Arts Partnerships Make Learning Come Alive in New York

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In the nationwide effort to improve education for all children, public schools are being challenged to reconsider how they teach and are being held accountable for what students learn. States have set standards and designed new testing strategies to measure student achievement. This emphasis on yardsticks, and the school rankings they generate, has created a perception that schools are failing. Yet the reality is that many schools are successfully redefining instruction and assessment, and the arts are playing a major role.

Middle school students in Lansing, NY, work on an ESP project called "Connecting Arts and Science...Naturally," with Ithaca's Cayuga Nature Center. (Photo: Cayuga Nature Center)

New York's Empire State Partnerships (ESP) help the state's schools do just that -- use the arts to improve learning in ways that can't always be expressed by a letter grade. Higher-order thinking and communication skills are not easily taught or measured, yet they are natural outcomes of arts education. The ESP initiative, started jointly by the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Education Department in 1996, gives students the tools to master these important skills while improving their competence in the arts and other subjects. Schools and cultural organizations working together are at the heart of ESP, and its success relies on these partnerships to assist students in meeting New York's learning standards.

Students Learn by Doing

In one ESP project, Ithaca's Cayuga Nature Center works with three middle schools to create outdoor landscaped areas. Students have designed and executed garden areas, an outdoor amphitheater and an area for relaxation. All of these components are linked by an overall design theme, and the project draws upon a range of skills and incorporates math, science, illustration and sculpture. By applying "book learning" to a real-world project, the students learn the interrelationships between disciplines and get to experience the end results of their calculations, drawings and planning. A significant part of this process involves students working with their parents, local architects and other professionals to gather information.

A nature center may not seem to fit the traditional notion of a cultural resource, yet that is really the point of ESP -- to meet the individual needs of the school and the community. Together, teachers and artists design the lesson plans, coordinate the schedules and devise the assessment techniques for each project. This collaborative planning focuses on the state's learning standards in the arts, as well as in other disciplines. Projects must be built around arts learning and use the arts to inform the teaching of other subjects. In each case, the process is "learning by doing," challenging students to apply their knowledge, use a variety of skills and solve problems creatively.

Community Participation Builds Support

Students get help "ribbing" a racing skiff as part of the Thousand Island School District's ESP project with the Antique Boat Museum. (Photo: Antique Boat Museum)

Sustaining a commitment to arts education in the schools requires the active participation of the community. Along the St. Lawrence River in northern New York, the Thousand Island Central School District's ESP initiative is supporting several multidisciplinary projects that immerse students in the rich cultural heritage of the region. Creating replicas of two 19th century racing skiffs, learning about navigation on the St. Lawrence and interviewing residents as part of a local history project all involve participation of local professionals and citizens. To build even more awareness, an Inspiration Fair is held every few months at different venues. Here, the community, students and teachers come together to share projects, thank participants and generate new ideas. The fair, along with the district's community partners -- the Antique Boat Museum, Save the River Inc., and the Thousand Island Land Trust -- strengthens the district's bonds with individuals and groups and cultivates support for the educational goals of the schools.

Since its inception, ESP has provided cultural organizations with grants to forge collaborations with schools and school districts, in order to enrich student learning and nurture new connections to the community. The program also provides teachers and teaching artists with year-round professional development activities that offer hands-on tools and models, creating multiple ways to track the progress of their students.

The New York State Council on the Arts' partnership with the State Education Department has served as a catalyst for cultivating strong, innovative collaborations around the state. It has provided a framework through which the state's cultural resources can be leveraged and shared for the benefit of students and residents alike.

"It is incumbent upon cultural organizations to see that the arts are part of every child's education," says arts council executive director Nicolette Clarke. "The Empire State Partnerships have fostered a new vision of learning and teaching in New York's schools. Arts education can help children to share in the creative, innovative education we know that each of them deserves."

For More Information

Sarah Jencks
Empire State Partnerships
Phone: 212/465-8494

Empire State Partnerships
The website includes background on the program, as well as descriptions of various partnerships.

New York State Academy for Teaching and Learning
Three ESP partnership teams were selected to be part of this online archive of best practices designed to assist teachers in meeting the state's learning standards.

Writer/Editor: Kimber Craine
Associate Editor: Jill Hauser
Design: Benson Design
Sources: Empire State Partnerships; New York State Council on the Arts

The work of NASAA and of state arts agencies is supported and strengthened in many ways through partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts.

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