Arts Education/Advocacy Group Resources
To the Arts Group: I'm sorry I won't be in class on Tuesday to contribute to the next conversation about our action research project. I'll be in Missouri, and reachable by cell phone if there is anything I can add to the discussion. Mike has the number.
The consulting project I am working on runs parallel to our conversation in a few ways:
The central issue is to prove individual, organizational, and societal values sufficiently to earn sustainable public funding (we haven't defined the scope of our interest yet, but typically that would be debated Pre-K, K-12, and Higher Education, although there is a new discussion about PreK-16 that you are all aware about. The bummer is that the systems themselves are in distinct silos for appropriation purposes so the structure is far from changed).
Many benefits that accrue to individuals, organizations, and society are not defined quantitatively or qualitatively in using methods that are agreed-upon by key stakeholders.
The move toward graduation standards serves to constrain the discussion rather than liberate the discussion. That makes communications tricky. When the frame is "failure," and "lack of adequate yearly progress," then the choice is to operate within that frame or attempt to successfully reframe. Not a small job right now with NCLB reauthorization on hold in Congress and a presidential campaign cycle in full swing with not much being said about public education, arts or no arts.
So I went looking around for resources, primarily on the topic of public value. Mark Moore's book, Creating Public Value, is a great overview. In addition (read on if you want to...)
- I discovered the work of the U of M's own Laura Kalambodokis at the Extension Service. There is a rather prolific amount of information attached to her out on the Internet. If you are interested in a quick overview, the SOURCE magazine published by the MN Extension Service has a good summary in the Winter issue that just came out and is available online. I liked a powerpoint I found from Iowa State http://www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/projects/breeze/kalambokidis/kalambokidis.pdf .
For a practical application of system change by organizational leaders, there is a staff white paper written by the U of M's Phil O'Brien and George Morse on how they were able to prove public value increased after a dramatic change in the Extension Service from 87 to 17 regional offices about five years ago. I mention this because fundamentally, a full integration of fine arts into traditional curricula will require innovation in delivery system. I believe it is the far bigger hurdle that has impeded the arts education discussion than lack of resources. If the public school systems earned any size increase in funding today (name your percentage), I assure you there is no magic number that suddenly would find internal stakeholders jumping for joy that arts education could be ranked equally with core subjects.
For $32 (And I haven't purchased this yet pending some other way to get access through the U of M Library System), here is a promising journal article:
The public value of the liberal arts Journal Academic Questions Publisher Springer New York ISSN 0895-4852 (Print) 1936-4709 (Online) Issue Volume 12, Number 4 / September, 1999 Category Symposium: What is Higher Education’s Responsibility to Society? DOI 10.1007/s12129-999-1025-3 Pages 40-44 SpringerLink Date Friday, October 01, 1999Then there is a interesting arts value paper that was written by Moore: www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/ArtsParticipation/CreatingPublicValue.htm
That's it. Keep me posted -- Wendy
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