**Archived Information**

**Cultural Partnership for At-Risk Youth Program**

**2002 Grantee Abstracts**

**Chinle Unified School District**

**P.O. Box 587**

**Chinle, AZ 86503**

**Project Director: Jane Lockart**

**Phone: 928-674-9745**

**Fax: 928-674-9759**

**Email: jlocka33@cybertrails.com**

**S351B02095**

**[Tsilkei doo Ch'ikei Baa Hozhoogo Yigaal]{.underline}**

**[Dine Child Development Through Traditional Arts]{.underline}**

The general framework of the project is the integration of the mental,
emotional, physical, and spiritual arts education. These are the
characteristics of a human that are stimulated by the teachings from a
traditional Navajo perspective. Because Traditional Arts Education from
the Navajo perspective is more than just learning dance, music or
theater, it is important to know that child development through art is
the essence of the whole person. The characteristics that a person
develops from conception through old age are what make a person who he
or she is and significantly effect the responsibilities and roles that
person carries in their many roles throughout life, be it parent,
sibling, relative, educator, spiritual person, and leader.

Special and unique educational needs exist in this predominantly Navajo
student population. It is the responsibility of Chinle Unified School
District to build on the teachings of the home, to work to establish a
genuine school-home partnership, and to promote parental participation
in the formal education of their children.

To promote achievement and productive citizenship, the role of Navajo
society within the broader western society must be understood. These
needs require an approach that reinforces tenets, theories, educational
values and philosophies of Navajo culture. Since each student lives in a
dual society, relationships between the two societies must be identified
and made an integral part of the educational process.

Based on the holistic approach, the Chinle grant aims to address the
four pillars of their framework through the following activities:

**Objective 1: Instructional Program**

The instructional program will be part of an overall district wide
school improvement process to help K-12 students raise their achievement
scores in reading and mathematics. The project is developing a set of
curriculum that addresses the four human elements of a child. In doing
so, the curriculum specifically addresses Child Development, Child
Rearing and Parenting. The curriculum will be developed strictly
utilizing Navajo cultural practices.

**Objective 2: Traditional Arts Education Program Model and Professional
Development**

All certified and classified staff will participate in ongoing training.
This professional development will include the following Dine College
coursework 1) Foundations of Navajo Cultural Arts; 2) Foundations of
Navajo Philosophy on Arts; 3) Navajo Holistic Healing in Arts; 4) Navajo
Principles of the Four Elements using the traditional Arts principles;
5) Teaching Children from a Dine perspective; 6) Arts Education from a
Cultural View. It will also include Dine College Dine language classes
and seminars and workshops about Dine Philosophy and culture.

**Objective 3: Extracurricular Tutorials**

An after-school arts education program will be offered for K-12 students
where instructors will use the "Warrior Teachings" as well as the
"Blessing way Teachings" to help students better understand their
actions and take total responsibility for who they are and what they do
as human beings. These classes will include; basket-making, silversmith,
rug/sash belt weaving, visual arts and moccasin making. Classes will be
held after school.

An intensive Navajo Culture summer program will also be offered to
students. They will attend classes and activities on Navajo traditional
values and teachings and how they can implement them into their own
lives.

**Objective 4: Family Arts Education**

Evening Traditional Arts Education classes will be conducted for
families and children. At the end of the course, participants will
prepare a final project and demonstrate it to the rest of the class.

**Santa Cruz County Schools**

**2150 N. Congress Drive**

**Suite 107**

**Nogales, AZ 85621**

**Project Director: Roberto Canchola**

**Phone: 520-375-7800**

**Fax: 520-761-7855**

**Email: stacruzbob@aol.com**

# S351B020126

**[La Vida en Artes! (Life in Art!)]{.underline}**

La Vida en Artes! provides for increased access to, and participation
in, high-quality, standards based arts education programs for over
21,000 students over the thirty-six month period. All arts education
programs are directly connected to the Arizona Arts Standards for grades
K-12 and provide for improved student academic performance through
participation. Standards-based competencies provide a firm foundation
for connecting arts-related concepts and facts across the art forms, and
from them to the sciences and humanities.

There are three goals of the project: (1) to establish and maintain
policies that foster equal access to high quality arts education
programs for at-risk children and youth in target schools; (2) to offer
arts education programs that will increase the educational attainment of
at-risk children and youth in connection with Arizona Arts Standards;
and (3) to provide, through the arts education programs, supported
education skills that increase at-risk students' marketable skills. A
key factor in this approach to learning is the need for students to
acquire enough prior knowledge and experience in one discipline to make
applications in another. Implementation means identifying concepts
shared among two or more content areas and including performance
objectives for each discipline in the instructional model. Integration
links that appear in Arizona's Arts Standards follow the performance
objectives within the standards. The links identify other disciplines
and the concepts they share with the arts.

The target population to be served includes 10,000 predominately
Hispanic at-risk children and youth residing in an impoverished
US/Mexico border town, as well as seven federally designated "colonias."
Service components will include arts education modules of artists
--in-residence workshops; summer arts academy; public arts programs;
graphic arts academy; and music academy to integrate cultural,
historical and curriculum-based studies with Arizona Standards
measurements.

**Osborn School District #8**

**1226 W. Osborn Rd.**

**Phoenix, AZ 85013**

**Project Director: Lilia Montoya**

**Phone: 602-707-2016**

# Fax: 602-707-2040

**Email: lmontoya@osbornnet.org**

**S351B02090**

## The Osborn School District-Phoenix Indian Center Cultural Partnership Project

Osborn Elementary School District is an inner city, PreK-8^th^ grade,
public school district serving primarily low-income, ethnically diverse
and multi-lingual students. Cultural differences, poverty (81% of
students qualify for free and reduced lunches), high rates of mobility,
31% English Language Learners, exposure to trauma and the social /
emotional issues connected to immigration, manifest as academic and
behavioral problems in schools. The Osborn Middle School serves the
entire district and is a 7^th^-8^th^ grade school of approximately 800
students. Academic achievement is low; students are at high risk for
drug use, gangs and crime.

