Important Issues, Ideas, and News:

TRVL IA
Lt. Gov. Patty Judge is Travelling Iowa this summer: Let her know about the arts education that you and your program provide to your community.
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Arts Advocacy Interview
Executive Director Diane Franken and her husband art teacher Joel Franken were interviewed by WVIK  90.3 FM NPR.  The piece will be aired Sunday, June 28th at 1pm. If you miss it on the 28th, you'll be able to access the interview in the archives: Go to WVIK.org and click on the Art Talks brush on the left. Bruce de Gouveia Carter is the host.  He is an artist, poet and teacher. 

Index of Creativity proposed in Massachusetts
Unique legislation is working its way through the MA state legislature that is proposing to develop an Index of Creativity and Innovation for the state's public schools.  If approved, a commission would formulate the criteria for the Index, which would require schools to annually report on ways that students have opportunities to develop their creativity through the arts, humanities, and sciences. Read more...

Jazz Students Get White House Lessons, And A Concert
"Parts of the White House became an elaborate rehearsal room, where students from 8 to 18 absorbed the feeling of jazz and the blues from those who know it best. The entire Marsalis family -- father Ellis and sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason -- participated.... The Obama administration plans to continue its hands-on program in arts education in the future, but it was jazz, America's indigenous art form, that got the first turn in the spotlight." Washington Post 06/16/09
 
Report Card:
Kids' Arts Education In U.S. Not Exactly Stellar
"Music and art instruction in American eighth-grade classrooms has remained flat over the last decade, according to a new survey by the US Department of Education, and one official involved in the survey called student achievement in those subjects 'mediocre.' The survey, released on Monday, was conducted as part of a nationwide test of music and arts achievement administered last year." The New York Times 06/15/09
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The Music Goes Round and Round at the Guggenheim
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Educators, Scientists, and Artists Collaborate at Brain Summit
The 'Learning, Arts, and the Brain' summit, hosted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education as 36 hours packed with new ideas, invigorating exchanges, and the unusual opportunity for educators, artists, and scientists to consider the latest scientific research on how the brain learns and its relationship to actual practices in education...In the past few years, neuroscientists have shown tight correlations that link the early study and serious practice of the performing arts—music, drama, dance—to students' ability to learn in other areas. At this summit, several of the scientists were able to go beyond reporting correlation to show evidence of the 'near transfer' from one part of the brain to another of measurable learning and attention abilities. Read more...

Iowa Core Curriculum Recognized
Iowa, Kansas, Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin were honored at Institute.21, an annual event showcasing the progress states have made toward infusing 21st century skills into core subjects. The Institute highlights the impact 21st century skills initiatives have on student engagement and achievement. Read more...

Empty Canvases and Silent Orchestras?
John Showalter, a student at UNI, interviewed Diane Franken and others on the state of arts education in Iowa.

"The assignment was for a class called 'News Writing for Print Media' with Dr. Christopher Martin.  We were to write enterprise stories; large news stories that combined research and interview to tackle a social/cultural issue.  Among themes in the class were premarital cohabitation, the state of life in Cedar Falls, Iowa, etc.  Some of my favorite classes growing up were music and art classes, and I knew this was something that impacted the entire country.  I also knew it was a subject on which I could gather localized information relating to Iowa to grab an Iowan reader's expections while discussing the state in the country as a whole.  It is a timeless subject yet a very important one.  One may even be reminded of a world without art, such as Fahrenheit 451 or Brave New World and the horrific dystopian futures these portrayed."

John's article...Empty Canvases and Silent Orchestras?

SupportMusic.com Coalition Teleconferences. This group communicates each month. The name says "Music," but the focus of their advocacy is all of the Arts. The minutes of these Teleconferences highlight upcoming events, advocacy ideas and successes.

Read what the New York Times has to say about Rocco Landesman, President Obama's nominee for chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Dr. Barry Larkin… artist, teacher, colleague, friend… passed away unexpectedly on May 28 at his home in Ames, Iowa.

