Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts: Collaboration, Politics, and Policy

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Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts:Collaboration, Politics, and PolicyMary Ann StankiewiczPublished online: 24 Mar 2010.

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Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts: Collaboration, Politics, and Policy

MARY ANN STANKIEWICZ

F Tom 1988 through 1995, arts education in the Sarasota County, Florida, School Dis- tlrict faced a crisis. The position of fine arts coordinator was

eliminated. Site-based management contributed to program and budget inequities. Art was not perceived as essential to children’s well-being. An apparent lack of pditical support made it easy for the scbroql board to eliminate from the elementary and middle schools art and music clabses taught by specialists

In response to this crisis, the Arts Bducaboq Task Force of the County Arts Council developed an advocacy campaign to restore art and music teachers to scbools. Volunteers, arts educators, and community arts organizations worked together to draft a message about the1 importance of the arts in education, Community art organizations demonstruted their support of curriculum-based art instruction by qualified specialist teachers, explaining that their programs could only supplement, not replace, ychool arts instruction. A new superintendent of schools formed a think tank of school and community representdives, which became the Community/Schools Partnership for the A r t s (C/SIPA).

Guided by co-chairs from the school district arid the arts council, C/SPA provided leadership to strengthen arts edu-

cation. Not only did art and music teachers return to all schools, but their num- bers also increased, and some schools added dance and theatre as well. C/SPA developed a booklet and multimedia presentation that informed principals about the value of arts education, described expectations for school art programs based on state and national standards, and provided guidelines for program evaluation. In 1997, C/SPA began brainstorming with representatives of all the groups with a stake in arts education: arts teachers, students, parents, community artists, and arts organizations. The resulting long-range plan for world-class arts education was approved in concept by the school board in April 1999. By avoiding factions and building trust, col- laborating to develop a vision of arts education that could be communicated to all, and taking action to solve problems, C/SPA changed public perceptions of art education in Sarasota.’

The story of Sarasota County’s Com- munity/School Partnership for the A r t s illustrates three ways that national standards and related initiatives can serve local policies and politics. First, local groups can cite these national initiatives to affirm the importance of the arts, a kind of argument from authority. Sec- ond, the National Standards offer models of broad goals for local arts education programs. Finally, the national

Opportunity-to-Learn Standards offer benchmarks against which local conditions can be measured.

The Arts and Educational Change A number of recent publications have

recounted success stories of communities and school districts where arts education and educational change have gone hand in hand (Gaining the Arts Advantage 1999; Hutchens and Pankratz 2000, Wilson 1997). Goodlad (2000) distinguishes two approaches to educational change-the linear model of reform, characterized in part by such initiatives as national standards and assessments for accountability, and an ecological model that he labels “renewal” (Goodlad 1999). Goodlad defines school reform as “a set of initiatives dri- ven by individuals or groups outside of what or who is to be reformed” but implemented by those inside who may or may not agree to the usefulness of the proposed change (2000, 12). Education- al renewal, on the other hand, is con- ducted by individuals and groups within schools “to improve their circumstances because they see it as the right thing to do and want to do it” (Goodlad 2000, 12). A third possibility, demonstrated by the story of Sarasota’s Community/ School Partnership for the Arts, com- bines outside change forces with inter- nal desires for renewal.

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Although the approach used in Sara- sota was informed by educational theo- ry as well as national policy initiatives, it did not follow one pure theoretical path. CJnlike many approaches to educational change devised by educators, C/SPA did not treat schools in isolation but instead was grounded in a particular community with a unique arts culture. Unlike top-down policy initiatives, C/SPA actively involved a range of interested parties developing partner- ships between the arts community and the schools. Any single stakeholder might wear multiple hats. Artists, teachers, and community volunteers were also parents. Although my story about arts education change in Sarasota will, I hope, read as a coherent narrative, the process was messy and discouraging at times. Trust was not easily achieved. Key participants left: however, new participants brought different strengths and insights. This is not, therefore, a recipe for improving arts education but rather a story of how one school district struggled with issues of policy and politics.

