacy/visual art curriculum unit echoes these achievement trends. In this small but reliable sample (n=101), participants demonstrated increased:

• Knowledge of the elements (vocabulary) of visual arts
• Ability to identify the visual features and characteristics in a work of art
• Ability to describe how picture and text placement impacts the viewer and how visual aids assist readers in gaining additional information
• Ability to identify the central ideas and supporting details of informational text
• Ability to list questions about essential elements from informational text (e.g. why, who, where, what, when and how) and identify answers

Art is Education Local Partners (go to home page)

American Alliance for Theatre and Education
http://www.aate.com

American Music Conference
http://www.amc-music.com

Americans for the Arts
http://www.artsusa.org

ARTSEDGE
http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org

ArtsEdNet
http://www.getty.edu/education/

Arts Education Partnership
http://www.aep-arts.org

Arts for Learning
http://www.arts4learning.org

Buckeye Association of School Administrators
http://www.basa-ohio.org

CAPA
http://www.capa.com/columbus/

Cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com

Community Partnership for Arts and Culture
http://www.cultureplan.org/home.html
www.cpacbiz.org

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture
www.cuyahogaartsandculture.org

Educational Theatre Association
http://www.edta.org

eTech Ohio
http://www.osba-ohio.org/AESCtestimony.htm

Grantmakers in the Arts
http://www.giarts.org

Harvard Project Zero
http://www.pz.harvard.edu

INFOhio
http://www.infohio.org

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
http://www.kennedy-center.org

Keep Arts in Schools
www.keepartsinschools.org

Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education
http://www.lcinstitute.org

National Art Education Association
http://www.naea-reston.org

National Dance Education Organization
http://www.ndeo.org

National Association for Music Education
http://www.menc.org

National Endowment for the Arts
www.arts.gov
http://www.nea.gov

Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
http://www.oaae.net

Ohio Artists Online Gallery
http://www.ohioartists.com

Ohio Arts Council
http://www.oac.state.oh.us

Ohio Arts Directory
http://innerart.com/artists.html

Ohio Arts League
http://www.oal.org

Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission
http://www.culture.ohio.gov

Ohio Arts Council
www.oac.state.oh.us

Ohio Association for Gifted Children
http://www.oagc.com

Ohio Association of Community Colleges
http://www.ohiocc.org

Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators
http://www.oaesa.org

Ohio Association of Pupil Services Administrators
http://www.highlandschools.org/oapsa/

Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators
http://www.oassa.org

Ohio Board of Regents
http://www.regents.state.oh.us

Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding
http://www.ohiocoalition.org

Ohio Department of Education
http://www.ode.state.oh.us

Ohio Education Association
http://www.ohea.org

Ohio School Boards Association
http://www.osba-ohio.org/AESCtestimony.htm

Public Broadcasting Service
http://www.pbs.org

VSA Arts
http://www.vsarts.org

U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov

Young Audiences, Inc.
http://www.youngaudiences.org