PUBLICATIONS: ARTS IN ACTION
Arts
Education in Florida: Toward Excellence
Florida Department of State/Division of Cultural Affairs
In collaboration with the Florida Alliance for Arts Education and
Mary Palmer & Associates, LLC
July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008
Background
In November 2003, the Florida Department of State and the
Florida Arts Council, assisted by Partners for Livable Communities,
undertook a one year visioning process which brought together
business, government, and arts leaders to develop a sound,
practical ten-year plan for the State of Florida. The resulting
plan seeks to engage a strong, statewide network of people
and organizations with broad interests and a unified set
of goals. Identified priorities include:
- Creating partnerships to build sustainable economic
and civic infrastructures for culture and the arts
- Engaging with state government leaders to promote
the role of arts and culture in every aspect of public
life (education, health, elder affairs, tourism, transportation,
etc.) and
- Joining with planners and developers to inject arts
and culture into established statewide priorities
dedicated to economic diversification, improving education
and wellness, and strengthening families.
The Florida Arts Council’s Strategic Planning Task
Force defined four key issues as the final, prioritized
recommendations:
- Strengthening the economy
- Promoting learning and wellness
- Building leadership
- Advancing design and development
The significant role of arts education in achieving these
goals was recognized and appreciated by participants as well
as Task Force members. Prioritized visioning recommendations
for promoting Learning and Wellness include working with
strategic statewide partners to:
- Strengthen statewide partnerships.
- Increase state dialogues on arts education.
- Create partnerships with health, medical care and
social service agencies.
- Include arts and culture in benchmarks for healthy
communities.
The stakeholders’ top recommendation for promoting
learning and wellness states, “The Florida Department
of Education should continue supporting arts and culture
in school and magnet programs for all ages and ability levels,
and create more effective partnerships between school districts
and arts organizations.” An active and vibrant
partnership between the Florida Department of Education
and the Florida Department of State/Division of Cultural
Affairs in concert with their respective constituencies
is essential to the achievement of this goal.
Achievement of these goals is critical to Florida in its quest for excellence
in arts education. Arts education provides the foundation upon which life-long
interest and involvement in the arts is built. The arts play a critical role
in building healthy communities and enhancing the overall quality and value
of life itself. Arts education gives people of all ages access to the benefits
of the arts. This proposal is a beginning step in the Florida Department of
State/Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council efforts to
increase excellence in arts education.
The Florida Alliance for Arts Education (FAAE) was invited
to submit a proposal to address the arts education aspects
of the Task Force’s call to action. The work of this
project was subcontracted to Mary Palmer & Associates,
LLC, by FAAE. The following goals, presented in bold-faced
type, formed the basis of the work.
* From Culture
Builds Florida’s Future (Margaret Barlow, Tallahassee,
2005)
Goals
- Build a strong and unified
voice for arts education among educators and community
arts organizations.
Working in collaboration with the Florida Department of Education and Florida
Department of State/Division of Cultural Affairs as well as the Arts for
a Complete Education/Florida Alliance for Arts Education (ACE/FAAE) Board
of Directors, this project sought to strengthen a unified message for arts
education throughout Florida. In cooperation with Sherron Long, ACE/FAAE
Vice President for Governmental Relations and Florida Cultural Alliance President,
monthly teleconferences were held to address Florida’s challenges and
opportunities for arts education in schools and in community settings. These
statewide teleconferences included representatives from both schools and
community organizations and programs. Local Arts Agency leaders and Public
School Arts Education leaders were the major participants. These meetings
served to inform and to coalesce the various arts/arts education stakeholders.
The result of these meetings was the development of a unified message for
arts education in Florida. Although the number of participants in each teleconference
varied, the average number was approximately 25.
Two tri-fold brochures were developed to advance the message: Arts
Education Is Critical for All Students and Arts
for a Complete Education.
These brochures were distributed via the statewide partner organizations
of ACE/FAAE, Local ACE Coalitions, and ACE/FAAE sponsored events. In addition,
a downloadable format (pdf file) of each brochure was available at www.faae.org,
the official Website of the Florida Alliance for Arts Education.
The project worked with Dr. Tom Pearson, ACE/FAAE Vice President of Local
ACE Coalitions, to build local support for arts education both in school
and non–school settings. Local ACE Coalitions are in effect in 27 areas
throughout Florida. Coalitions typically include people from various constituencies:
education, arts, business, and local government. This project specifically
increased local awareness of the need to expand the constituency for the
arts/arts education to include the social services, criminal justice, and
healthcare communities.
- Broaden constituency
base to develop a statewide arts education leadership
network to increase attention to and funding for arts
education in school, after-school and non-school settings.
