NEWS
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND COMMUNICATIONS INITIATIVE
Starting in July 2009, Marmillion + Company will facilitate a comprehensive strategic planning and communications initiative. A five-step strategic planning process will allow SCEA to understand and evaluate its options in the current market and identify opportunities it has for future growth in order to keep pace with the new demands, opportunities, and realities of the arts education world today. The process will result in a pro-active, consensus-driven plan that will enable SCEA to identify and maximize its strengths, effectively utilize resources, and turn potential challenges into opportunities for the future.
UTC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MUSIC METHODS COURSE
Susanne Burgess is teaching Music 321: Elementary School Music Methods, Materials & Observations during the 2009 fall semester for the Department of Music at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The introduction to developmentally appropriate practice and pedagogy of music instruction for children in the elementary school classroom is designed within a framework of active participation, engaging the learner in multi-modal musical experiences.
MAINE COURSE PATHWAYS PROJECT
The Maine Department of Education is engaged in the Main Course Pathways Project, a system to ensure that high school students are given fair opportunity to learn all of the standards of Maine’s Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction. The goal is to help schools validate curriculum and academic programs, and maintain local control over the content of courses.
Joel Baxley, SCEA’s director of visual art education, is currently serving as a senior reviewer for visual and performing arts syllabi. In 2008, he was a consultant for the development of the visual and performing arts syllabus scoring guide.
SCEA FEATURED IN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HANDBOOK
SCEA is one of 50 model programs reflecting national best practices in arts education highlighted in Designing the Arts Learning Community: A Handbook for K-12 Professional Development Planners.
Sponsored by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, San Francisco Arts Commission, and Santa Clara County Office of Education, the handbook demonstrates how to establish, grow and sustain a learning community that comes together to improve arts instruction. The interactive tool is designed to be used online but offers options to print out sections or the entire handbook.
The handbook, the first arts education professional development tool with a national perspective, draws on the experiences of arts education professional development programs from across the United States. Information about the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts can be found at SCEA in the Handbook.
SCEA PROFILED IN DANA FOUNDATION PUBLICATION
SCEA is among 12 higher-education institutions profiled in the Dana Foundation’s new book Transforming Arts Teaching: The Role of Higher Education. The book examines innovations in arts-teacher training and features the proceedings from Dana’s 2007 national symposium that examined ways in which colleges and universities can enhance arts learning. It is available free from the Dana Foundation.
COLLEGE BOARD
Kim Wheetley, SCEA's executive director, has been invited to serve on the College Board's new National Task Force on the Arts in Education. The purpose of the Task Force is to advise the College Board in developing and articulating a vision for arts education in the United States. Launching a national discussion about the role of the arts in education and the meaning of citizenship will enable the Board to use its considerable resources and influence to promote and inspire artistic creativity and innovation and to achieve and sustain an integrative vision for arts in education.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO CENTRE FOR ARTS EDUCATION & INTEGRATION
SCEA and the Trinidad Dance Theatre are planning to establish a professional development program to facilitate professional development in arts integration for university arts and education faculty, primary and secondary school administrators and teachers, and practicing artists in the Trinidad & Tobago islands. For more information:
Trinidad & Tobago Centre for Arts Education & Integration
TENNESSEE GOVERNOR'S AWARD
The Tennessee Arts Commission awarded SCEA it's 2003 Governor's Arts Leadership Award for nurturing creative inquiry into teaching and learning. Read what friends of the Center had to say in their letters of support.
