- Schools without Regents exams cite success amid shifting tides, from Gotham Schools
- Five More States Get NCLB Waivers, from Education Week
- Health-Care Ruling Has Implications for Education Spending, from 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.
June 29, 2012 by Steve
June 27, 2012 by Steve
Diane Ravitch responds, on her blog, to a piece in Education Week that asserts that multiple-choice standardized tests are sufficient to assess arts education:
I understand and embrace the idea of cultural literacy, but I don’t think that multiple-choice standardized tests are the best way to teach it or to assess it. If a teacher of music wants students to understand the differences between Mozart and Schoenberg, the best way to do that is to listen to their music and discuss the differences. If the teacher of the arts wants students to understand the differences between classical Greek and Roman architecture, the best way to do it is to view it and discuss it.
June 27, 2012 by Steve
- Senate Reaches Deal on Student Loans, from Inside Higher Ed
- Common Core Legislation: How Did Your State Do?, from Education Week
June 21, 2012 by admin
He sat less than two feet away, with just the bare table between us. Everything seemed to be going well. We were talking about the value of creativity and innovation in education, commerce, and culture, and how incorporating creativity principles into curriculum development would improve school culture across his district. There were fervent nods of agreement, as we seemed unified in our conviction of the importance of creativity in developing twenty-first-century learning skills.
Read More...May 31, 2012 by Steve
- The Chronicle of Double Standards, from Education Week
- California neglects education of English learners, lawsuit claims, from the Los Angeles Times
- Students Press for Action on Immigration, from The New York Times
May 31, 2012 by Steve
Overview:
The Fordham Institute recently released “Pricing the Common Core: How Much Will Smart Implementation Cost?”, a report analyzing different methods of adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and how much each would cost.
May 30, 2012 by Steve
19 States Approved So Far; 17 States and Washington, D.C., Currently Under Review; Other States Can Still Apply
The Obama administration approved eight additional states for flexibility from key provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in exchange for state-developed plans to prepare all students for college and career, focus aid on the neediest students, and support effective teaching and leadership. Today's announcement brings the number of states with waivers to 19. Eighteen additional applications are still under review.
May 30, 2012 by Steve
- Why Romney, Obama are education twins, from The Washington Post
- Romney discusses education policy and class size in Philadelphia, from the Los Angeles Times
May 25, 2012 by Steve
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino joins Laura Perille, Executive Director of EdVestors, in supporting the Boston Public Schools Arts Expansion Initiative. The Initiative recently announced its receipt of a $4 million Wallace grant:
May 23, 2012 by Steve
- Romney Campaign Focuses on Education Policy, from Grantmakers in the Arts
- Rules Proposed for District Race to Top Contest, from Education Week
- District Grant Contest Unveiled by Department of Education, from The New York Times