The Context Sarasota, recently selected “best

small city” in the nation by Money magazine (Pachetti and Mirabella 2000), is located on Florida’s Gulf coast, about fifty miles south of Tampa. In Florida, each school district serves a single county. Sarasota County has a population of over 300,000. The largest communities in the county are the cities of Sarasota in the north and Venice toward the southern end. The winter influx of “snowbirds” can double the population of these communities; per- sons over age sixty-five constitute one- third of the population (County 2001). Less than 18 percent of the county population is under twenty years of age. The average family income is $46,000, with an average taxable value of proper- ty at $580,000 (A Closer Look 1998). Sarasota County is thus both older and richer than most communities across the United States and wealthier than most other counties in Florida.

Thirty-two public schools serve over 35,000 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. In the mid-1990s

these included twenty elementary schools, six middle schools, four high schools, two exceptional schools, and five alternative schools. Sarasota has had a reputation for spending more than average on special education at both the low and high ends of the spectrum. One of the two schools for exceptional students, Oak Park, serves students with severe physical, developmental, and emotional disabilities. Pine View School, on the other hand, is a magnet school for students in grades 2-12 who have been identified as academically gifted by parent request, teacher recommendations, and a series of psychologi- cal and intelligence tests. Alternative secondary schools include a program for pregnant teens as well as programs to encourage school completion. Book- er High School, which serves the north- ern, traditionally African American section of the county, houses the district’s Visual and Performing A r t s magnet program. In response to district implementation of site-based management during the 1980s and school choice in the 1990s, other high schools have added magnet programs to attract students outside their immediate neighborhoods. In addition, three charter schools are offi- cially part of the district. In 1998 a coalition of four local foun-

dations with the local newspaper and its twenty-four-hour cable news channel paid a private company to conduct an audit of the county’s schools. The audit, by School Match of Westerville, Ohio, compared Sarasota’s schools with districts having similar demographics drawn from a nationwide database. The report commended Sarasota in a dozen areas, including efforts to establish a comprehensive arts education program through collaboration with community arts organizations under the leadership of C/SPA (A Closer Look 1998). Con- cluding that the district did very well by college-bound students, the report recommended that more attention be given to low-achieving students who are often from low-income and minority families. The School Match audit demonstrated community interest in the schools, pre- vailing norms of efficiency and rational planning, as well as the kind of critical

attention that the local news media give public institutions.

Media advertisements directed toward prospective visitors describe Sarasota County as Florida’s cultural coast. The wealth of arts organizations at all levels from amateur through professional helps attract retirees to Saraso- ta for all or part of the year. At least thirty-nine arts organizations serve the county; many have educational programs. The Sarasota Ballet’s program for disadvantaged youth, Dance: The Next Generation, provides ballet training as well as academic support to encourage students from low-income families to complete high school and seek postsecondary education. Dance- sport Theatre, a more recent addition to the community, stages performances of ballroom dancing and has provided dance classes in middle schools. Fiim programs include Project Black Cinema and the Sarasota Film Society, both of which stage annual festivals. Musical groups include choral societies, folk music, jazz, opera, and the West Coast Symphony. The symphony’s youth orchestra provides music instruction to many young people during the school year and through intensive summer programs. The Sarasota Opera brings school children to performances and offers summer youth opera camps, as well as staging a children’s opera each year. The Jazz Club offers scholarships and has supported the creation of an interdisciplinary jazz curriculum developed and piloted with the aid of county teachers (Hentoff 2001).

Theatre includes professional dinner theatre, community theatres, and the graduate theatre program for Florida State University at the Asolo Center for the Performing Arts. The Asolo is also a professional repertory theatre company with a winter season of performances and special programs for schools. Sev- eral theatre companies offer acting classes for young people, including Florida Studio Theatre whose write-a- play program involves school children across the southeastern states. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of An, Florida’s state art museum, houses a major collection of Dutch Baroque art,

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changing exhibitions of contemporary and othei visual arts, a circus museum, the historic home of John Ringling, and a historirr roqe garden. The Ringling Museuin was a training site for the Florida Institute for Art Education, cosponhored by the Getty Education Institute during the 1980s and 1990s (Roucher and LoVano-Kerr 1995; Wil- son 1997). The museum’s education team involved teachers and students across the state in planning educational program\ tor temporary exhibitions and the permunent collection. The Ringling School ot Art and Design, a private college independent of the museum, has its own gallery, which features changing exhibitio~is of contemporary art. The school han offered summer and Satur-

for children, evening classes for adult\ from the community, and special courses for art teachers.

