From Alyson Klein, writing for Education Week:
Arts Education
Grantmakers in the Arts holds arts education as one of its core funding focus areas. GIA is committed to invigorate funding and support for arts education within federal policy and defend that every resident has access to the arts as part of a well-rounded, life-long education. In 2012, GIA formed the Arts Education Funders Coalition (AEFC), an interest group within GIA, to address identified needs in comprehensive arts education and to strengthen communication and networking among arts education funders. Advised by a committee of Coalition members, GIA engaged the services of Washington, DC-based Penn Hill Group, a firm with education policy expertise and experience working with diverse education groups to research, develop, and promote educational policy strategies.
Most recently, GIA worked with Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) on the development of the Arts Education for All Act, the broadest arts education policy bill ever introduced in Congress.
In Spring 2021, GIA influenced the U.S. Department of Education to highlight the importance of equitable access to arts and culture to the process of reopening schools and to make explicit how racialized this access was prior to the pandemic and that addressing this inequity is essential to effective reopening.
Grantmakers in the Arts is delighted that in 2020 Congress passed the Supporting Older Americans Act, including our recommendations that the Administration on Aging include the arts in the issues to be identified and addressed and be included among supportive services for older Americans.
GIA has successfully lobbied to include arts-related provisions in the Child Care for Working Families Act, which proposes to better help low-income families pay for childcare and expand high-quality state preschool options.
GIA is extremely proud of our work over the past several years on raising the visibility of the arts in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in its legislative form. GIA and Penn Hill Group continue these advocacy efforts around the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), guiding GIA members and their grantees in advocating for new or expanded arts programs at their local schools and districts.
December 3, 2015 by Janet
The US House of Representatives passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act conference report last night, December 2, 2015, by a strong vote – 359 to 64. The Senate is expected to take the bill up next week.
This bill is a big win for arts education. Specifically, this bill would:
November 2, 2015 by Steve
Arts Education Partnership has released The Arts Leading the Way to Student Success: A 2020 Action Agenda for Advancing the Arts in Education. The document serves as the blueprint for the collective work of the Arts Education Partnership for the next five years. This and other important information is all part of the new AEP ArtsEd Digest.
October 15, 2015 by admin
The time has come for the arts to pay overdue attention to teaching artistry.
Read More...October 14, 2015 by SuJ'n
Theatre Forward released a report, "Unmasking Business Success: Executive Perceptions of Arts Engagement and Workforce Skills." The research commissioned from Shugoll Research found that executives believe there is a strong link between an person's exposure to arts education and their potential for professional success.
October 14, 2015 by Steve
The Bush Foundation is making several major investments to advance ideas to improve postsecondary success for students of all backgrounds in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native nations that share the same geography. The new investments will help expand strategies with a proven record of success and launch new ideas with potential to transform the education system.
October 5, 2015 by Stan Hutton
In June 2015, Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD), California's largest K-6 district serving nearly 30,000 children, announced its decision to reinstate in-school visual and performing arts (VAPA) education at every school. With a $15 million commitment divided over three years, the district has designed a framework that uses sequential arts instruction for every student to free classroom teachers for collaboration and planning time.
September 24, 2015 by Steve
School principals are “invaluable multipliers of teaching and learning in the nation’s schools,” according to “Developing Excellent School Principals to Advance Teaching and Learning: Considerations for State Policy,” a new report commissioned by The Wallace Foundation and written by Paul Manna, a political scientist at the College of William & Mary, as well as an expert on state education policy.