The Osborn School District-Phoenix Indian Center Cultural Partnership
Project creates a state-of-the-art, school-community arts education
collaboration that brings professional art experiences to at-risk middle
school students. The experiences span the diverse cultures represented
at the middle school and expose students to music, art, drama, and dance
and media arts. Students participate in workshops where they have an
opportunity to practice these various arts, attend amateur and
professional performances, develop shows and perform for parents,
teachers and other schools, participate in art shows, participate in
tours of a wide variety of museums, and document their experience with
media arts technology as they learn to display artistic experiences and
create personal portfolios. The variety of partnerships allow the
Project to provide 2-3 choices for students to elect at each trimester;
75 students are expected to be in the Project during any trimester with
50-75 participating in the summer block program. Parents are encouraged
to attend demonstrations and performances while some evening classes are
open to parents.

The Project blends the educational, programmatic, and language
acquisition expertise of the Osborn School District and the art and
cultural expertise of the Phoenix Indian Center with an array of
community professional artists and art organizations. The result is a
standards-based art education provided in a manner that attracts
students and increases their attachment to school, improves their
academic skills, and builds a life-long appreciation of the arts.

The project will be evaluated on a quantitative and qualitative level to
provide active feedback to the Project staff, school staff, and to the
families and the community. The project actively pursues feedback from
the varied artists and art organizations to ensure that a diverse array
of perspectives are involved in project development. The project also
reaches out to involve families and provides for opportunities for
parents to come and watch their children try out new skills and
experiences. Focus groups with parents are utilized to gather feedback
on the overall program and the effect of the art experience on their
lives as well.

**Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District**

# Hoopa Valley Elementary School

**P.O. Box 95546**

**Hoopa, CA 95546**

**Project Director: Jennifer George Lane**

**Phone: 530-625-4223**

**Fax: 530-625-4697**

**Email: jennifergeorge@humboldt.k12.ca.us**

**S351B020057**

## Cultural Partnership for At-risk Youth

This grant is a partnership between the Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified
School District (KTJUSD) and Humboldt State University (HSU). As a
result, two elementary schools in the district are working with the
Center for Indian Community Development and the Arts Department at HSU.
This project is an integrated, comprehensive, coordinated arts education
program that will provide high quality visual and performing arts
services and activities to a highly needy population of in school sixth,
seventh, and eight grade students who do not have access to a wide range
of arts experiences, centers, galleries, or venues.

The project is expanding the range of arts at the two elementary schools
to include theater arts and dance, and to increase the mediums students
explore in the visual arts. The target student population lives in and
attends school in a high poverty, rural region of northern California.
The project's services and activities incorporate the standards of the
California State Visual and Performing Arts Framework, 1996.

The project builds capacity in several ways: Teachers receive training
in the state visual and performing arts standards and learn how to
integrate arts education methods into core academic areas. In addition,
arts education curriculum is developed for future use, and successful
strategies for fostering academic achievement in at-risk students are
identified. The project improves arts education and other core subject
curriculum by having master visual and performing artists work with
classroom teachers to develop activities and curriculum based on state
standards.

**Los Angeles Unified School District**

# Care of Workforce LA

**2445 Daly Street, Rm B002**

**Los Angeles, CA 90017**

**Project Director: Deborah Brooks**

**Phone: 323-224-6197**

**Fax: 323-244-6199**

**Email: djbrooks@workforcela.org**

**S351B02056**

## Acme Arts And Animation

ACME Arts and Animation supplies an ongoing connection between at-risk
secondary school students and their teachers and volunteer animators and
artists from a range of studios. The challenge, inspiration and feedback
on student performances that the professionals provide via ACME deepens
learner and educator understanding of the visual, language and
performing arts standards while increasing school participation and
achievement. The ACME Network sustains these connections via an online
community, centered on learner performances, art and animation
challenges that reflect real-world applications of the arts standards,
and open exchanges among learners, teachers and the professionals.

The project has implemented ACME within eight Title I high schools in
the Los Angeles Unified School District, and has begun expansion to
additional schools and after school programs in Los Angeles, Texas,
Wisconsin, Ohio, Wyoming and other regions of California. This program's
success in enhancing school and after-school participation in the arts
has led to the development of a similar pilot in science and
mathematics. For more information about these programs, contact
info@theacmenetwork.org.

**New Haven Public Schools**

**Comprehensive Arts Department**

**54 Meadow Street**

**Gateway Center**

**New Haven, CT 06519**

**Project Director: Nilda Morales**

**Phone: 203-946-8817**

**Fax: 203-946-5435**

**Email: nildam@new-haven.k12.ct.us**

# S351B020018

**[Arts at the Core of Learning]{.underline}**

The New Haven Public Schools (NHPS), in collaboration with a range of
higher education institutions, museums, and urban art collectives has a
three-year Cultural Partnerships for At-Risk Youth grant entitled "Arts
at the Core of Learning" project. The project is serving more than 468
at-risk students attending Jackie Robinson Middle School and more than
50 out-of-school youth in Empowerment Zone neighborhoods surrounding
this middle school. It is serving as a model for the NHPS and other
school districts seeking to sustain school-community-university cultural
partnerships designed to increase academic achievement in core subject
areas among t-risk youth populations.

Jackie Robinson Middle School is located in the center of New Haven's
Empowerment Zone, the only federally designated Empowerment Zone in the
State of Connecticut. More than 97 percent of all students attending
Jackie Robinson Middle School are either African American or Hispanic
and 86 percent live at or below the poverty line. Jackie Robinson Middle
School students perform the lowest on the Connecticut Master Tests
administered by the Connecticut State Department of Education---within a
city and school district that has the lowest academic achievement rates
in the entire state.

The Arts at the Core of Learning project is expanding and creating arts
and cultural programs and enriching classroom teaching and learning
designed to increase all students' academic achievement in core subject
areas.

New Haven is noted nationally for its wealth of arts and cultural
resources. Its cultural resources include: Yale University and a number
of individual Yale programs, the New Have Ballet Company, the New Haven
Symphony, the Long Wharf Theater, Connecticut Storytelling Center at
Connecticut College, the New Haven Community Quilting Project. The
school district also works with such arts organizations as the State
Council on the Arts and the Pequot Museum, the country's largest
tribally-owned museum and cultural center. All of these organizations
serve as partners in the project.