These institutions represent only a fraction (11 the kinds of arts organizations located in Sarasota. Others include a gallery at the Selby Botanical Gar- dens, Circus Sarasota (which offers winter performances and master classes), a poczry theatre, and more. Repre- sentatives from many of these arts groups purticipate in the County A r t s Council’\ Arts Education Task Force, meeting regularly to develop and maintain comriiunication among arts education providers, to make recommendations on arts education to the Arts Council’s Board of Directors, and to provide leadership for advocacy and support of arts education in the schools and community.

The Challenge When arts education in Sarasota

County schools declined, in the late 1980s ant! early 1990s, some specific problems immediately arose. In 1988 the positim of District Fine A r t s Spe- cialist wa) eliminated. About the same time, the district introduced site-based management, assigning each school’s principal and advisory council responsibility for managing budget and staff. Without leadership for the arts in the central administration, the district music and visual arts teachers “were devastat- ed” (Lippart 1999,34). Meanwhile, state

support for K-I2 education declined, eliminated entirely, however. Band making local budget decisions even teachers would retain their positions, more difficult. The county had a number and eight itinerant arts consultants of strengths in arts education: written art would travel from school to school and music curricula which the state arts helping classroom teachers integrate the supervisor recommended as models for arts curricula into other subjects. Sec- other districts, emerging leadership from ondary band and orchestra programs, as experienced art and music teachers, well as the visual and performing arts advocacy from the Arts Council, and magnet program, were untouched by the opportunities for professional develop- budget cuts. As an administrator who ment through participation in the Florida was present during discussion prior to Institute for Arts Education. Nonethe- the board meeting recalled, “The con-

eaders of the community‘s arts L organizations countered that their programs should be supplementary resources for students, enriching, never replacing, the arts curricula taught in the sc hook I

less, art and music teachers in Sarasota schools found themselves in increasing- ly precarious positions.

During the spring of 1995, music and art teachers developed advocacy skills. Through the Sarasota Association for Music Education and the Sarasota Art Education Association and with the aid of the A r t s Education Task Force of the Arts Council, arts teachers were trained to speak to their school-based shared decision-making teams so that programs would not be cut. Community volunteers and arts teachers planned a presentation on the importance of arts education for the school board. Because the superintendent of schools had recently announced his resignation and the district’s budget for 1995-96 was being prepared, the time seemed right to remind board members of the benefits of the arts.

Unfortunately, during the same board meeting, administrators presented a pro- posal to eliminate art and music teachers in elementary and middle schools and use the resulting savings in salaries to hire more classroom teachers. The intent was both to keep staff costs level and to reduce high student-teacher ratios. Art and music were not to be

sensus of the administration was that the arts, at least at the elementary and middle school levels, were not essential to the child’s well-being and did not support or draw support from powerful political interests” (Hamilton 1999, 39). Physical education in elementary and middle schools, by contrast, escaped any budget cuts because of its relation- ship to high school athletics and recog- nized political clout.

When schools opened in fall 1995, the itinerant consultants found their assignments almost unmanageable. Some teachers announced that classroom aides would provide actual art instruction based on information passed from the consultant to the teacher to the aide. Other teachers realized that they could not effectively teach the special- ized content of the art and music curricula, nor did they want to develop the necessary content knowledge and skills. Community groups protested the removal of arts teachers, and the Arts Council led an advocacy campaign to return arts teachers to the schools. When the new district superintendent began work in January 1996, advocates for the arts lost no time in stating their concerns. A subcommittee of the arts edu-


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cation task force met with key district administrators and school board members to identify ideas and strategies for improving art and music instruction.

