Arts and Special Education Exemplary Programs and Approaches Introduction
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2013 VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education A Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program Exemplary Programs and Approaches Acknowledgments and Credits The John F. Kennedy Center Authors for the Performing Arts Sally Bailey, MFA David M. Rubenstein Chairman Jean B. Crockett, PhD Michael M. Kaiser Rhonda Vieth Fuelberth, PhD President Kim Gavin, MA Darrell M. Ayers Beverly Levett Gerber, EdD Vice President, Education and Jazz Donalyn Heise, EdD Betty R. Siegel Director, VSA and Accessibility Veronica Hicks, MA Lynne Horoschak, MA Editor Sophie Lucido Johnson Sharon M. Malley, EdD Karen T. Keifer-Boyd, PhD Editorial reviewers L. Michelle Kraft, PhD Beverly Levett Gerber, EdD Linda Krakaur, MSt Karen T. Keifer-Boyd, PhD Lynda Ewell Laird, MM Laurie MacGillivray, PhD Alice Hammel, PhD Tim McCarty, MA Barbara Pape, EdM Mark Tomasic, MFA You are welcome to copy and distribute this publication with the following credit: Produced by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, © 2014. The content of this publication, developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not as- sume endorsement by the federal government. Contents Introduction 5 Sharon M. Malley, Editor Next Steps: New Research and Teaching Journals 10 at the Intersection of the Arts and Special Education Beverly Levett Gerber, Karen T. Keifer-Boyd, and Jean B. Crockett Exemplary Theatre Practices: Creating Barrier-Free Theatre 25 Sally Bailey Visual Theatre: Building a Bridge for Student Success 46 Tim McCarty Mastering the Curriculum: Students Framed as Experts 70 Linda Krakaur Emotional Intelligence Through Art: Strategies for Children with 87 Emotional Behavioral Disturbances Sophie Lucido Johnson Fostering Resilience in an Intergenerational Art and Literacy 103 Program for Homeless Families: An Analysis of Curriculum Donalyn Heise and Laurie MacGillivray Reflections on Moore College of Art and Design’s Master’s Degree 127 Program in Art Education with an Emphasis in Special Populations Lynne Horoschak, Kim Gavin, and Veronica Hicks IDEA Empowerment Through Difference Find Card Strategies 147 Communitarian Approaches to Empowerment Karen Keifer-Boyd and L. Michelle Kraft Tools and Stories: Preparing Music Educators for Successful Inclusive 159 Classrooms Through Universal Design for Learning Rhonda Vieth Fuelberth and Lynda Ewell Laird Developing Curricula and Assessment Tools for the Physically 182 Integrated Dance Class Mark Tomasic 2013 VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Exemplary Programs and Approaches Introduction SHARON M. MALLEY, EDITOR The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) is dedicated to promoting opportunities for students in kindergarten–grade 12 arts education through its varied VSA, Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Programs. When teachers and facilitators fully include students with disabilities in well-designed arts education, chances for achievement in many domains can increase (Malley & Silverstein, in press). Students with disabilities who participate in the arts are given opportunities to convey sophisticated ideas, experience validation in their work, and enhance their academic pursuits. Inherent in arts education are means of diverse and variable expressions, responses, and outcomes, allowing students opportunities to diverge from the rote learning often required in other subjects. Thus, students with disabilities can exercise cognitive processes, find and develop their unique voices, and experience overall success (MacLean, 2008). This second edition of Exemplary Programs and Approaches originates from the Kennedy Center’s 2013 VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Conference and Forum, a Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program. The conference included over 50 sessions covering an array of topics within the intersecting fields of arts and special education. Following the conference, national leaders met in a forum to identify and discuss needs and issues integral to the education of children with disabilities in the arts. Findings from the 2013 Forum indicated several areas of need, similar to those of the 2012 VSA Examining the Intersection of Arts Education and Special Education: A National Forum (Silverstein, 2012). Participants’ recommendations can be expressed in five broad statements (Malley, in press): a. Professional learning should be designed to ensure that all teachers are teaching all students (with an emphasis on inclusion of students with disabilities). b. Communication should be reciprocal across all levels of the educational system, from student, to teacher, to school, to district, to the wider society. 