Arts Education

The New England Comprehensive Center (NECC) is one of 16 regional comprehensive centers that are federally funded to implement the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The NECC engages state education leaders in using research and best practice to meet the goals of NCLB. Our purpose is to design and deliver technical assistance services that meet education leaders’ priority needs, further the key initiatives of the U.S. Department of Education, and have the greatest potential for building states’ capacities to help districts and schools improve.

The ERP/EQUIP1 program encourages systemwide reforms by experimenting at lower levels of the educational system (i.e., schools, community, and local government authorities) to test and demonstrate effective strategies for educational improvement. Egypt’s newly developed educational standards provide the framework for the reform overall and the project activities in particular.

EDC is working with ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Careers, with support from The James Irvine Foundation, to develop a curriculum for career sector academies in California public high schools. This project focuses on the arts, media and entertainment (AME) sector.

The Youth Media Learning Network (YMLN) is a new capacity building and professional development initiative intended to strengthen the practice and expand the reach of youth media.

EDC will evaluate Adobe Systems Incorporated’s new signature initiative, Adobe Youth Voices (AYV), an international youth media making effort. Adobe and their program partners are training educators in five cities to lead youth media projects. The evaluation team will coordinate on-going evaluation to document the successes and challenges in implementing the initiative; and measure AYF effectiveness in meeting intended outcomes for teachers and students.

dot-EDU was an information and communication technology (ICT) intervention mechanism for USAID Missions seeking to improve education systems in their respective countries. dot-EDU sought to assist developing countries in strengthening learning systems that improve quality, expand access, and enhance equity through carefully planned applications of digital and broadcast technologies. The dot-EDU mission had two foci. First, dot-EDU provided training and technical assistance to support USAID Missions in developing and implementing technology-assisted applications.

SmART Schools uses the arts as a core academic subject in the regular school curriculum and strengthens the use of high-quality arts in other academic subjects. This grant allows FSC to expand and enhance the standards-based, whole-school change SmART Schools model in diverse, high-need settings; refine the model’s tools, materials, techniques, and processes so that they are adaptable to various contexts; conduct a rigorous third-party evaluation of the program; and strengthen dissemination efforts so that the model can be replicated throughout the U.S.

SmART Schools is a comprehensive, standards-based, arts centered, whole-school redesign program that provides ongoing opportunities for all students to appreciate, develop, and demonstrate skills, knowledge, and understanding in and through arts. SmART Schools’ overall goal is to help every student meet high national, state and/or local standards of performance in the arts and other core academic subjects. The program allows every student to fully embrace and participate in their cultural legacy, and achieve artistic, academic, and social success.