| |
Posted: Friday, 01-08-10, 01:01, PM
TITLE: Arts On Line Update 01-04-2010
NEWS: Dear Arts Education Advocate:
At
the start of each year we find ourselves in an eager
spirit to start anew ... 2010 is no different.
Prior to leaving the office on December 30th I cleaned
off the top of my desk, filed all the documents in
properly labeled files (thanks to Patrick - a valuable
volunteer at OAAE), sorted the in-box into manageable
chunks of work, updated the 2010 calendar with meetings,
conference calls, webinars, conferences, workshops, and
more meetings. I'm ready for 2010.
Of
course, I'm writing this message on the afternoon of
January 1st -after rising two hours later than normal,
after having a hot breakfast
prepared by my adorable
husband, and after a leisurely walk with my grandgirl
(Cierra who is 5 years old). I am optimistic about
2010.
The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education is
working hard to carryout valuable professional
development for educators, advocating on all fronts
(local, state, and federal) on behalf of arts education,
planning for the 2010 Virtuoso Awards to be held on
Saturday, April 24th, partnering with the Ohio Arts
Council and Ohio Department of Education on a research
project to determine the status of arts education in
Ohio's schools, and working daily to provide information
and resources to our members.
On Monday, January
4th I know my outlook will be equally as optimistic, I
mean really, after a long weekend how could I go
wrong! I'll be looking for opportunities to work
with you in 2010 - if you have a great idea or want to
be more involved just give me a call -
614.224.1060. Happy New Year!
Until next
time,
Donna
If you are in need of assistance don't
hesistate to contact your OAAE leadership team at
614.224.1060
Donna Collins, Executive
Director
Joan Platz, Information
Coordinator
Janelle Hallett, Member Services
Coordinator
Linda Johnson, Administrative
Assistant |
|
 |
|
|
| 128th Ohio General Assembly
|
The Ohio House
and Senate have scheduled sessions for January 12, 13,
20, 26, & 27, 2010. There are no committee
hearings scheduled this week.
The Ohio 10th District Court
of Appeals overturned a decision by the Franklin County
Court of Common Pleas on December 31, 2009 in a case
involving how the state of Ohio can use tobacco
settlement money. The court found that the Board of
Trustees of the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control
Foundation violated the state's open records law when it
met in executive session and decided to transfer its
funds to the American Legacy Foundation before Governor
Strickland and lawmakers could allocate the $250 million
for other purposes. The Legacy Foundation now must
decide if it will appeal the decision to the Ohio
Supreme Court. Governor Strickland and lawmakers
intended to divert the funds to support children's
health insurance and Medicaid
programs.
The Ohio School Funding
Advisory Council will meet on January 7, 2010 at 1:00 PM
at Battelle For Kids, 1160 Dublin Rd., Columbus.
The Council was established in Am. Sub. HB 1 to review
the components of the school funding model also
established in HB1. The Council is required to
issue recommendations to the State Board of Education,
the General Assembly, and the public on December 1, 2010
regarding the adequacy of the model's financing for
special education, gifted education services,
career-technical education, arts education, services for
limited English proficient students, early college high
schools, and more. The Superintendent of Public
Instruction, or designee, will serve as the chair of the
Council.
The Senate Education
Committee, chaired by Senator Cates, will meet on
January 12, 2010 at 4:00 PM in the north hearing
room. The committee will hear testimony on SB 102
(Turner) State Board of Education/Standards for
Dropouts, and SB 192 (Cates/Seitz) Layoff/Bus
Drivers.
|
| Governor
Signs Education
Bills
|
Governor Strickland signed
the following bills into law on December 28,
2009:
HB19
(Harwood) Dating Violence (Tina Croucher
Act): Requires boards of education to adopt
a policy to prevent and address incidents of dating
violence at school, provide staff training on dating
violence prevention, and include dating prevention
education for grades 7-12 within the health education
curriculum, and requires the State Board of Education to
develop a model dating violence prevention policy for
curricula.
HB290
(Bubp-Pryor) Junior ROTC, and more: As introduced
HB290 included Junior ROTC as a permitted Ohio Core
"elective course", and permitted boards of education to
excuse students participating in Junior ROTC students
from two years of physical education. The bill was
amended in the Senate to include some provisions
originally introduced in HB370 (Garrison), SB180
(Husted), and SB207 (Sawyer).
