A few days ago
The New York Times (registration required) featured a great
article about an arts education project at
The Guggenheim Museum. The gist of the article? Research that shows that learning in the arts improves kids' literacy and critical thinking skills. Interestingly, the independent research study of the program showed significant gains for students--but those gains were not detected by standardized tests. Is it possible that standardized tests don't pick up all the ways that students learn?
The Guggenheim project is part of the U.S. Department of Education's wonderful but long-named
Arts In Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant Program. Streetside is a grantee of the same program, which selects model arts education programs for further study. Our research, too has found that greater engagement, learning and communication take place in the classrooms where Streetside does our work.
Hopefully, all these great findings will build support for the idea that arts education is an essential part of the school day.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California State Legislature did something really, really right this year. In the new state budget, they included landmark funding for arts education. An estimated $105 million will go to school districts statewide to bring arts into our schools. That amount is thought to be the largest amount
ever dedicated specifically to arts education by a state.
Funding for arts education in California has been in a
downward spiral. This ongoing funding is an ambitious step toward reversing the trend.
Many schools that currently offer no arts, or very little, will now be able to bring programs like Streetside, as well as art teachers and supplies, to their youth.
Get more details. And for another perspective, click
here.
Welcome to the
Street Blog, part of our brand-new website!
Many thanks to our amazing web team from
The Taproot Foundation. They created a living, breathing site that is chock full of news and stories, just like Streetside! We applaud you, Maneesh, T. Hardy, Susan, Tan, Swati, and
Deirdre.
Streetside has started a blog of our own to bring the community closer to our work. We plan to share what we do day to day in classrooms, celebrate the stories of the young people we work with, and let you in on trends and happenings affecting our work.
Why not make the
Street Blog part of your regular reading? If you use an RSS aggregator like
Bloglines,
NewsGator, or
FeedReader, add us today!
