A REPORT ON THE TEACHING ARTIST RESEARCH PROJECT Teaching Artists and the Future of Education BY: Nick Rabkin Michael Reynolds Eric Hedberg SEPTEMBER 2011 Justin Shelby About NORC at the University of Chicago NORC at the University of Chicago is an independent research organization headquartered in downtown Chicago with additional offices on the University of Chicago's campus and in Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, Maryland. NORC also supports a nationwide field staff as well as international research operations. With clients throughout the world, NORC collaborates with government agencies, foundations, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to provide the data and analysis that supports informed decision making in key areas including health, education, economics, crime, justice, energy, security, and the environment. 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Monroe Street Chicago, IL 60603 Phone: (312) 759-4000 Fax: (312) 759-4004 USA First published in 2011 © NORC at the University of Chicago Some rights reserved NORC | Teaching Artists and the Future of Education Table of Contents Preface: A bright spot on a troubled horizon.................................................... viii Acknowledgements............................................................................................... xiii Executive Summary: TAs and the future of Education ........................................ 1 Teaching artists, arts education, and the schools .................................................................1 School reform and arts education ....................................................................................... 3 From settlements to schools ................................................................................................ 4 Reasons to believe .............................................................................................................. 6 Teaching artists: Getting a bead on the field through the data ............................................7 What is a TA? ..................................................................................................................... 7 Who are TAs? ..................................................................................................................... 7 What do they teach? ............................................................................................................ 7 Who do they teach? ............................................................................................................. 8 Who do they work for? ....................................................................................................... 8 Who manages the programs? .............................................................................................. 8 Where do they teach? .......................................................................................................... 8 Conditions of employment .................................................................................................. 8 Income and pay rate ............................................................................................................ 9 Benefits ............................................................................................................................... 9 Why do they teach? ............................................................................................................. 9 Satisfactions and dissatisfactions ........................................................................................ 9 Teaching artists and the future of education ........................................................................9 What is good teaching? ..................................................................................................... 10 Engagement ...................................................................................................................... 11 Voice and discipline .......................................................................................................... 11 Standards and meaning ..................................................................................................... 12 Curriculum integration ...................................................................................................... 13 Assessment........................................................................................................................ 13 Play and games ................................................................................................................. 14 TAs and arts education today ............................................................................................ 15 Training, professional development, and certification ...................................................... 16 TAs and the future of education: Key findings, objectives, and recommendations.......... 18 Key objectives and recommendations .............................................................................. 19 Summary of recommendations ......................................................................................... 25 Introduction: Seeing the forest and the trees ...................................................... 27 The arts, the educational landscape, and school reform ....................................................29 Declining art education ..................................................................................................... 30 Arts deserts and school reform ......................................................................................... 33 How the arts affect teaching ............................................................................................. 35 A neglected resource ......................................................................................................... 37 Studying teaching artists ................................................................................................... 38 A Report on the Teaching Artist Research Project | i NORC | Teaching Artists and the Future of Education Good teaching and the artist’s disposition .......................................................... 41 Good teaching: An expert consensus ...............................................................................41 The arts and good teaching ................................................................................................43 Hybrid identities.................................................................................................................45 The mental processes of art and teaching ..........................................................................46 Art and teaching ................................................................................................................ 47 All students can learn. Yes, they can. .............................................................................. 48 Adding value in classrooms is never simple ..................................................................... 50 Minding rules and breaking them ..................................................................................... 52 No Child… ........................................................................................................................ 53 Meaningful engagement ........................................................................................ 56 Dimensions of engagement ................................................................................................56 Fun, games, and beyond.....................................................................................................59 Sustaining engagement ......................................................................................................61 Artists, standards, and schools: across a great divide ........................................ 63 Rising standards, sinking resources ...................................................................................64 Excellence and meaning ....................................................................................................66 Standards highjacked/standards internalized .....................................................................67 Talking in class: student voice,