Taken from
A PORTRAIT OF PERSUASIVE POTENTIAL
The Evaluation Study of ArtsNow: 2007–2008

Prepared by
David E. Myers, Ph.D.
Professor and Director, School of Music
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

November 12, 2008

CASE STUDY SCHOOLS

What is the quality of implementation of ArtsNow in selected schools implementing the model of arts leadership teams and in-school creativity workshops?  What successes and challenges are associated with implementation? 

Four schools that evidenced consistent coherence with the principles and strategies of ArtsNow were selected for site visits.  The visits consisted of interviews with administrators and educators, classroom observations, and reviews of student work. 

NARVIE J. HARRIS TRADITIONAL THEME SCHOOL (DEKALB COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM)

The Narvie J. Harris School (NJH) opened in 1989. Its current enrollment is nearly 1000 students. As a "theme school," students wear uniforms, parents must participate, and student achievement is expected. Educators from Narvie J. Harris first participated in ArtsNow training in August 2007. Nine-nine percent of students are non-white, and 42 percent are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The school consistently performs well on CRCT results and Adequate Yearly Progress. The school maintains a Parent Center, where parents assist teachers with a variety of supportive tasks. Parents must volunteer 16 hours per year of support.

The Arts Leadership team at NJH includes a reading specialist, two counselors, a music teacher, a principal, two assistant principals, and a teacher of gifted and talented students. The school has "always" integrated the arts into its curriculum, so, in the words of team members, "ArtsNow was a perfect match for what we were already doing." The Leadership Team has conducted in-service sessions for the entire school. A full-day session occurred in October 2007, followed by additional shorter programs during faculty meetings and professional development days. The school has maintained a month-by-month comprehensive listing of the extensive arts-related activities undertaken in each grade level.

Administrators, educators, and parents convey a consistent message regarding the school: they are proud of the record of high achievement, and they value "hand-on" learning that engages both the intellect and the senses. During the site visit, students and teachers presented many examples of arts-integrated work, including poems written in Language Arts classes, a bean mosaic and drawings developed to support science concepts, puppet shows developed in relation to books children were reading, and paintings related to the study of Peru in social studies. The presence of the arts in the school was palpable in the opening exercises, which included a recording of a selection by the 4th-5th grade chorus and a reading from the works of Pablo Picasso on being special.

Classrooms and hallways at NJH are alive with examples of student artwork, and students talk avidly about the creative activities they do in relation to learning academics. Though the school has observed an Arts Time, educators indicate that they view the arts as an ongoing part of instruction. As one educator put it, "We should not just be doing the arts for an hour on Fridays – the arts should be part of everything we do."

The quality of art work on display in the school is very high, rich in color and design, demonstrating individual creativity. Similarly, in observing classrooms, I found students eager to participate in singing, reading their original poetry, explaining their drawings, and relating the arts as a "natural" aspect of their learning. A review of CRCT scores for NJH from 2006 through 2008 indicates that the school consistently scores very well on percentages of students meeting or exceeding expectations (typically 90 percent or above). Beyond arts integration, the school also takes great pride in its annual concerts and public art shows. A counselor noted that, "The arts are what help us show parents and the community in a very direct way what we are doing here. They are the evidence of how we have students actively and creatively engaged in learning. We believe our achievement scores are high because we engage children in creative and active learning, not because we pour information into them. You can't really say the arts are the "reason" for our high achievement, but I am convinced that without arts integration we would not see the consistent results we have had over time."

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