5 INTRODUCTION c. Arts educators should be evaluated appropriate to their roles, which require different skill sets and scope of work from those of other educators. d. There should be a unified message on the benefits of arts education for students with disabilities, which is communicated across all levels of stakeholders and policy makers. e. There should be a robust body of easily accessible knowledge, through research, on the benefits of arts education for students with disabilities. With this second edition of VSA Intersections professional papers, the Kennedy Center continues to respond to many of the recommendations from both the 2012 and 2013 Forums. The publication itself addresses the need for increasing contributions to the knowledge base, with several articles demonstrating positive research findings. Within the articles there are descriptions of exemplary graduate and applied programs, innovative practices, and models for partnerships. All of the authors are well-respected leading practitioners and/or educators in an arts discipline with expertise devoted to educating students with disabilities. Their collective voices within this publication provide readers with some of the most current exemplary practices and expertise representing a range of arts education disciplines: drama, visual arts, music, and dance. A continuing theme emerging from both Forums is the need for an ongoing single publication, such as a professional journal, for current practices and research in the arts and special education. In their paper, “Next Steps: New Research and Teaching Journals at the Intersection of the Arts and Special Education,” Gerber, Keifer-Boyd, and Crockett demonstrate the need for two professional journals, one for practitioners and one for researchers, and offer examples of similar journals and their online accessibility. Beverly Levett Gerber, renowned in her work as both a visual art and special educator, is Professor Emeritus of Special Education at Southern Connecticut University and the recipient of the National Art Education Association 2011 Lowenfeld Award. Karen Keifer-Boyd, Professor of Art Education and Women’s Studies, School of Visual Arts, University of Pennsylvania, co-founded the journal Visual Culture and Gender. In this article she shares her knowledge as co-editor of that publication. Jean Crockett is Professor and Director of the School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early 6 INTRODUCTION Childhood Studies at the University of Florida. Her research addresses leadership and policy in the administration of special education, and she is currently conducting an analysis of published articles on arts and special education. In “Exemplary Theater Practices: Creating Barrier-Free Theatre,” Sally Bailey draws upon 25 years of experience to share her approaches and strategies including students with disabilities in drama education and theatre production. Sally is Associate Professor of Theatre at Kansas State University and the author of the book “Barrier-Free Theatre,” a comprehensive manual for including students with disabilities in all aspects of theatre arts. Tim McCarty’s paper “Visual Theatre: Building a Bridge for Student Success” narrows the scope of drama education to address the needs of students who are Deaf and hard-of- hearing attending the Maryland School for the Deaf. In his paper he describes the Quest TheatreBridge program, including elements of lessons designed to address communication and literacy skills. Tim is the Founder and Artistic Director of Quest Visual Theatre, Lanham, Maryland, and has worked for over 20 years developing theatre programs for Deaf and hard- of-hearing students. Quest has achieved international recognition, and most recently Tim has shared his expertise with the Deaf community in China. Continuing with the topic of drama in education, Linda Krakaur provides readers with a framework for teaching literacy to students with learning disabilities through drama techniques and Universal Design for Learning. Her paper, “Mastering the Curriculum: Students Framed as Experts,” encapsulates key aspects of her Master’s degree thesis. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Teacher Education and Professional Development in the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Sophie Lucido Johnson, an artist and special education teacher in New Orleans, developed an arts integrated social emotional curriculum for students with emotional behavioral disorders. In her paper “Emotional Intelligence through Art: Strategies for Children with Emotional Behavioral Disorders” she shares strategies and outcomes of the program, which targets students who developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of hurricane Katrina. The program is currently offered in four New Orleans charter schools.