The new superintendent introduced the Campaign for Excellence, a plan for educational change through community involvement. He established collaborative groups of school personnel and community volunteers to serve as think tanks, providing leadership in specific areas of the curriculum. The arts education task force members who had been meeting with district representatives formed the core of a think tank for the arts. Reflecting on the inadequacy of their previous advocacy efforts, the task force chose “to become proactive, to crystallize [their] position in writing, and to assert vigorously that the school district has a clear responsibility in the area of arts education” (Rodgers 1999, 41). Rather than reacting to each budget or political crisis that threatened the arts in county schools-as the Task Force name implied-the group decided to plan for the future of arts education by working in partnership with the schools. This represented a radical change. In the past, task force meetings brought representatives of community arts organizations together to discuss their concerns as providers of supplementary and enrichment programs. Although district art and music teachers were often invited to attend task force meetings, the meetings were typically scheduled during school hours. At the most, the task force planned a year’s agenda; more often the group responded to the newest crisis or the need that seemed most urgent.

Each arts group had its own approach to arts education. Some members of the task force were involved in discipline- based art education and had worked with or for the Getty Center for Educa- tion in the A r t s and its regional insti- tutes. One member had worked with Lincoln Center’s arts education programs. Representatives of the performing arts outnumbered visual artists and art museum educators; musicians spoke about their art differently than did dancers or theatre people. Deciding to draft one written statement that all task force members could agree on required


translation from professional jargon into ordinary language, as well as compromise between supporters of expressive approaches to arts education and advocates of more comprehensive, structured approaches. The resulting statement identified the arts community as a “special interest group” with a focus on the benefits arts education can offer all children and the goal of working with the county school district to provide balanced and fiscally responsible education for students (Rodgers 1999, 42).

The third decision, to reiterate the school district’s responsibility for arts education, grew from the resolve of all the arts organizations not to use their educational resources to replace the missing art and music teachers. Some administrators had reportedly suggested that curriculum-based arts education programs might be replaced by local arts organizations and by requiring classroom teachers to integrate the arts with other subjects with help from the eight consultants. Leaders of the community’s arts organizations countered that their programs should be supplementary resources for students, enriching, never replacing, the arts curricula taught in the schools. The executive director of the symphony declared that its education programs would stop rather than replace school music programs (Nancy Roucher, letter to author, 23 January 2001). Underlying these decisions was the assertion that all children should benefit from arts education, not just those whose parents could pay for and transport them to after-school or Saturday classes.

Forming a Community/Schools Partnership

Building on the foundation of communication and collaboration laid by the small group of arts community and school representatives who met in spring 1996, the district invited a larger group to begin meeting after school reopened in the fall. With guidance from a facilitator who had worked with the school district on other projects, the new group selected a name, then developed both mission and vision state- ments (figure 1). Initial work was

grounded in the model for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) adopted by the district.* Again, this process required translation between the professional languages used by educators and those used by various arts. During the process trust developed slowly. Leacler- ship during 1996-97 was shared by an assistant principal and a volunteer rep- resenting the arts community; in subse- quent years, the co-chairs were the assistant superintendents for curriculum and the Arts Council staff member in charge of arts education. Having per- sons fully employed by the two institutions share leadership of C/SPA was crucial to the success of the partnership. Each person understood the larger pic- ture within the school system or the arts community; they had authority to com- mit resources necessary to accomplish- ing tasks. In spite of moves toward site- based management in the school district, enough hierarchy remained to make the clout of a popular, wise, and dynamic central administrator indis- pensable to success.

After brainstorming ideas for improving arts education, C/SPA members agreed on three priorities: (a) identifying model teachers who could demonstrate the kind of art and music instruction desired for Sarasota schools; (b) collect-

FIGURE 1. Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts (CISPA) Vision and Mission

CISPA Vision

The Community/School Partnership for the Arts envisions every student participating in a quality arts program taught through a balanced curriculum based on national standards with school and community collaboration.

CISPA Mission

The mission of the Community/ School Partnership for the Arts is to provide leadership in the continual development, implementation, and celebration of education in, about, and through the arts for all students in Sarasota County.

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ing data cm the current status of art and music in 4chools; and (c) implementing consislenr site-based arts curricula throughout the district. Even at this early stage, minutes from meetings reveal the intent to tlcvelop a vision and long-range plan. At almost every meeting, however, more iminediate issues arose. To respond to these needs, one group took responsibility for planning year two, identifying needs and implications for budget and staffing during the next school year. Dur- ing the course of the year, the first priority-idem ifying model teachers- changed 10 a broader goal-identifying best practices and standards for an “ideal” am education program.