HB290 now permits
the Department of Education and the Chancellor of the
Board of Regents to establish a longitudinal student
data system; extends for six months the deadline for
certain school districts that have been allocated a
share of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
interest-free school construction bonds for school
facilities to approve bonds and tax levies to secure the
districts' share of state-assisted classroom facilities
projects; clarifies the conditions under which a
community school must close for poor academic
performance; specifies conditions under which a certain
community school may obtain a new sponsor; and makes the
operations of the Harmon Commission contingent upon the
decision of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and
the availability of funds.
|
| ODE Submits
Annual Report on Community
Schools |
The Ohio
Department of Education (ODE) submitted the "2008-2009
Annual Report and Retrospective Ohio Community Schools"
on December 31, 2009 to the Governor, Speaker of the
House, President of the Senate, and chairs of the House
and Senate Education Committees. This is the 7th
annual report on community schools submitted, and is
required by Ohio Revised Code
§3314.015(A)(4),
The report includes
information about the condition of community schools,
which are privately operated but publicly funded schools
in Ohio, established by the Ohio General Assembly in
June 1997 (122-HB215). Several tables are included
in the report to summarize the following information
about community schools: School Demographic and
Academic Data; Enrollment History; School Finance;
Federal Title Funds; Federal Charter School Grant;
Sponsor Assignment of Community School Legal Compliance;
Sponsor Evaluation Data: Cohort; and Closure Under
3314.35. The report also features a summary of
legislative changes pertaining to community schools in a
section called "Community School Legislative
History".
According to the report there
were 332 community schools operating during the
2008-2009 school
year. Sixteen percent of
community schools are conversion schools, sponsored by
school districts, Jt. Vocational School Districts, or
Educational Service Centers, and 84 percent are
"start-up" schools and overseen by
"sponsors".
There are 77 active sponsors
of community schools in Ohio, including one joint
vocational school
district; school districts;
Educational Service Centers; Bowling Green State
University; and the following organizations: Ashe
Culture Center; Buckeye Community Hope Foundation;
Education
Resource Consultants; Kids
Count of Dayton; Richland Academy; St. Aloysius
Orphanage; Thomas B. Fordham Foundation; and the Ohio
Council of Community Schools.
Since 2003 new sponsors must
be authorized by the Ohio Department of Education.
Currently nineteen sponsors have agreements with the
ODE. Am. Sub. HB 1, the state's FY10-11 budget bill,
also included a provision that grants the ODE oversight
authority over all community school sponsors, and
requires that the annual report on community schools
address the performance of
community school
sponsors. The ODE has developed a Sponsor
Performance Review to evaluate how well sponsors are
meeting their responsibilities to oversee and support
community schools. That information is reported on Table
7: Sponsor Evaluation.
The number of students
enrolled in community schools increased in 2008-2009
from 82,000 to 89,000. Students from all over the state
can attend community schools, but "start-up" community
schools are allowed to open only under certain
conditions. Community schools are located in 35 of 88
Ohio counties. Franklin County has the largest
number of community schools at 63, followed by Cuyahoga
(58), Lucas (39), Montgomery (33), and Hamilton
(28). Twenty counties have fewer than three
community schools per county.
Community schools may focus on
different types of student populations. 246
community schools are described as serving a general
population; 16 schools serve students with special
needs; 3 schools serve students with autism; and 67
schools serve as dropout recovery schools. Of the
67 dropout recovery schools, 37 are conversion
schools.
Resources: ODE's Office of Community
Schools has received millions of dollars in Public
Charter
School Program grants from the
U.S. Department of Education over the past nine years.
The latest of three such grants totals more than $48
million. These grants have been used to assist in the
design, planning, and opening of 35 new community
schools and dropout recovery schools; improve
EMIS and
promote the use of data to support student achievement;
and to build the capacity of
sponsors.
Conversion
Schools: In
2008-2009 ODE's Office of Community Schools reviewed 36
conversion
community schools to determine
their level of compliance with state laws and rules
regarding independence; educational programs; admissions
processes; governance and administration structure;
contract; and school staff.
According to the annual report
the ODE found that a majority of conversion schools were
not operating as independent schools for a number of
reasons. For example, in 34 schools the treasurer
of the conversion school was also the treasurer of the
school district; in 19 schools the chief administrator
of the school district was also the administrator of the
conversion school; in 18 schools an employee of the
school district was also a member of the school's
governing authority board.
