Research Archive
2009 Arts Education Collaborative Strategic Plan
Vision:
A transformed education system infused with imagination and creativity, catalyzed by the arts.
Mission:
We strengthen education by making the arts central to learning through collaboration, research, and advocacy.
The Arts Education Collaborative (AEC) was established to respond strategically to regional needs and pursue opportunities that provide sustainable solutions to advancing arts education. Until recently, AEC primarily has focused on implementing professional development programming. This focus produced a robust and successful offering of professional development programming for educators. AEC now seeks to build on this success to potentially affect a greater change on arts education and expand the impact of arts education on the larger education system.
AEC retained The Hill Group, Inc. to initiate a strategic planning process to help chart its future direction, gain consensus on a new and/or expanded strategic direction, and develop a plan to actualize its vision. The initiation of the strategic planning process began in October 2008 and the first draft of this dynamic document was developed in March and April 2009. The following diagram illustrates the strategic planning process that was used.
The final five-year strategic plan highlights four key areas of focus for AEC:
- Policy & Advocacy,
- Programming & Products,
- Research & Development, and
- Internal Capacity.
In addition, a new mission and vision statement were developed. Click here to view the Strategic Plan Overview (PDF).
Baseline Survey on the State of Arts Education in Southwestern Pennsylvania – October 2005
The Baseline Survey on the State of Arts Education in Southwestern Pennsylvania Report was designed to provide a snapshot of the state of K-12 arts education in Western Pennsylvania, including Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties. Topics that are covered in the report include: arts curriculum and requirements, professional development, student participation, critical needs, supervision and leadership, teacher beliefs, and activity in the arts. The survey was designed to provide the Arts Education Collaborative with a means to establish some key benchmarks and a means by which to begin longitudinal tracking of arts education in the region. The research was conducted by UPCLOSE (University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out of School Environments) and led by research specialist Julia Kaufman. Click here to view the Executive Summary (PDF) and/or click here to view the full report (PDF).
Arts Education Collaborative Leadership Academy: Evaluating a Professional Development Experience for Arts Educators
The Arts Education Collaborative Leadership Academy: Evaluating a Professional Development Experience for Arts Educators Report reviews findings from two separate studies of the Leadership Academy. The first examines the immediate impact of the 2005 weeklong workshop where teachers learn art content, pedagogy, and leadership skills, and where they developed their personalized Action Plans for leadership in arts education. The second study focuses on the extended Leadership Academy experience as teachers go back to their schools to work to implement their personal action plan. This study included alumni from Leadership Academies that occurred in 2003 and 2004. Findings from the study provided direct evidence that, as a direct result of the Leadership Academy:
- Teachers are becoming leaders in arts education in their schools
- Teachers are implementing change in a variety of local school contexts
- Teachers are changing their ways of classroom teaching
- Teachers are becoming more active and strategic advocates of the arts and arts education
Click here to view the Report (PDF).
