(September 19, 2012) The U.S. Department of Education today awarded a grant of $6,640,000 to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to implement and expand its efforts in arts education and arts integration at the national level. Beginning with the first year of a three-year program, this grant will allow all children access to the life-changing benefits of an arts education.
“The study of the arts can significantly boost student achievement, reduce discipline problems, and increase the odds that students will go on to graduate from college,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “Arts education is essential to stimulating the creativity and innovation that will prove critical to young Americans competing in a knowledge-based, global economy.”
The grant will be funded under the Arts in Education National Program, from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement. It will serve pre-K-12 children and youth, with a special emphasis on children from low-income families and children with disabilities. Activities funded by the grant include: professional development for arts educators; development and dissemination of instructional materials; arts-based educational programming; and community and national outreach activities to expand partnerships among schools, school districts, and communities throughout the country.
Four of the Kennedy Center’s programs are instrumental in its overarching national arts education and arts integration plan:
Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) will serve constituents through local school partnerships, along with professional development workshops for teachers, teaching artists and school administrators.
Partners in Education (PIE) will foster partnership development through training and workshops for teachers and teaching artists.
Any Given Child (AGC), a two-part, multi-year program, will help communities from around the nation create an action plan for arts education.
Very Special Arts (VSA) National Affiliate Network will work to provide arts integration to students with disabilities and their teachers.
Cross-posted from the ED Blog.