Specific project activities include:

1.  ongoing professional development for all Jackie Robinson Middle
    School teachers to assist them as they integrate arts in education
    and cultural experiences into core subject areas.

2.  the offering of both school day and after-school arts and cultural
    experiences engaging at-risk youth in activities strengthening their
    reading, writing, and communication skills and knowledge of their
    own cultures;

3.  development of a range of multi-media products to assist other
    school districts to replicate major project strategies and
    innovations;

4.  an expanded and more cost-effective school-community cultural
    partnership that is self-sustaining after the project ends.

**Chicago Public Schools**

**Office of Language, Cultural,**

**and Early Childhood Education**

**125 S. Clark St.**

**Chicago, IL 60603**

**Project Director: Matthew Medina/Lydia Stokes**

**Phone: 773-553-1930**

**Fax: 773-553-1931**

**Email: mmedina@cps.k12.il.us**

# S351B02080

Pilsen and Little Village Arts and Education Collaborative

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS), in partnership with National-Louis
University (NLU), has established the *Pilsen and Little Village Arts
and Education Collaborative.* This collaborative coordinates school and
community arts and cultural resources into a delivery system to address
academic needs of at-risk children and youth. The overall vision of the
project is to fundamentally change the way standards-based arts
education is taught in order to improve academic achievement of at-risk
learners. It will demonstrate how arts and cultural resources can
breathe new life into the education system by giving meaning to learning
for these at-risk children and youth.\
\
Based on research evidence, the following goals and components have been
adopted for this project:

-   Coordinate school and community arts and cultural services to help
    schools create communities of learning for students, faculty,
    parents, and artists.

-   Increase school\'s organizational and leadership capacity to
    integrate standards based art education with language arts, social
    studies, math, and science.

-   Provide a range of arts (focusing on folkdance, folk song, folk
    arts, story telling, theatre, and photography), which draw upon the
    cultural heritage of at-risk learners.

-   Organize comprehensive professional development communities in each
    school to improve teaching and learning by using strategies based on
    best practice.

The project is being implemented in three schools with middle grades and
one high school located in the inner-city Latino neighborhoods of Pilsen
and Little Village (Empowerment Zone) in Chicago. The project is
impacting the learning of 800 in-school at-risk students at the four
target schools. Two hundred out-of-school at-risk children and youth are
also involved in the project. Over the course of the grant, 60 classroom
teachers will participate in professional development activities, action
research, and will develop guidelines for integrating standards-based
arts with the academic curriculum. Nearly 200 parents in each of the
four schools will be involved in all phases of the program: workshops,
art practices, performances, and mural projects. Parents are represented
on the Governance Board and they work with school Curriculum Leadership
Teams. More than 40 artists and 10 National-Louis University faculty are
involved in the project.

The goals of the project are focused on attaining the following outcomes
for the students: (1) Increase achievement in language arts, social
studies, math, and science; (2) Improve motivation, study habits, and
self esteem; (3) Enhance creativity, inquiry learning, and problem
solving; (4) Increase understanding of arts and cultural heritage; and
(5) Build teamwork and collaboration through art programs, cultural
festivals, performances, young artists companies, and community mural
projects.

The individual project schools as well as the National Louis University
are developing capacity for initiating and sustaining such partnerships
and the integrated implementation of cultural arts as a means to enhance
academic achievement of at-risk students. The project evaluation will
include ongoing formative evaluation of project implementation and the
extent to which the project succeeds in attaining the project outcomes.
A longitudinal evaluation of the project during the three-year period is
also planned.

**Jefferson County Public Schools**

**Districtwide Instruction**

**Van Hoose Education Center**

**P.O. Box 34020**

**Louisville, KY 40232**

**Project Director: Lori Holland**

**Phone: 502-485-3951**

**Fax: 502-485-3897**

**Email: lhollan1@jefferson.k12.ky.us**

# S351B02059

A Tapestry of Lives

In our quest to "leave no child behind," the Jefferson County Public
School District, the Kentucky Arts Council, Stage One Children's
Theatre, and the Kentucky Museum of Art + Design are partnering to
implement *A Tapestry of Lives*: a project that weaves community through
history, arts, and performance. *Tapestry* uses students' oral histories
to weave drama, music, dance, and visual arts into the curriculum at 13
State Agency Children's Programs and 2 Teenage Parent Program schools.

The Tapestry partnership combines the strengths of each partner to
explore the personal histories of the students and encourages them to
utilize these experiences as the foundation for hands-on arts
experiences. Professional visual artists, musicians, dancers, actors,
storytellers, and literary artists are helping the students express
their own histories through art.

The resulting artwork is displayed and/or performed periodically in the
schools and publicly. Professional development for the artists and
educators is an integral component. Teachers are trained in the
integration of all arts into other core subjects and ways to use them as
a teaching tool. The major culminating event will be Stage One's
production of an original play to be written by a professional
playwright based on the student's oral histories.

**Saint Paul Public Schools**

**1001 Johnson Parkway**

**St. Paul, MN 55106**

**Project Director: Jan Spencer deGutierrez**

**Phone: 651-793-5526**

**Fax: 651-793-5507**

**Email: jan.spencer@spps.org**

**S351B02094**

**[ACT!-Achieve & Connect through Theatre]{.underline}**

ACT!-Achieve & Connect through Theatre is designed to expand and unify
efforts within the Saint Paul urban district and communities in order to
promote achievement by at-risk middle school students through theatre
opportunities, education, and support of students\' dreams and
aspirations. During the 3-years of this project, Saint Paul Public
Schools (SPPS) will be able to initiate, embed, and evaluate a cultural
partnership in two district schools\-- Wilson Middle School and Humboldt
Junior High.

In 2001-2002, SPPS enrolled approximately 45,000 students.  Due in part
to inter-state migration and a recent influx of immigration into the
City of Saint Paul from countries such as Somalia and Laos, the profile
of district students contrasts sharply with the demographics of
Minnesota as a whole. The 2002 U.S. Census found that the State is 90%
white and economically above the national average, while in Saint Paul,
white students comprise 33% of the student body.  The other diverse
ethnic/racial backgrounds\
represented in SPPS include students who are Asian American,
predominantly\
Hmong (31%); African American (24%); Hispanic American (10%); and
American\
Indian (2%).