The ODE's Office of Community
Schools is recommending that it continue to work with
sponsoring districts and ESCs to ensure that conversion
schools comply with all laws and regulations, and
operate as separate and unique
schools.
Accountability: Am. Sub. HB 1, the
FY10-11 state budget, included new provisions to close
community
schools that failed to meet certain performance
standards over several years. Two schools have
closed so far under the new criteria, and sixteen
schools have been notified that they are subject to
closure on or before June 30, 2010. A total of 69
community schools have closed since
1997.
Some
community schools are exempted from the closure
provisions, including community schools
in which a majority of
students are children with disabilities receiving
special education and related services, and community
schools that primarily serve as dropout recovery
schools, and are granted a waiver under section 3314.36.
A provision included in HB1 allows community schools to
operate for two full years before the closure criteria
goes into effect.
Recent
changes in laws regarding community
schools:
Ohio Core
Graduation Requirements (126-SB 311): Beginning in July 2010
students graduating from community schools will need to
meet more stringent graduation requirements (ORC 3314.03
(11) (f)) similar to those that students in traditional
public schools have been required to meet. Students in
community schools will be subject to the Ohio Core
graduation requirements outlined in ORC Section 3313.603
(B) and (C). The Ohio Core requires students to complete
20 credits in math, science, social studies, and
english, and five elective credits, and pass required
state assessments in order to graduate. Students in
community schools and traditional public schools may
opt-out of the Ohio Core under certain conditions
outlined in 3313.603 (D). Students in community schools
do not have to meet the graduation requirements for arts
education outlined in 3313.603 (K), and students
attending qualified dropout prevention programs may also
be exempt from the Ohio Core graduation requirements as
outlined in 3313.603 (F).
Changes
included in Am. Sub. HB1, the FY10-11 State Budget (June
2009):
Community
School Report Cards: Eliminates the
requirement that a community school must be in operation
for two full school years before ODE may issue a report
card for that community school, but exempts the
performance ratings on the report cards issued in these
first two years from consideration for automatic closure
or any other matter based on report card
ratings.
Community
School Sponsor Oversight: Clarifies that ODE's
authority to oversee and monitor
community school sponsors
applies to all sponsors, regardless of whether they were
initially approved by ODE for sponsorship, and requires
ODE's annual report on community schools to include the
performance of community school
sponsors.
New
Start-Up Community Schools: Revises the exception
to the cap on new start-up community
schools by prohibiting
contracts with operators that manage other schools in
Ohio, unless at least one of their schools has a report
card rating higher than academic
watch.
JVSD
Conversion Community Schools: Permits the conversion
of a building operated by a joint
vocational school district
board of education into a community school, in the same
manner as a building operated by a city, local, or
exempted village school district board of education, or
an educational service center governing board may be
converted under current law.
Closure of
Community Schools: Revises the current
performance criteria that trigger automatic closure of a
community school effective July 1, 2009, as
follows:
- For schools that do not offer a grade higher than
3, requires closure if the school has been in academic
emergency for three of the four most recent years,
instead of four consecutive years;
- For schools that offer any of grades 4 to 8 but no
grade higher than 9, requires closure if the school
has been in academic emergency for two of the three
most recent years, instead of three consecutive years,
and has shown less than one year of academic growth in
reading or math for at least two of the three most
recent years;
- For a school that offers any of grades 10 to 12,
requires closure if the school has been in academic
emergency for three of the four most recent years,
instead of three consecutive years, with two years not
showing two years of academic growth in reading or
math.
Exempts
from automatic closure community schools in which a
majority of the enrolled students are children with
disabilities receiving special education and related
services, and dropout recovery schools under certain
conditions.
The annual report on community
schools is
available.
|
| News from the ODE
|
Teacher of
the Year Selected: Superintendent of
Public Instruction Deborah Delisle announced the
selection of Natalie Wester as the 2010 Ohio Teacher of
the Year on December 17, 2009. Ms. Wester is a
third-grade teacher at Gearity Professional Development
School in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City
School District.
The 2010 Ohio Teacher of the
Year was selected from nominations submitted by schools
across the state, and reviewed by a statewide panel
composed of representatives from a wide range of
professional organizations and school constituencies.
Ms. Wester was selected from among five finalists. The
four other finalists for the 2010 Ohio Teacher of the
Year are:
- Michael Andric, Barberton High School, Barberton
City Schools;
- Sheri Halagan, Gurney Elementary School, Chagrin
Falls Exempted Village;
- David Harms, Penta Career Center, Wood County; and
- Lynne Krug, Allen Elementary School, Strongsville
City Schools.