The other priorities evolved as well. Data collected by music and art teachers revealed that elementary art school programs differed throughout the county. One eleinentary school provided thirty minutes c ~ t visual art per week; two provided more than twice that amount. The range for music was just as dramatic, although the district average in each art form was about forty-five minutes per week. Some schools lacked certified art or music teachers, even though the district had authorized replacement of those let go in 1995. A survey of art and music teachers, planned by a team of arts people with aid from the district testing arid evaluation oftice, revealed that somc teachers did not follow the district curricula for their art form. Later, inequities in funding visual arts programs were discovered.

As research revealed the reality of arts education in Sarasota County schools, C/SPA ntembers concluded that they needed a resource packet to tell principals what good art and music programs should look like, set forth minimum expectations for art and music during the next school year, provide guidelines for evaluating each school’s programs, and describe possible obstacles to implementation as well as ways to overcome them. Thr group also decided to focus on continirity and articulation in the arts from elementary to middle to high schools and to make strengthening art and music programs delivered by specialists a priority for 1997-98. In planning for year two, C/SPA members

developed both low-budget and higher- budget plans, reflecting the partnership’s desire to work with the district rather than advocate without accountability. C/SPA also invited district budget and teacher recruitment administrators to discuss their work with the group so that everyone could better understand how the schools worked and the challenges that they faced.

As C/SPA members struggled to bal- ance their changing priorities, long- range planning, and finding solutions for immediate problems, they also had to develop a workable organization. After much discussion, the core group decided to keep membership open but to establish committees charged with specific re~ponsibilities.~ Smaller working committees could focus on their tasks without constantly reopening conceptu- al issues, a problem that the full membership had been facing as meeting attendance varied. Each appointed committee chair would serve on a steering committee. The steering committee would meet monthly to establish priorities and respond to reports from each working committee. Two or three times a year, open meetings would be held so that new committee members could be recruited and representatives from the district and the arts community could learn what progress had been made.

CISPA’S first big collaborative prod- uct-the principal’s handbook-posi- tioned local efforts in relation to the larger context of national education reforms, local educational changes, and national approaches to arts education. The handbook addressed three ques- tions. What should world class arts education look like? How can we implement comprehensive arts education in our school? How do we assess the quality of our arts education program? In the handbook arts education in Sarasota County was aligned with state and national standards as well as with the school district’s change effort, the Cam- paign for Excellence.

In keeping with the evolving organi- zational structure of the group, handbook subcommittees were given specific tasks. The core group reviewed each section and returned it to the writers for

editing. Teachers, administrators, artists, and other members of the arts community worked side by side. The initial draft of a vision for how Sarasota students who had participated in K-I2 arts education should look at graduation was written by an elementary visual arts teacher. An experienced elementary music educator introduced a “wellness check” for program evaluation (Linde- man 1997) that visual art teachers adapted for their subject. The same music educator drew everyone’s attention to the importance of the national Opportunity-to-Learn Standards for the A r t s (1995). When C/SPA developed a list of minimal expectations for art and music, the Opportunity-to-Learn Stan- dards served as a benchmark and goal.

As C/SPA entered its second full year, members of the group had made progress toward addressing the following initial challenges: (a) developing a common vocabulary and goals; (b) learning each other’s institutional culture; (c) balancing long-range planning with the need for immediate, specific actions; and (d) informing community arts organizations about district curricula and national standards. During 1996-97, the organization had collected base line data on music and visual arts education in the county schools, worked to define best practices for arts education in the district, planned minimum expectations for year two with a focus on continuity and articulation, and, last but not least, begun long-range planning toward a model for arts education in county schools. One major achievement was the addition of a fine arts coordinator to central administration, the result of recommendations from C/SPA. This position, jointly funded by the school district and a local foundation, allowed an experienced music teacher to become a district leader.

Communication continued to be an important part of C/SPA’s work. At a workshop for district music and visual arts teachers in June 1997, members of C/SPA reported on their progress, re- questing support from the teachers. The principal’s handbook and multimedia presentation communicated the emerging vision for arts education to school


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leaders, district administrators, and, in a special presentation during an October 1997 meeting, to school board members.