A high number of Saint Paul students and their families are struggling
with challenges of acclimation, language barriers, and poverty. 
Thirty-nine percent of district students have a home language other than
English. Sixty-six percent are currently eligible for free or reduced
price lunches. As research demonstrates, a student\'s socio-economic
condition often correlates to academic success or failure.

A pressing need exists to provide special services to Humboldt and
Wilson to increase their students\' commitment to learning and
achievement levels. National and local educational research has shown
that the arts can have a powerful influence on student engagement,
attendance and accomplishment in school.  Saint Paul Public Schools
intends to support the two middle schools in their struggle to help
students thrive academically through forming an effective,
results-oriented partnership with Project SUCCESS, a non-profit arts and
educational organization, and area theatre companies.

Arts for All Saint Paul (2002), Saint Paul Public Schools\' plan for
equity and excellence in learning in and through the arts, cites the
strategic objective of bringing Project SUCCESS into collaboration with
schools in Saint Paul to address the needs of vulnerable youth.  Project
SUCCESS is a Twin Cities-based organization with a ten-year positive
track record in a neighboring district of teaching at-risk youth through
the theatre and motivational workshops.  The organization has expanded
into Saint Paul, and is undergoing a rigorous evaluation of its effort
on student motivation and achievement.

The practiced methodology of Project SUCCESS, to be employed in the ACT!
partnership, involves Theatre Experience, Classroom Workshops and Staff
Development, and Special Features.  The Theatre Experience entails
teachers at Humboldt Junior High and Wilson Middle School, assisted by
project staff, in selecting theatre performances for the student body to
attend.  Shows are chosen for dramatic appeal and relevance to students
from among many offered by area companies each year.  Fourteen
theatres,\
committed to a partnership with SPPS and Project SUCCESS, provide free
tickets to the Federal project participants.  These tickets are
available not only for students and teachers at the schools, but also
for families, many who have never been to a play.  ACT! reduces\
barriers to attendance by issuing invitations in home languages,
providing transportation and childcare, and taking other productive
action.

Once plays have been selected and tickets secured, a project Facilitator
provides Staff Development and Classroom Workshops.  The workshops have
been developed to be incorporated into English/Language Arts classes
required for all 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.  The workshops, taking place
before and after the theatre experiences, teach students to analyze and
reflect on the plays\' content, and to connect the characters and action
to their own, often-tumultuous lives.  Through discussion and creative
exercises, students are motivated to identify short-and long-term goals
for personal and academic achievement.

Each year, students are challenged to increase their understanding of
and through theatre, and to monitor their individual agendas for
achievement.  In the second year of the Federal project, two Special
Features were added.  ACT now infuses a theatre component into the
remedial summer school program, and initiated a tradition of
student-development play productions at each school.

SPPS, along with Project SUCCESS and the participating schools, have set
four goals for this project. (1) Improve students\' educational
engagement and academic performance; (2) Enhance instructional practice
and curricula through theatre and motivational activities; (3) Promote
positive interaction between at-risk youth and their families through
shared participation in theatre education and enrichment activities; and
(4) Strengthen the support from SPPS schools, district leadership, and
communities to sustain arts and engagement efforts serving at-risk
youth.

Aligned to the goals are specific, measurable objectives for each year
of the project, which will be evaluated by the Center for Applied
Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota. 
Representatives of Minnesota Alliance for Arts in Education and Perpich
Center for Arts Education are among the people serving on ACT! advisory
council to add to the diversity of perspectives, and to link the project
to state and national arts education resources and networks.

**Leflore County School District**

# Communities in School of Greenwood

**1901 Highway 82-West**

**Greenwood, MS 38930**

**Project Director: Linda Whittington**

**Phone: 662-455-2864**

**Fax: 662-453-7217**

**Email: celia@netdoor.com**

**S351B020120**

## Leflore County School District

Leflore County, Mississippi, is located in one of the most impoverished
areas of our nation and has been designated as one of the Empowerment
Zone communities by the federal government. The Leflore County School
District has a free and reduced lunch rate of 97%. The district operate
a school-wide program pursuant to Title I Section 1114 of the ESEA, with
every school in the district comprised of 75% or more children from
low-income families. These students come from predominately
single-parent homes in which there is limited literacy, very poor
parental involvement in the learning process, high unemployment,
increased risk for drug and alcohol abuse, and limited or no exposure to
horizons beyond their boundaries. Consequently, academic performance is
often poor, and enrichment programs, which offer opportunities to see
beyond their circumstances, are almost non-existent for these children.
The entire student population falls into the most stringent
categorization of at-risk.

Communities in Schools (CIS) of Greenwood Leflore, Inc. is a non-profit
organization with demonstrated national success whose mission is to work
with at-risk students. CIS has been in operation in Leflore County for
ten years, and it has a solid history of providing quality services to
the community. During the 2001-02 school year, CIS provided services to
519 students including mentoring, tutoring, eye exams,
cultural/education field trips, computer classes, and arts activities
including partnering with the Mississippi Arts Commission and the Region
VI Mental Health Center in providing a Core Arts Program for Adolescent
Offenders

The objectives and expected outcomes of a cultural partnership for
at-risk children and youth between the Leflore County School District
and Communities in Schools of Greenwood Leflore are:

1.  Coordinate and integrate local, state, and federal resources for
    arts education and enrichment into a service delivery system for
    at-risk children and youth. At-risk children and youth from the
    Leflore County School District and disadvantaged or at-risk
    out-of-school children will receive high quality, comprehensive arts
    education and enrichment activities made available via the
    partnership of the Leflore County School District and Communities in
    Schools of Greenwood Leflore, Inc.

2.  Increase access to and participation in high-quality,
    standards-based arts education programs and enrichment activities
    linked to academic improvement for these at-risk children and youth.
    This will improve test scores on state, locally-developed, and
    standardized tests for students enrolled in the Leflore County
    School District; improve their self-esteem; assist in their
    goal-setting, and increase cultural and academic literacy.

