Arts for Academic Achievement
Project Funding
In 1997 the Minneapolis Public Schools and the Perpich Center for
Arts Education received a four-year grant from the Annenberg Foundation
to develop the Arts for Academic Achievement program.
Although funding from the Annenberg Foundation ended in 2002, the
program continues in the Minneapolis Public Schools today, with support
from the school district as well as local and national funders.
Evaluation
- Early 1998 Minneapolis Public Schools contracted with the Center for Applied
Research and Educational Improvement to evaluate the Arts for Academic
Achievement program
- 2002 Longitudinal study completed
- Fall 2004 Minneapolis Public Schools contracted with CAREI to conduct another
evaluation of Arts for Academic Achievement
- Spring 2007 Second study completed in spring 2007
Evaluation reports from both studies appear on this website.
Program Description
The purpose of Arts for Academic Achievement was to transform
teaching and learning through partnerships between schools and artists
and arts organizations.
The theory of action underlying the initiative was that when teachers
and artists collaboratively develop instruction that integrates arts and
non-arts disciplines, instruction in non-arts disciplines becomes more
effective and student achievement increases.
Unlike arts integration initiatives that focus on partnerships as a
way to restore discipline-based arts instruction to the curriculum, the
purpose of the Arts for Academic Achievement program was to strengthen
instruction and improve student learning in non-arts areas such as
reading and science.
In this program, arts integration was not intended to replace the
comprehensive, sequential arts instruction that was already provided by
trained arts educators in the district.
Instead, the program was based on the belief that students benefit
from a curriculum that includes both disciplinary-based instruction in
the arts and non-arts instruction that is enhanced by integrating the
arts.
The major issue of this program was not about which was better –
disciplinary education in the arts or arts integration – but rather
what, when, and how to use each in order to teach students most
effectively.
More Information
For more information about Arts for Academic Achievement, visit the
program website at:
http://aaa.mpls.k12.mn.us/
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