Just over two years later, in January 1999, C/SPA members presented a long range plan for arts education to the county school board. Developed through brainstorming and consultation with arts teachers, classroom teachers, administrators, artists, community arts organizations, students, and parents, the long range plan was formally endorsed by the school board on April 20, 1999, as a working definition of cultural literacy for the district’s master plan. No funding was requested for the plan. In keeping with the attitude of partnership, C/SPA pursued grants and worked to piggyback it5 initiatives on district and national priorities, such as early childhood education, where funds were available.

The long range plan had the following four major components aligned with eight goals:

I . collaboration between schools and community;

2. curriculum, instruction, and assessment (goals 1-4);

3. staffing and professional development (goals 5-6); and

4. resources-human, financial, time, instructional, facilities and equipment (goals 7-8).

The new district fine arts coordinator and a volunteer from the arts community developed the components and the eight goals from summaries of the community brainstorming process, translating artistic visions into language consistent with the district’s educational planning. The goals were phrased in terms of what the schools would do with the district as the primary audience. Sarasota County Schools proposed to develop and implement curricula in five art forms: dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and media (a new initiative including film, video, and digital media which remains in the planning stages; see figure 2).

Following the Board workshop and endorsement, C/SPA members were asked to &aft language for an arts education policy to be included in the revised board policies. In five years, the Community/Schools Partnership for the

X Arts Education Policy Review

FIGURE 2. Goals of C/SPA’s Long Range Plan for Arts Educa- tion, January 1999

1. Sarasota County Schools will develop and implement curricula in five art forms: dance, media, music, theatre, and visual arts.

2. Sarasota County Schools will infuse the arts into all facets of school life and into all subjects.

3. Sarasota County Schools will develop and implement innovative programs, including visual and performing arts magnet programs, to enhance standards-based courses, expanding the mnge of experiences available to students and teachers. 4. Sarasota County Schools will

systematically assess student learning in the arts and regularly evaluate arts education programs.

5. Sarasota County Schools will recruit, hire, and retain highly qualified, certified arts teachers in all art forms.

6. Sarasota County Schools will provide regular professional development so that teachers can help their students meet national and sunshine state standards in the arts.

7. Sarasota County Schools will regularly address needs and resources for arts education in district planning, budgeting, and communication processes.

8. Sarasota County Schools will, with community support, provide equitable and adequate human, financial and instructional resources, facilities, equipment, and supplies for education in all five art forms.

A r t s had reached its initial goal of creat- ing a long-range plan for arts education, in the process establishing a power base for the subject. No longer would the arts face budget cuts while other subjects remained untouched. The good news was that, when yet another budget crisis was announced in spring 1999, the arts were treated as equal to other subjects. Of course, the bad news was that the arts were treated as equal to other subjects, potentially open to reductions in funding. However, administrators in curriculum and instruction had learned to believe in the value of arts education for all students; therefore, they worked to keep funding for the arts stable in spite of annual funding crises.

Factors for Success Several factors contributed to the suc-

cess of C/SPA. First, from the beginning both school district personnel and representatives from community arts organizations agreed to work together for curriculum-based arts education in the schools. When Sarasota lost elementary and middle-level arts teachers, the arts groups did not offer to step in and replace curriculum-based, in-school arts education with afterschool enrichment. As art and music were restored, the minimum expectations for successful programs required implementation of the district curricula so that all students in all schools would have equal access to comprehensive art and music education. While the long-range plan moved forward, dance and theatre began nieet- ing to develop cumculum guidelines for their art forms.

Second, communication and trust were built through collaboration. The process of working together was often difficult, but C/SPA members were committed to improving arts education. Members who entered the process with differing philosophies of arts education agreed to compromise for the common goal. However, these compromises tended to be inclusive rather than exclu- sive, combining the best from each approach. Members communicated through e-mails and phone calls between meetings. Draft documents were circulated for suggestions and edited to respond to comments. The group worked to avoid any us-versus- them attitudes. Respect for each person’s strengths and the varying needs of schools and arts organizations developed through the working process.

Third, although some participants moved, changed jobs, or left for other rea- sons, C/SPA retained a core of active participants. In spite of having a new or acting superintendent almost annually, mid-level administrators maintained their commitment to C/SPA, building for the future through consistent collaboration.