3.  Improve student academic performance through participation in
    high-quality arts education programs. This will improve academic
    performance as evidenced by test scores, teacher evaluation,
    improved attendance, and reduction in disciplinary referrals for
    students enrolled in the Leflore County School District; increase
    the number of GED completions, increase the number of students
    admitted to higher education or training programs, improve success
    in entering the workforce, and reduce the number of offense reports
    for out-of-school at-risk youth.

4.  Increase the range of the types of art education and programs
    available for at-risk children and youth in Leflore. The offering of
    a much wider range of arts education via the partnership with
    Communities in Schools of Greenwood Leflore, Inc. will include
    Performing Arts (video production, film, music, dance, drama);
    Visual Arts (pottery, sculpting, drawing, printing, silk screening);
    and Folk Art (cultural history and preservation).

This project is being implemented for middle and high school-aged
children and youth during after-school hours from 4 - 6 PM two days per
week in three independent yearly cycles. Highly qualified instructors
who possess experience in working with at-risk youth are being utilized
in the project. Diversity of personnel is a vital aspect of the project
plan. Product-based outcomes are being implemented, with the younger
students producing silkscreen art and a book reflecting the cultural
history of the area. The older students are producing a film about area
residents who went beyond enduring their circumstances to prevailing
over them.

The project is being evaluated yearly as to how well the project meets
its stated goals and objectives and to compile data, which will be
available to develop a model for replication of successful strategies.
The project is employing an outside evaluator to help evaluate and
compile data and to determine methods for improvement in subsequent
project years.

**Essex County Vocational Schools**

**900 Bloomfield Ave.**

**Verona, NJ 07044**

**Project Director: Spring Banks**

**Phone: 973-228-0377 ext. 257**

**Fax: 973-243-7050**

**Email: sbanks@essextech.org**

# S351B020111

[**American Studies**:]{.underline}

### [Art Education Across The Curriculum To improve Literacy]{.underline}

The American Studies project represents a vision for improving student
literacy and educational achievement through the infusion of
high-quality, standards-based art education activities into the
interdisciplinary language arts/social studies curriculum for at-risk
high school students in Essex County Vocational Technical Schools. Some
1,750 participating students in the American Studies course are being
drawn from the four high schools that comprise the district to
participate in a series of in-depth art education activities. These
activities have been developed in partnership with The Newark Museum, a
leading urban arts educator with one of the great collections of
American Art Decorative Arts n the country.

Drawing upon the Museum\'s experience in infusing art education into
sequential curriculum, the students participate in art programs
involving gallery activities and art studio workshops at the Museum and
increased art activities in the classroom. These activities have clearly
identified academic goals, rooted in the language arts/social studies
curriculum.

Art education addresses different learning modes and styles and
encourages student self-

directed learning. Students observe, investigate, analyze, and critique
real artifacts in the Museum and in the classroom. At-risk youth are
actively engaged in art activities, rich in content, materials and
methods - opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them.
Through creative writing, reading, and vocabulary building discussions
and exercises, students increase language and visual arts literacy.
Students increase their knowledge of American history through art
education learning opportunities that open entry points for every
learning style, such as role-playing, writing, sketching, and art
creation.

An overarching goal of the project is to develop a cadre of social
studies and language arts teachers who will forge partnerships with
museum educators to plan, develop, and implement standards-based arts
instruction to improve the literacy of 10^th^ and 11^th^ grade students.
In the process, teachers acquire the strategies, resources and skills
that enable them to infuse art education into the language arts and
social studies curriculum that improves literacy and builds capacity to
continue such enrichment beyond the grant period. Increased educational
achievement is expected through improvement in reading and writing
skills, greater understanding of the history and culture of the American
experience, and building student life and work skills. Art education is
a pivotal force in developing students' minds and enabling them to
continue to realize their potential beyond the classroom.

**Paterson Board of Education**

**33-35 Church Street**

**Paterson, NJ 07505**

**Project Director: Dennis Sevano**

**Phone: 973-321-0795**

**Fax: 973-321-6982**

**Email: dsevano@paterson.k12.nj.us**

**S351B02070**

In cooperation with the *Theater and Poetry Project (TPP): A Language
Arts Enrichment Partnership at Passaic County Community College*, School
#24 is expanding its arts education opportunities for 280 at-risk
children in grades 6-8. In fact, as a result of this partnership, the
number of arts education opportunities available to the children has
increased from 13 to 87 within a one-year period. The project includes
both in-school and out-of-school components. The extended arts education
program provides young people at School #24 with access to completely
new programs such as "writers-in-residency;" an after-school and
Saturday drama club, video club, writers' club, readers' club, visual
arts club, and music club; and a Summer Stock Theater program. Other
successful activities such as the *Theater and Poetry Project's* Theater
program and the "Authors in the Classroom" activity are being expanded
to create more arts education opportunities for children and youth at
School #24.

The project involves high levels of collaboration among children,
teachers, and professional artists. Through a "writers-in-residence"
component and a writer workshop program, children and their teachers
benefit from the opportunity to work intimately with professional
writers in both in-school and out-of-school components. The project
emphasizes language arts and literacy, particularly since more than 70
percent of children in School #24 come from homes in which Spanish is
the primary language spoken. The project addresses the New Jersey Core
Curriculum Content Standards.

As a result of the project, the following outcomes will be achieved:

1)  The number of children grades 6-8 at School #24 who participate in
    both in-school and out-of-school arts education activities will
    increase from 0 to 100, thereby increasing student access and
    participation in arts education;

2)  The number of in-school and out-of-school arts education
    opportunities available to children grades 6-8 at School #24 will
    increase from 13 to 87 by expanding the existing arts education
    opportunities to include writer residencies, writer workshops,
    theater productions, Drama Club, Readers' Club, Video Club, Literary
    Magazine Club, Music Club, Visual Arts Club, Saturday Arts program,
    and summer stock theater;

3)  At least 70 percent of students who participate in both an in-school
    and out-of-school component will demonstrate either "proficiency" or
    advanced proficiency" on the statewide or district-administered
    language arts assessment component;

4)  On an "end-of-year" survey, at least 75 percent of students who
    participate in both the in-school and out-of-school program
    components will indicate that they have increased confidence, better
    social relationships, and/or are more interested in school as a
    result of their arts participation;

One goal is that in an end-of-year survey, at least 75 percent of
students who participated in both the in-school and out-of-school
components will indicate that their participation in the project
activities inspired them to read more and to write more as evidenced by
their in-school and out-of-school projects.