(Leadership Network)
A significant component of this project was the presentation of
four (4) regional forums on arts education. The forums were branded:
ARTS in ACTION: Winning Strategies in Business, Healthcare, Social
Services and Criminal Justice. A local host committee, including
representatives from education as well as each of the other targeted
sectors, was formed in each forum locale. Each committee identified
local speakers to share exemplary programs, invitees from each
of the targeted sections, and location for the forum. Information
about the Forums as well as about the Learning and Wellness Survey
was distributed through the Florida Departments of Education, Criminal
Justice, Juvenile Justice, Elder Affairs, State/Division of Cultural
Affairs; Florida League of Cities; Florida Chamber of Commerce;
local Chambers of Commerce; Leadership Florida Alumni Association;
Florida Recreation and Parks Association; Heart of Florida and
other United Way agencies; Health Departments; local Community
Foundations; Enterprise Florida; Florida Association of Local Arts
Agencies; Florida Alliance for Arts Education; Boys and Girls Clubs;
Local Governments; Florida Hospital Association; Center for Creative
Aging (University of South Florida); and the Business Committee
on the Arts.
In addition, under the auspices of WMFE – Orlando public radio, a feature
on the Forums was recorded as part of The Arts Connection program, hosted
by Becky Morgan. This feature, with Dr. Mary Palmer, was distributed throughout
Florida and was especially targeted to Forum sites. Approximately three hundred
fifty (350) people attended the forums. The proceedings of each forum are
available at www.faae.org.
The project arranged for arts education speakers at various meetings
of constituent organizations during the year. The following took
place:
November 2007: Florida Dance Educators Organization Annual Meeting – West
Palm Beach. Drs. Mary Palmer and Tom Pearson, speakers.
January 2008: Florida Music Educators Association Annual Conference – Tampa.
Sir Ken Robinson, Keynote speaker. His presentation was followed by an ACE/FAAE
led session in which over 50 invited guests from education, business, local
government, and social services participated. This session served to generate
interest in the upcoming Arts in Action Forums as well as in the need to
speak with a unified voice for arts education in Florida.
February 2008: Florida Art Educators Association Annual Board Meeting – Orlando.
Dr. Mary Palmer and Juanita Hernandez-Black, speakers.
The need to further expand ACE/FAAE presence at the meetings and
in the publications of our various constituencies has been prioritized
by the Board of Directors for the coming year.
• Develop and implement a public awareness
campaign for arts education
In addition to the Florida brochures developed under the auspices of this
project, ACE/FAAE is working with the Americans for the Arts to utilize their
public awareness materials. These have been distributed through the channels
mentioned above. In addition, these materials will be available at www.faae.org.
This project, branded as ARTS in ACTION is a Website within the Florida
Alliance for Arts Education Website. All information from the current
project is posted on that site.
• Identify, document, and publicize successful
in-school, after-school and non-school programs, emphasizing school-community
connections. (Successful Program Documentation)
Identification of in-school successful arts education programs has taken
place through the ACE/FAAE Arts Achieve! Schools program. This program incorporates
research from “best practices” models to identify elements of
success in school programs: school-based leadership; resource allocations;’ schedule;
curriculum; teacher roles and responsibilities related to arts education;
community collaborations; parent involvement. The first 13 schools were identified
in 2007. Information about these schools is available at www.faae.org.
Each of the 13 schools was contacted in May and June 2008 to provide an updated
account of their work in arts education; these updates are available on the
Website. In 2008, two additional schools were named Arts Achieve! Schools.
These schools were honored at the 2008 ACE Leadership Summit, held in Orlando
on June 16-18. Arts Achieve! Schools maintain their designation for a three-year
period and are available as models for other schools. In addition, teachers
from these schools are frequently invited to speak at statewide meetings,
such as the ACE Leadership Summit.
ACE/FAAE is a member of the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education
Network; as such, Florida is able to nominate a school for national
recognition. In 2008, Gocio Elementary School from Sarasota County
was honored as a National School of Distinction in Arts Education.
This school, too, is recognized on the Website. In the coming year,
the Principal, Steven Dragon, and various teachers, will be invited
by ACE/FAAE to share their successes in statewide meetings of our
various arts/arts education constituencies.
The Florida Department of Education Music Demonstration School program
recognizes schools with outstanding programs of music education.
The ACE/FAAE Website provides a link to information about these schools.
A Visual Arts Demonstration School program is in development by the
FDOE. This program, too, will be linked to the Website.
After-school and community based arts/arts education programs were
identified through a statewide survey offered electronically through
Survey Monkey. Approximately 300 individuals, organizations, and
agencies responded to the Learning and Wellness Survey. This Survey
provided information about beliefs and practices in arts/arts education.
Further, respondents were invited to provide information about programs
they provide within any of the targeted sectors. These findings are
posted on the Website, under ARTS in ACTION.
In addition, a web-based search of national programs within the targeted
sectors was undertaken. It is hoped that the programs included will
both inform and inspire those who seek to implement or improve their
offerings.
These findings are posted on the Website, under ARTS in ACTION.
These searches have underscored the wealth of arts/arts education programming
in non-school settings. Intergenerational programs, programs for elders,
programs to address social issues and to solve community challenges have
all been identified. Several of these exemplary offerings in Florida were
highlighted in the four ARTS in ACTION Forums held during the spring. In
June 2008, PBS featured the Shand’s Hospital Arts
in Medicine program in a special program. Exploration of additional
special programming should be undertaken.
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