Fourth, some core C/SPA members had participated in national arts education initiatives, including the planning group for the National Assessment of Educational Progress in the Arts. The

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music teacher who became the district's fine art5 cioordinator was not only famil- iar with <rate and national standards but had received leadership training while president of the Florida Music Educa- tion Assticiation. Connecting plans for arts edlucimon in Sarasota with national trends helped us feel a part of a larger endeavor and helped school board member\ realize the significance of C/SPA's work. At the same time, we worked to connect CISPA'S long range plan with the whool district's plans for continuou< quality improvement and with the 2rts Council's development of a cultural master plan.

Fifth, rio one person was the instiga- tor. Leadprship wa\ shared among Arts Council $taff, key volunteers, and the school district's arts coordinator. The district's mistant superintendent provided extcnsive support, using her political clout to encourage principals to support ants education in their schools and providing small amounts of money or staff support when needed.

Sixth, tlhe long-range plan was developed after data documenting the current status ot x t s education in each school had been collected. Knowing what was the case hefore envisioning what might become pie case kept ongoing planning specific alid on target. The data will provide valuible benchmarks for evaluating the proglrths made in the coming years.

Seventh, although members of the Steering Committee had their own visions for world-class arts education in Sarasota. the process of brainstorming toward the long-range plan was wide- ranging and inclusive. Each group of stakeholders was invited to at least one brainstoriliing session. All ideas were recorded and taken seriously as the long-range plan developed.

Eighth. persistence was a key virtue. In spite ol discouraging setbacks, budget reduction#, changes in superintendents, and pwblrc arguments over schools, C/SPA kept on running. Although progress often seemed slow, the group kept working tvward long-range goals.

Finally, in a district with site-based management, principals must be not only educational leaders but also advocates for arts education. Some principals

came to this position naturally; others needed some convincing. Support came from the central administrators who supervised principals, holding them accountable for arts programs in their schools just as for other subjects, per- mitting categorical flexibility in budgets so that money could be used for the arts, and encouraging celebrations of individ- ual school's artistic achievements.

Continuing Challenges Although Sarasota is in the process of

including arts education in its school board policies, victory has not been declared. The district lost its most recent superintendent; personnel changes have occurred at the A r t s Council. Like most other states, Florida has less money available than schools need. Long-range plans must address the real- ities of new policies for schools, limited funding, and personnel changes. A r t s education cannot be left to grow by itself; it must be nurtured carefully with regular reports to the school board and publicity about accomplishments. Sup- porters must keep their eyes open for initiatives that can include arts education. For example, during the 1999- 2000 school year, an application for charter district status from the state offered the opportunity to make the arts a central part of the plan. Although the application failed, persistent efforts to include the arts in district reform initiatives have led to a new standard of excellence for the arts in the strategic plan for the continuing Campaign for Excellence (Nancy Roucher, letter to author, 23 January 2001).

Arts educators in the district need professional development not only to help them enhance their artistic skills and keep up with content knowledge in their art forms, but also to strengthen their pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman 1987). One of the major challenges in many schools is scheduling. A r t s teachers must work proactively and positively to understand how scheduling is done at their school. In some cases, art or music teachers may need to draft proposed schedules to help others understand how the arts can be made accessible for all students.

CISPA members offer three pieces of advice to others planning districtwide arts education. First, build a coalition between the arts community and the schools. Second, increase educators' awareness that they are part of the local arts community and can give support as well as ask for it. Third, help members of the arts community understand the nature and value of sequential, school- based arts education taught by certified arts educators.

Notes

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the National Art Education Associ- ation annual conference, Los Angeles, Calif., April 1, 2000. I want to thank Wilma Hamilton, Cindy Lippert, and Nancy Rouch- er, my CISPA colleagues in Sarasota, for their comments on the manuscript, and Michael Fratangelo, one of my students at Penn State, for his suggestions.