> **New York City Board of Education**

**Regional Operations Center \# 3**

**Room 507**

**30-48 Linden Place**

**Flushing, NY 11354**

**Project Director: Gus Hatzimiditriou**

**Phone: 718-281-7515**

**Fax: 718-281-7654**

**Email: ghatzid@nycboe.net**

**S351B020023**

The Queens Cultural Partnership for Youth -- Project Abstract

This grant demonstrates a partnership between Region 3 of the New York
City Board of Education, Partnership for After School Education (PASE)
and Bank Street College. The collaboration provides strategies and plans
for the creation of a replicable model that will tap the potential for
integrating the arts with academic skills enhancement in some of Queen's
most vulnerable young people.

Queens is home to some of our country's leading cultural institutions,
as well as a highly diverse population, with over 60 languages spoken by
students in the district and a large percentage of newly arrived
immigrant youth. Region 3 is bringing these considerable resources to
bear on four Title 1 junior high schools\--192, 8, 72 and 217.

To coordinate the extensive resources of Queens the partner
organizations are collaborating with a citywide network of over 1,200
youth-serving agencies in New York City. They have created an integrated
system of cultural institutions, schools, and community-based
organizations collectively focused on improving the academic performance
of students through the provision of high quality arts education. Other
organizations and resources include the Jamaica Center for Arts and
Learning, Queens Museum of Art, and Socrates Sculpture Park.

Region 3 and PASE are 1) Coordinating a consortium of leading Queens
cultural institutions to provide a diverse menu of high quality arts
education with each institution contributing in its area of greatest
strength, 2) Involving community-based agencies that offer comprehensive
support services and have a unique connection to young people and their
communities 3) Bringing experts from education, the arts and youth
development together to tackle the challenges of infusing arts education
with the New York State academic standards, 4) Providing comprehensive
training and technical assistance for all service providers and teachers
in standards-based arts education, and 5) Documenting and evaluating all
aspects of the model for future replication.

The Queens Cultural Partnership for Youth is working intensively with
225 at-risk junior high school students with a specific focus on newly
arrived immigrant youth. An additional 600 youth will be reached through
art career expos and participatory culminating events. Academic outcomes
for participating students include:

1.  Developing participants' skills in reading, writing, technology and
    reasoning as described in the New York City Performance Standards in
    Reading and Mathematics,

2.  Fostering enjoyment of learning among participating youth through
    project-based learning in order to increase school retention rates
    and engagement of youth,

3.  Promoting verbal problem solving and communication skills among
    youth as a conflict resolution and school readiness strategy,

4.  Fostering parent involvement in the schools through art performances
    by and for their children, and

5.  Re-connecting at-risk teens with the schools by providing engaging
    arts education activities at school-sites.

**School District of Philadelphia**

**Office of Curriculum Support**

# 2120 Winter Street

**Philadelphia, PA 19103**

**Project Director: Tessie Varthas**

**Phone: 215-299-7390**

**Fax: 215-299-7869**

**Email: tvarthas@phila.k12.pa.us**

# S351B020101

[Philadelphia Arts/Cultural Education Partnership]{.underline}

# 

# 

Launched initially in Fall 2001 as a year-long demonstration project,
the *Philadelphia Arts/Cultural Education Partnership (PACEP**)*** has
been a coordinated and collaborative effort to infuse high quality arts
programming into the lives and classrooms of at-risk middle school
students living in some of the city's most economically distressed and
racially isolated communities. The project partners have exposed at-risk
youth and their teachers to art of the highest caliber through a series
of well orchestrated and intensively supported educational experiences
designed in full alignment with middle school curricula in all subject
areas. The project seeks to improve significantly the academic
performance and potential for a large cohort of severely disadvantaged
students.

The three-year continuation and expansion of PACEP has enabled the
partnership to bring its unique programming into six high-risk middle
schools in Philadelphia and to build capacity within these schools on a
basis that is both broader and deeper so that the programming can be
sustained on a long-term basis. The overall purpose of the program is to
significantly improve educational outcomes and the quality of education
provided to students. It enables schools to engage their students in
dynamic interaction with a wide range of expressive/artistic forms and
to use arts and art-related themes effectively in instructional
approaches that improve student learning in all subjects.

Activities fall within five basic project components:

-   A request-for-proposal (RFP) process designed to ensure equitable
    opportunity/access among the targeted student population, while
    maximizing school-level commitment;

-   Intensive and sustained professional development and curriculum
    planning for school personnel and teaching artists working together
    as teams;

-   Implementation of arts programming/events and related educational
    activities throughout the school year;

-   Opportunities for targeted students to receive tuition scholarships
    to summer arts camps as incentives for their participation and
    enrichment for their learning; and

-   Review and dissemination of curricular materials developed, as well
    as program evaluation findings, through summer training institutes.

A thorough and rigorous program evaluation is being conducted to assess
the project success in achieving an array of specific and measurable
project goals. Among the many anticipated outcomes of the project are 18
exemplary interdisciplinary thematic units of study that utilize art
processes and incorporate diverse learning styles. These units will be
developed, published and distributed as an aid to project replication.
Most importantly, the following improvements in educational outcomes for
the targeted students (in comparison with their non-participating peers)
are among those expected from the project:

-   Better attendance and fewer reports of disruptive behavior;

-   Significant gains in standardized tests of core academic subjects
    --- i.e., Terra Nova testing and/or Pennsylvania System of School
    Assessment (PSSA) exams in reading and math;

-   Higher rates of academic promotion.

