ARTS ACHIEVE
Background | Details
Background
ARTS ACHIEVE: Impacting Student Success in the Arts was a large-scale arts assessment research project undertaken from 2010–2015 by Studio in a School and the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Arts and Special Projects (OASP), in partnership with four other major NYC arts organizations.
The project was funded by two United States Department of Education grants: an Investing in Innovation (i3) grant awarded to Studio, and an Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) grant awarded to the OASP.
Conducted in close to 80 schools, the goal of the research was to improve student achievement in the arts, enhance teacher practice, and integrate technology into the classroom. This important work reached thousands of students and provided intensive supports to 45 teachers of visual art, dance, music, and theater.
Details
The ARTS ACHIEVE research was animated by several questions:
What sorts of performance tasks would authentically measure student arts achievement and reflect the core values of NYC’s arts learning standards, the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts, Pre-K–12?
How might balanced assessment—a combination of ongoing formative and biannual summative assessments—be used to support a classroom environment that empowers students to think and work like artists?
In what ways might consistent professional development impact arts teachers’ skills and their students’ arts achievement?
How might technology enhance arts instruction?
Take a journey through the five years of ARTS ACHIEVE!
On this site you will find descriptions of various aspects of the project, with links to more detailed information, as well as a full report. There are sample units and a bank of resources for teachers, school leaders, and district administrators who may wish to undertake a similar project.