The integrated arts program was designed to meet school improvement needs through the professional development provided to teachers. Teachers were required to meet the demands of designing and planning an arts integrated curriculum and to implement the performance-based assessment of the project. The program was intense and demanding on teacher time. In addition, the administration and governing boards were informed and involved in various aspects of the process. The project implement various strategies and opportunities to involve the communities.
Master teaching artists in creative writing, dance, drama/theater, music, photography/media arts and the visual arts were key assets to the project. The master teaching artists were placed in each school for a 2 - 3 week residency. The length of the residency was based on the needs indicated in arts integration UbD curriculum planning template, which was completed by the classroom teacher in collaboration with the artist. The teacher and the artist combine expertise to develop the teaching template originated by the classroom teacher’s overall instructional plan. The teachers and the artists working relationship was continually growing, which significantly improves the on – going process. The project has benefited and grown each year from the growing collaboration and communication between teachers and artists.
The evaluation process was designed to continuously inform the professional development needs, and to improve the classroom instruction and student performance. Teachers, artists and students were assessed for their growth in teaching and learning. Models of evaluating in and through the arts have been designed. The pedagogical foundation for the assessments was performance based. The evaluator for the project was Dr. Lawrence Mello. Dr. Mello and Karen Husted, the project director, developed the criteria for teacher and student evaluations. Artists were evaluated by the classroom teachers with an adaptation of a rubric developed by Young Audiences. The project director gives the artists on-going feedback and professional development regarding their work and collaboration with the teachers. The project was being measured on two levels: 1) teacher/artist planning and implementation, 2) student achievement in arts integration learning by scoring the students ability to articulate the process to create their products and to relate the artistic work to their world.
The goal of the assessment process was to honor the discrete disciplines, but at the same time encourage students to see the learning experience as a unified whole that seeks and creates connections with other disciplines. Further the assessment process teaches the standards while the curriculum, instruction, and assessment worked together to produce a unified expectation.
Sustainability was an important element in the design of the entire project. The artists residencies were designed to build knowledge and skills the teacher can replicate. In addition, the curriculum planning template and assessment models were tools created to provide a foundation for sustainability.
Teachers mentored new teachers at three sites. In addition, sites were seeking funding and other processes to create a sustainable arts integration site. Throughout the process teachers were given resources to assist them in creating sustainability.
Teachers, who were not participating in the arts integration project were interested in becoming part of the process and in some cases neighboring schools had become very interested in using arts integration as a reform method at their site.