**School District of Pittsburgh**

**341 S. Bellefield Avenue**

**Pittsburgh, PA 15213**

**Project Director: Ernestine Reed**

**Phone: 412-622-3712**

**Fax: 412-622-3716**

**Email: ereed1@pghboe.net**

**S351B020051**

**[Arts and Career Exploration]{.underline}**

The School District of Pittsburgh (PPS) in collaboration with the
internationally recognized arts and learning center, Manchester
Craftsmen's Guild (MCG), is conducting a three-year Arts and Career
Exploration (ACE) program at four target PPS middle schools where 75% or
more of the children are from low-income families. Building on a history
of exceptional collaborations between PPS and MCG, ACE is utilizing the
partnership's existing proven capacity to meet the needs of at-risk
youth as groundwork for this project. ACE is developing, piloting,
refining and institutionalizing arts and career exploration curriculum
materials for middle school students.

ACE is expanding and enhancing the interdisciplinary team of each middle
school (currently composed of a mathematics, social studies, science and
language arts teacher), by adding to the team one of the school's arts
teachers. As well, ACE has assigned to each target middle school a
site-based MCG artist/mentor who works with the school' s
interdisciplinary team to strengthen pre-existing instructional units by
providing instructional classroom support and access to a set of related
high quality arts and career curriculum materials.

With the primary goal of establishing an arts-and-career-focused
learning culture within each target school, ACE is expanding student,
teacher, and parent awareness and involvement in cultural events and
career exploration activities as well as facilitating projects that
foster applied learning and alternative structures in school as well as
out-of-school classrooms.

Second, ACE is using career and artistic competencies to increase
students' academic achievement. This goal will be attained by enhancing
student academic performance through technical and artistic support and
the development and implementation of standards-based curriculum
materials designed to 1) increase student participation in opportunities
involving art-related career exploration and experiences and 2) allow
students to acquire an ability to realize their potential and make
informed life choices.

Finally, ACE will involve students, teachers, and parents in learning
opportunities that facilitate ongoing participation in interdisciplinary
and community outreach programs. This third goal will be attained
through the development of a renewed sense of value for educational
achievement through the exposure of families to career training
opportunities.

ACE anticipates its project outcomes to include:

-   Creation of standards-based arts and career-integrated curriculum
    materials and enrichment activities that will result in academic
    improvement, including improved performance on State, locally
    developed, and standardized tests;

-   Improved student academic performance through participation in a
    high-quality arts education program;

-   An increased range in the types of arts education programs and
    activities available to PPS middle school students;

-   Increased capacity of students to transition successfully to the
    high school level;

-   Positive transformation of four middle school environments through
    arts-centered education;

-   A tested, replicable staff development model for middle school
    teachers;

PPS and MCG continue to strengthen their long-standing collaborative
relationship through the development and initiation of a unique program
that enhances the educational experiences of at-risk youth. In addition,
the collaboration is developing a replicable model that can be adopted
by educators and educational agencies committed to utilizing the arts as
a pathway to career exploration through an interdisciplinary
instructional approach.

**Central Falls School District**

**21 Hedley Avenue**

**Central Falls, RI 02863**

**Project Director: Kurt Wootton**

**Phone: 401-863-7785**

**Fax: 401-863-1276**

# Email: Kurt_Wootton@brown.edu

**S351B020014**

## 

**[Literacy Education Arts Partnership (LEAP)]{.underline}**

Since the modest beginnings of their collaboration in 1998, the
**Central Falls School District** and Brown University Education
Department's **ArtsLiteracy Project** have worked together to develop a
partnership between practicing teachers and professional artists. The
goal of this partnership has been to use performance work to create
powerful literacy and arts learning opportunities for middle and high
school students in the small, economically disadvantaged community of
Central Falls, Rhode Island.

In 1998, one practicing teacher and one professional actor worked with
Brown-based educators and researchers to design and implement curricula
in a summer "lab school" program. They continued to work collaboratively
in Central Falls classrooms during the academic year. Over the years,
the partnership has grown substantially in the numbers of teachers,
performers, and school administrators involved; the numbers of students
impacted; the depth and richness of the curriculum developed; the amount
of professional development carried out; and the extent to which the
work is incorporated into the day-to-day life of all six of Central
Fall's elementary, middle, and high schools. By 2002, 550 Central Falls
students and 25 teachers have participated in in-depth arts and literacy
activities through this partnership. In 2001-2002 alone, Central Falls
students created 28 public performances from texts as diverse as *Romeo
and Juliet* and the Bill of Rights.

With this grant, the partners created the **Literacy Education Arts
Partnership** **(LEAP),** a cultural collaboration between the Central
Falls School District and Brown's ArtsLiteracy Project. In this
collaboration, the partnership's work is being coordinated, expanded,
and deepened by 1) providing further jointly-planned and implemented
professional development to teachers across the district; 2) increasing
in-school arts-based literacy activities; 3) linking in-school and
after-school arts-based literacy activities; 4) extending joint ongoing
curriculum development work; 5) training a cadre of youth leaders to
co-lead after-school and summer arts-based literacy programs; and 6)
formalizing a collaborative system of assessment and applied research
that will feed back into ongoing professional development, curriculum,
and instruction.

Through these many and varied activities, the grant will demonstrate in
rigorous ways that partnerships among professional artists and teachers
create effective learning environments for all youth, particularly those
who have been identified as "at-risk" for academic failure. Further, the
grantees intend to show that given high quality feedback, mentoring, and
ongoing professional development, teachers and artists alike are
enriched and energized by these environments. And finally, we suggest
that by connecting in school and after-school programs and developing a
cadre of youth leaders, the overall quality of life in a given community
can be impacted and substantively improved.

LEAP aims to meet and improve the expressed educational needs of all
students, particularly the most at-risk students at Central Falls High
School and Calcutt Middle School: ESL and Special Education students
performing below proficiency levels. The project hopes to demonstrate
that LEAP's collaborative design and execution is a model for
successfully fusing education in core academic subjects with the arts.
The multisensory learning involved in LEAP's arts work provides a
developmentally and culturally appropriate means of engaging students,
assisting them in meeting national arts and academic standards, and
ensuring direct quality service linked to district reform efforts. The
proposed project's intended outcomes are to improve and assess student
participants' achievement in the arts, in core subject areas, and on
standardized tests through an expansion and strengthening of LEAP's
professional development and in-school and after-school performance
work. The project will document and disseminate LEAP's work and identify
key features of this systemic approach most relevant to replication.

