 Advocacy Awards
Nominations Deadline
Extended to March 15
Don't miss this opportunity to nominate worthy recipients of our annual Arts Advocacy Awards! Categories include:
- Distinguished Arts Educator Advocate (Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts)
- Schools of Distinction in Arts Education
- Excellence in School Administration Arts Advocate
- Massachusetts School Committee Arts Advocate
- Outstanding Parent Advocate
- Outstanding Arts Collaborative (Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts)
- Corporate/Business Support of Arts Education
- Outstanding Student Advocate
The nomination process is greatly simplified from previous years for most awards, and applications are to be submitted digitally via email. Both Arts|Learning members and non-members are encouraged to nominate either themselves or others deserving of recognition.
As in past years, the awards will be presented at the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston, with member of the legislature in attendance cheering on their constituent winners!
Up to five winners of the School of Distinction award will be automatically nominated for the prestigious national award from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Winners of this award receive a $10,000 grant from the Kennedy Center. This past year, the Boston Arts Academy became Massachusetts' first winner!
Arts|Learning thanks Hunt Alternatives Fund for their co-sponsorship of these awards.
Any questions? Contact us at info@artslearning.org.
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Arts Assessment: May 25 Event to Feature Scott Shuler, Rebecca Fay Squire
 Our featured speakers at our May 25 Awards and Symposium event in Boston will be Scott Shuler and Beckey Squire.
Scott C. Shuler is the Arts Education specialist in the Connecticut State Department of Education. He previously served as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for the Simsbury Public Schools and as an associate professor at California State University, Long Beach. An experienced K-12 and college music teacher and active clinician, Dr. Shuler holds numerous awards for teaching, writing, and leadership from state and national organizations. He served on the task forces that developed America's National Standards in Music and the 1997 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the Arts, co-chaired the CCSSO interstate arts assessment consortium, is past president of the National Council of State Supervisors of Music and currently president of MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
Beckey Squire is a music teacher at the Saugatuck Elementary School, Westport Public Schools, Connecticut. She is a harpist and also adjunct professor of music education at Fairfield University.
Dr. Shuler and Ms. Squire will present their work on the Connecticut's Common Arts Assessment Initiative, which develops rich art and music units with embedded assessment to measure student learning of the standards at the district and school levels. Teachers in 67 districts have collaborated with CSDE personnel over a period of three years to design, pilot, refine, score and benchmark eight authentic performance tasks for grades 2, 5, and 8; two more tasks will be completed during the current school year. Each task is an engaging, classroom-tested unit with scoring scales; (in grades 5 and 8) integrated, vocabulary-based written planning and reflection; and benchmark ("anchor set") student work that illustrates higher, standard, and lower levels of achievement. Teachers report that these units/task have helped them improve their instruction while providing arts data useful in today's data-driven schools. Several districts have already embedded drafts of these assessments into their curriculum. All of these materials either already are or will be posted online for statewide use. Come prepared for a fascinating presentation and discussion about the role of arts assessment. Can--and should--Massachusetts be implementing a similar program? Our next newsletter will give information about how to register for this important event! |
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