A Memorial Service for Dr. Barry Larkin, was held Friday, June 5 at the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall in the music building. A scholarship fund has been established in lieu of flowers. Contributions to the Dr. Barry Larkin Memorial Percussion Scholarship Fund can be directed to the ISU Foundation, P.O. Box 2230 • Ames, Iowa 50010-2230 • 866.419.6768.

Rigor Redefined--an article that speaks to the arts by Tony Wagner, a writer on the ASCD website.
'Even our “best” schools are failing to prepare students for 21st-century careers and citizenship.' Read more...

Summer Teaching Opportunities through VSA arts of Iowa.  They are looking for art and music teachers with a Master's Degree to assist in co-teaching the class "Soar With the Arts" this summer.  Please e-mail your questions regarding this opportunity to Pat Gantz, Professional Developmetn Coordinator at pat.gantz@iowa.gov or 515.281-3715 or Stephanie Jessen, Executive Director at steph.jessen@iow.gov or 515.281-5839.

Iowa Board of Regents…

In light of our recent meeting with two representatives of the Regents, to communicate the negative impact of their new requirements on students ability to include arts education classes in their schedules, Diane Franken presents you with the following information supplied to IAAE by the Iowa Board of Regents.

Should your Principal or Superintendent or Curriculum Director be nominated for the Arts Administrator of the Year for 2009? Here is the nomination form for 2010. The deadline to submit nominations is June 30, 2009.

The Sound of Music in a Train Station. This one will make you laugh or cry!

Access to Arts Education
published by EdWeek on March 18, 2009

Most elementary teachers report that instructional time for arts education stayed about the same between the school years of 2004-05 and 2006-07, according to a report released last month by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Still, teachers at schools with higher percentages of minorities and those that have been identified as needing improvement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act were more likely to report a decrease in time spent on arts education in their schools.
Four percent of elementary teachers surveyed said arts education increased at their schools, and 7 percent reported a decline.

Stimulus Package Information for Schools
The Iowa Department of Education now has an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) webpage on the DE public website:
http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index.php?option=
com_content&task=view&id=1731&Itemid=1 

It will serve as a central location for all Iowa-specific stimulus package information for school districts and the public. It will include official guidance, memos, allocations, FAQs, contact information and more. Other DE webpages that superintendents might visit for related information (such as allocations) will have links to this page. It will also be featured on the front page under “Highlights” when new information is added.
 

California Study of Arts Education

"Although California’s Education Code calls for all students to be offered a course of study in the four arts disciplines (dance, music, theater, and visual arts), findings from An Unfinished Canvas reveal a large gap between policy and practice."

This study was done by Silicon Valley-based SRI International, one of the world’s leading independent research and technology development organizations. The information may apply to Iowa students, as well.

2009 Arts Education Award for School Boards
The Iowa Association of School Boards, in cooperation with the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, is participating in an awards program to recognize local school boards for outstanding support of the arts in education. The national program is cosponsored by the Kennedy Center/Alliance for Arts Education and the National School Boards Association.

Each member school board in Iowa is given the opportunity to nominate themselves for consideration by IASB and the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, a statewide alliance of the professional arts education associations. The two organizations will together select the one Iowa school board to compete at the national level for this award.

The state nomination deadline is October 20, 2009. Nominations must be received in the IASB office by that date.

The selection criteria and nomination form are located here in a Word file or here as a PDF.

The Music is Revolution Foundation provides $500 mini-grants for projects in Music Education. Deadlines: Jan. 15, April 15, and Oct. 15.

IAAE Awarded IAC Identity Development Program Grant…

As Executive Director of IAAE, I would like to announce that we have recently received a grant from the Iowa Arts Council.  IAC funds will be used to improve the quality of IAAE’s communication with Iowa’s community of arts educators and stakeholders as to the resources we provide.  The marketing materials develop with this funding will make IAAE’s resource offerings more accessible to the arts education community including professional development opportunities, issue updates, and coordination among arts organizations. 
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