The Ohio Teacher of the Year
program was initiated by ODE in 1969 to honor and
promote excellence in teaching and the teaching
profession, and to build a network of exemplary teachers
who are leaders in school improvement initiatives. All
Ohio school districts and chartered nonpublic schools
are invited to nominate outstanding teachers who have
demonstrated exceptional dedication and leadership to
classroom, school, and community
activities.
Innovative
Learning Environments: Ohio is the only state
participating in an international program to identify
Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) sponsored by the
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD)/Center for Education Research and Innovation
(CERI). The purpose of the project is to identify and
examine examples of best practices for learning, and
generate scientific evidence, which will be used to
inform education reform efforts. Examples have been
collected so far from 12 countries or regions. School
districts in Ohio can participate by completing a survey
on the ODE web site, and submitting that information by
January 20, 2010. More information is
available.
|
| FYI ARTS |
NEA's
2008 Survey of Public Participation in the
Arts: The
National Endowment for the Arts released in November
2009 the results of "The 2008 Survey of Public
Participation in the Arts." The survey was conducted by
the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and includes the
responses from more than 18,000 adults from across the
U.S. on a broad range of questions regarding attending
arts events; experiencing recorded or broadcasted live
performances; exploring arts through the Internet;
personally performing or creating art; and taking
arts-related classes. Similar surveys have been
conducted in 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2008 to track
responses over time.
According to the 2008 survey
results, the percent of U.S. adults attending an arts
activity at least once in the past twelve months has
decreased to 34.6 percent since 1992, when participation
was at 41 percent. Arts events are defined as jazz,
classical music, opera, musical plays, non-musical
plays, and ballet performances, and visits to art
museums or art galleries. Only musical plays saw no
statistically significant change in participation from
2002 to 2008.
The survey also found a change
in attendance patterns by age/ education. Performing
arts attendees are increasingly older than the average
U.S. adult; attendance rates for adults 45-54 showed the
steepest declines; and attendance rates for the most
educated adults also dropped.
Adults were generally creating
or performing at lower rates in 2008 - even though many
adults
reported using the Internet to
engage with artsworks or performances. Weaving,
quilting, or sewing are still the most popular forms of
arts creation, although participation in them dropped by
about one-half between 1992 and
2008,
More
Americans are listening to or watched recordings or
broadcasts of performing events rather than attending
them. However, the live theatre still attracts higher
percentages of adults than broadcasts or
recordings.
The survey also noted that one
in three parents reported that their child had attended
a music, theatre, or dance performance outside of
school, and eight percent of parents reported that their
children had taken private arts lessons in the past
year.
The
NEA is conducting additional information to understand
the relationship between arts participation and age,
race/ethnicity, arts learning, media and technology, and
arts creation and performance. Reports on these topics
will be available in 2010.
More information about the
report is available.
Michael
Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts,
makes five requests regarding the arts in "What I Want
for Christmas" in the December 21, 2009 Huffington Post
blog. Among the requests is one about arts
education:
What I Want for
Christmas.......
"A serious discussion on arts
education: There are many, many people around the nation
who are thinking about and working on ways to bring arts
back into our public schools. I know that my staff and I
are working diligently on this effort. We need a serious
discussion at the federal level about ways to bring arts
back into the schools. We need to engage the best
thinkers on this subject as well as the government
leaders responsible for education. There is a good deal
of money already being spent on arts education; but arts
education efforts are uncoordinated and unfocused. I
believe that if we can come up with a better scheme, we
can provide far better education for our
children."
Read the full
blog post.
| |
|
This update is
written weekly by Joan Platz, Information Coordinator
for the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education. The
purpose of the update is to keep arts education
advocates informed about issues dealing with the arts,
education, policy, research, and opportunities.
The distribution of this information is made possible
through the generous support of the Ohio Music Education
Association (www.omea-ohio.org), Ohio Art Education
Association (www.oaea.org), Ohio Educational Theatre
Association (www.Ohioedta.org); OhioDance (www.ohiodance.org), and the Ohio Alliance for
Arts Education (www.OAAE.net).
Donna S.
Collins
Executive
Director
77
South High Street, 2nd floor
Columbus, Ohio
43215-6108
614.224.1060 dcollins@oaae.net | |
|
|
