Arts in Education - Arts Education Research Initiative (AERI)

Presentation

We've provided a PDF version of a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes some of the high-level findings from the AERI. The AERI Presentation (PDF) includes speaker notes and is an opportunity for those interested in arts education to further share this work within your communities.

 

Educating creative thinkers is good for the economy

A recent guest column in The Seattle Times, Educating creative thinkers is good for the economy, illuminates the ties between our economy, innovation, and the importance of K-12 arts education in Washington schools. Co-signed by Susan Coliton, vice president of The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and Patricia A. Wasley, dean of the College of Education at the University of Washington, the column highlights the Washington State Arts Commission’s recently completed report on arts education, K — 12 Arts Education: Every Student, Every School, Every Year, and calls for an increased investment in arts education for all Washington students.

 

K-12 Arts Education: Every Student, Every School, Every Year.

WSAC has recently released our new AERI publication, K-12 Arts Education: Every Student, Every School, Every Year (PDF). We invite educators, artists, parents, policy makers, and everyone who cares about the quality of public education in our state to read this report.

 

The publication is part of the Arts Commission's Arts Education Research Initiative (AERI), and is a follow up to the initial 2005 AERI report (PDF). The purpose of the AERI is to gather and share quantitative and qualitative data about arts education in K-12 schools, so that educators, policy makers, arts leaders, and community members have the information they need to support positive change in our schools.

 

Click the image to open the booklet, K-12 Arts Education: Every Student, Every School, Every Year (PDF)

The Every Student booklet is based on a survey to K-12 principals during the 2008-2009 school year. Principals responded from across the state – from 37 out of 39 Washington counties, from schools and students that are collectively representative of the state’s K-12 population as a whole. In addition to the survey, researchers followed up with site visits to selected schools to learn more about schools’ successes and challenges. The booklet includes context from external state and national research, and markers of quality and suggestions for taking action.

 

The AERI was developed to identify what is working, where we can improve, and what we can do, working together, to provide better arts education for our state’s students. At WSAC, we have a particular interest in the important role that professional arts organizations can play as committed partners working with schools and districts. We know that reaching our goal will take many partners; we hope that with increased engagement from education partners and arts partners across the state, we can reach our goal of ongoing, in-depth, and consistent, arts education for every student, at every school, every year.

 

We will also have available, the full AERI Research Report (PDF), which contains extensive survey data, excerpts from interviews with principals, and a complete survey appendix.

 

Arts Education Research Initiative Documents (PDF):

• K-12 Arts Education: Every Student, Every School, Every Year
  • Action Agenda & Markers of Quality
• AERI Research Report
• AERI One-page promotional handout

 

For further information about the AERI project, or to request hard copies of the Every Student booklet, please contact WSAC Arts in Education Manager Lisa Jaret.

 

The Arts Education Research Initiative is led by the Washington State Arts Commission, with support and endorsement from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Association of Washington School Principals, ArtsEd Washington, and the Washington State Arts Alliance.