me arts ed

Arts Education work on the national level

In May the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE) convened a national Arts Education Task Force of content, community, and cultural stakeholders in Washington, D.C. SEADAE consists of people at state education agencies whose responsibility is arts education (dance, music, theatre and visual arts). The meeting was hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and facilitated by Dr. Brandon Doubek, Professional Development Associate for the Leadership and Learning Center. CCSSO consists of each state Commissioner of Education.

The purpose of this convening was to reach consensus on the next leverage point in the initiative titled National Expectations for Learning in Arts Education, formally adopted by the SEADAE membership at its October 2009 meeting in Cambridge, MA.

This statement was made by Gene Wilhoit, the Executive Director of CCSSO:

“On behalf of CCSSO, I applaud the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education’s (SEADAE) efforts exploring ways to create national expectations for learning in arts education. We agree that all children need the benefits of a sequential education in the arts as part of a balanced curriculum…We fully support your plan of engaging this task force to frame the work and to determine a future governance process.”

I am sure you are aware that the development of Common Core Standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math has been occurring this year and Maine is transitioning to these standards. Forty seven states are adopting these and it is expected they will be in law in the next year or two.

At the May meeting there were several representatives from the SEADAE organization as well as representatives from the following organizations:

• American Alliance for Theatre and Education
• Americans for the Arts
• Arts Education Partnership
• CCSSO
• The College Board
• Educational Theatre Association
• Independent Arts Education Consultants
• The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
• League of American Orchestras
• MENC: The National Association for Music Education
• National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
• National Art Education Association
• National Dance Education Organization
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Quadrant Arts Education Research
• Young Audiences Inc.

The individuals who represented these organizations is located at the SEADAE website.

The participants agreed that the national standards would be re-conceptualized. SEADAE will lead the work and collaborate with all the organizations listed above. The time line includes a completion date of December 2011. The Power Points and other documents from the two day work are posted at SEADAE’s wiki. You will have the opportunity as the work progresses to weigh in electronically since the plan is for transparency during every step of the process. Web 2.0 tools such as webinars, online work sessions, wikispaces, google docs, and interactive databases will be utilized.

As more information becomes available and as plans change and develop I will keep you posted through the meartsed blog! Please be sure and add your comments and questions here on the meartsed blog so others can be part of the conversation.