2. CQI is a variation of Total Quality Man- agement; see Weaver, 1992.

3. The committee structure continues to evolve. During the 2000-2001 school year, C/SPA has four committees: (1) Scheduling, to plan alternatives for schools and confer with principals; (2) Equipment, to write grants that will provide equipment that teachers need; (3) Media, to produce a video as a public relations tool for CISPA and for advocacy of arts education, as well as to begin curriculum planning with media teachers; and (4) Special Projects. This last committee is working to help at-risk students with an interest in the arts stay in classes and is designing programs, such as Arts Passport, which will provide free admissions (Nancy Roucher, personal communication, 23 January 2001).

References

A closer look at Sarasota County Schools. Sarasota Herald Tribune, 10 July 1998.

Consortium of National Arts Education Associations. 1995. Opportunity-to-learn standards for arts education. Reston, Va.: Music Educators National Conference.

Consortium of National Arts Education Associations. 1994. National standards for arts education. Reston, Va.: Music Educators National Conference.

County: Sarasota, Fla., in GeoFacts Demo- graphics Library-County Data. 2000. At: <http://site.conway.com/ez/Getez County/cfm?state=FL>

Gaining the arts advantage: Lessons from school districts that value arts education. 1999. Washington, D.C.: President's Com- mittee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Vol. 102, No. 6, JulyIAugust 2001 9

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Goodlad, John I. 1999. Flow, eros, and ethos in education renewal, Phi Delta Kappan 80, no. 8,571-578.

. 2000. Educational renewal and the arts. Arts Education Policy Review 101, no. 4 (March/April): 11-14.

Hamilton, Wilma. 1999. Back from the brink: An administrator's perspective. Teaching Music 6, no. 4 (February): 38- 39.59.

Hentoff, Nat. History lessons via jazz. The Wall Street Journal, 5 January 2001.

Hutchens, James, and David B. Pankratz (Guest Eds.). 2000. Symposium on educational change and the arts. Arts Edu- cation Policy Review 101, no. 4 (March/ April).

Lindeman, Carolynn A. 1997. Wellness check. Music Educators Journal 83, no. 5 (January): 4-5.

Lippert, Cindy. 1999. Back from the brink: A teacher's perspective. Teaching Music 6, no. 4 (February): 34-36.

National Assessment Governing Board, 1994. Arts education assessment frame- work. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govern- ment Printing Office.

National Center for Education Statistics. 1998. The NAEP 1997 arts report card. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

Pachetti, Nick, and Alan Mirabella. 2000. The best places to live, Money 29 (December): 148-1 59.

Rodgers, Bruce. 1999. Back from the brink: The community's perspective. Teaching Music 6, no. 4 (February): W 2 , 6 2 .

Roucher, Nancy, and Jessie LoVano-Kerr. 1995. Can the arts maintain integrity in interdisciplinary learning? Arts Education

Policy Review 96, no. 4 (MarcMApril): 20-25.

Shulman, Lee S. 1987. Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review 51, no. I :

Weaver, Tyler, 1992, August. Total quality management. ERIC Digest, Number 73. ERIC Document Reproduction Service. No. ED347670.

Wilson, Brent. 1997. The quiet evolution; Changing the face of arts education. Los Angeles, Calif.: The Getty Education Institute for the Arts.

1-32.

Mary Ann Stankiewicz is an associate pro- fessor of art education in the School of Visu- al Arts at the Pennsylvania State University.

Lawrente and Isabel Barnett Fellowship in Arts Polity and Administration

UNIVEKSIW

Collqa of tho Arts Department of Arts Edu- ration

GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP- Each

year the College of the Arts at The Ohio

State University makes available one or

two two-year fellowships for incoming

students at the M.A. or Ph.D. level in its

Arts Policy ad Administration Program.

The fellowships, funded by the Lawrence

and Isabel Barnett Fellowship Fund, pay

the students' tuition and provide stipends

of $12,000 per academic year. The Fund

stipulates that fellows "shall be selected

on merit, with a preference for a student

with need." To be considered for the

fellowship both Program and Fellowship

applications must be received by January

5, 2002. For additional information

please contact the Arts Policy and

Administration Program, The Ohio State

University, 128 North Oval Mall Room

258, Columbus, OH 43210, phone

(614) 292-5356, or email

[email protected]. Or visit o u r website

at http:lIwww.arts.ohio-state.edu/

Art EducationlAPA.


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Documents

Community/Schools Partnership for the Arts: Collaboration, Politics, and Policy