**School District of Greenville County**

**Tanglewood Elementary School**

**301 Camperdown Way**

**P.O. Box 2848**

**Greenville, SC 29602**

**Project Director: Roy Fluhrer**

**Phone: 864-241-3330**

**Fax: 864-467-3132**

**Email: rfluhrer@greenville.k12.sc.us**

**S351B020102**

## The Tanglewood Project

This cultural partnership project is based at Tanglewood Middle School,
one of seventeen designated Title I schools located in the Greenville,
South Carolina community. At the time of application, Tanglewood was
ranked "unsatisfactory" in academic achievement. With an enrollment of
609, 86% of students are African American, Hispanic, Asian or other
minorities. Over 76% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch
programs.

The Tanglewood Project addresses the needs of at-risk, low performing
students through an arts integration program for mathematics and
language arts instruction. While all grade-level educators receive
training in arts integration techniques, the three-year project places
emphasis on sixth grade students entering middle school. These students
receive the full benefit of teacher-artist cooperative instruction,
along with enhanced learning opportunities structured through arts
integration.

With the participation of school administrators, teachers, students,
parents and local cultural arts organizations, this coordinated
community response seeks attainment of the following:

Project Goals

1)  To raise academic achievement in English/Language Arts and Math an
    aggregate of 5% annually;

2)  To increase average daily attendance by 2% each year;

3)  To reduce the number of court referrals of truancy by 10% each year;

4)  To increase parent, teacher and student home/school relations by a
    minimum of 15% annually;

5)  To increase responsibility and positive character development among
    both teachers and students as measured by a 10% reduction in
    disciplinary referrals and suspensions annually.

The following procedures provide a framework for program design,
implementation, and evaluation:

*Process Objectives*

1)  Formalize the partnership between the School District of Greenville
    County, the Metropolitan Arts Council (MAC), Tanglewood Middle
    School and core cultural arts organizations. Core cultural partners
    include representatives from music, dance, theater and visual arts
    organizations.

2)  Establish incentives to reward teacher commitment, including
    stipends, graduate credit for professional development in arts
    integration and re-certification credit for completed courses.

3)  Provide intensive, ongoing professional development in arts
    integration techniques for teachers and participating artists.

4)  Establish teams of teachers and artists who work together to
    structure arts integrated lesson plans for each sixth grade,
    six-week instructional unit in Language Arts and Math.

5)  Provide ancillary learning opportunities for students to include
    artists' residencies and extended workshops.

6)  Strengthen existing arts programs, including band/strings, visual
    arts, drama and dance through direct instruction from local
    participating artists. Increase the number of free musical
    instruments and materials available for indigent youngsters to
    encourage individual participation in performing and/or visual arts.

7)  Provide all Tanglewood students with a minimum of four local
    cultural arts performances and/or exhibitions held annually in the
    community.

8)  Increase parental involvement through development of innovative
    strategies.

Evaluation of the project focuses on both short- and long-term effects
on academic performance and personal growth and includes both
quantitative and qualitative measurements.

The project is reviewed on a quarterly basis, allowing partners to
discuss barriers to success and amend processes as needed. Ongoing
dialogue includes student/parent feedback, a necessary component in
development of a model program.

**Milwaukee Public Schools**

**5225 W. Vliet St.**

**Milwaukee, WI 53208**

**Project Director: Kim Abler**

**Phone: 414-475-8051**

**Fax: 414-475-8277**

**Email: ablerka@mail.milwaukee.k12.wi.us**

**S351B02092**

## <Arts@Large>

Piloted in just four Milwaukee Public School (MPS) district middle
schools during the 2001-2002 school year, ***Arts@ Large*** currently
offers a comprehensive range of artistic and cultural opportunities and
resources for more than 3,400 students and nearly 300 teachers in 8
district elementary, middle and high schools. With supplemental funding
from the National Endowment for the Arts, ***Arts@ Large*** expanded
into 3 additional K-8 schools in the 2002 school year, reaching an
additional 1,400 students and more than 100 teachers.

The mission of the ***Arts@ Large*** cultural partnership program is to
develop and implement a comprehensive, coordinated education arts
program and services model, building on established relationships
between the arts community, MPS, and local institutions of higher
education.

The fundamental strength of ***Arts@ Large*** is the 12 community arts,
education, and cultural partners, which include established Wisconsin
artist/educators, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Milwaukee Institute of
Art and Design, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a range of
community-based organizations offering artistic residencies and
professional development in dance, theater, music, visual arts, creative
writing and videography. The Milwaukee arts, cultural and education
community strongly supports MPS efforts, as evidenced by the 6
additional artists/organizations extending their successful arts
participation, curriculum design and professional development programs
to the 11 ***Arts@ Large*** schools**.**

Objectives:

-   Increase collaboration among core subject teachers with art and
    music specialists.

-   Increase extra-curricular integration of the arts curriculum into
    core curricular subjects.

-   Improve and strengthen integrated lessons.

-   Increase student exposure to arts activities.

-   Increase frequency of community collaboration.

-   Strengthen comprehensive arts partnerships between schools and
    visual arts/music/dance/theater organizations in the Milwaukee
    community.

Outcomes:

-   Arts are integrated across the curriculum.

-   The number of arts-related opportunities for students increases 75%
    at each school.

-   Educational programming at arts organizations is responsive to the
    needs of at-risk students.

-   The number of arts-related activities integrated into after school
    programming increases.

Accomplishments:

-   3400+ students participated in ***Arts@ Large*** arts-related
    activities during and after school .

-   92 [new]{.underline} arts-related opportunities for students and
    teachers were implemented in the 8 project schools.

-   More than 25,404 student service hours\* have been logged by project
    schools (\*hours when artists and educators were engaged in direct
    instruction with students multiplied by the number of participating
    students).

-   Two schools with no resident art specialist increased the number of
    arts-related activities in each school by 75%.

-   78 artists worked directly with students after school or in the
    classroom.

-   15 [new]{.underline} professional development opportunities were
    offered to faculty.