The practice of including students with disabilities in art education has existed longer than efforts to increase access to general academic instruction. However, most teacher education programs do not offer sufficient coursework or field experiences in training pre-service art teachers to teach students with disabilities. To examine how…

Storing data and interpreting data are two very different endeavors; interpreting data is necessary for its transformation into actionable knowledge and new questions. On its own, data are not meaningful information. However, data visualization, like art making, offers another means to create order from chaos; it is an opportunity to identify…

The challenge and privilege of advocacy for the arts in education should not be left only to those who have moved beyond the early years of idealism and hope. The voices of the next generation of art educators hold a unique place in the discourse of art education. They offer challenge, faith, frustration, passion, and new vision for the future.…

Some compare teachers to superheroes. This problematic comparison forges unrealistic expectations for teachers (Spencer, 2019), but at this moment, it seems fitting, as thousands of art teachers rally together for the good of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teaching strategies needed to conform to students in no-tech, low-tech, and…

With the intent of improving understanding of cuts to elementary arts programs, the purpose of this research was to investigate how one urban school district (Lansing School District in Lansing, Michigan) eliminated its elementary arts specialists. Research questions were (1) What policy conditions enabled the Lansing School District's decision to…

School reform and teacher evaluations have become primary concerns for education policymakers in recent years. However, a standard one-size-fits-all method of evaluation, such as value-added evaluation, may not give an accurate assessment of all teachers. This article proposes an alternative to the general evaluation of visual arts educators by…

The purpose of this study was to investigate advocacy influences that may impact school arts programs using data from the 2009-10 National Center for Education Statistics elementary and secondary school surveys on arts education. Regression models were employed to assess the relative effectiveness of variables representing community support,…

There is extensive research that shows how the arts provide many benefits for all students yet there is evidence that arts education offerings and experiences are decreasing across both university and school sectors. It is important that we recognize the essential role of teacher educators in preparing pre-service teachers to be aware of the…

School reform initiatives designed to improve school quality require strong leadership, strategic planning, data analysis, and systemized performance accountability. Utilizing school reforms includes rethinking curriculum and instruction to improve quality and promote equality, restructuring school operations with a focus on both the students and…

Teaching artists work in a field with a long, rich history, and many roots and strands of development. One of TAJ's roles is to try to make this history more accessible and useful to working teaching artists. In this article, the author outlines the evolution of teaching artistry in the United States.

This article explores the process of using lessons learned about high quality, effective arts education programs to help local educational leaders and practitioners create their own policy statements. It raises questions about policy implications from those lessons and connects them to the readers' own experience. It provides an intellectual…

In 2003, the Arts Education Partnership's Second National Forum on Partnerships Improving Teaching in the Arts recommends that Teaching Artists be trained to be advocates and to speak publicly to education stakeholders about what they do. The author agrees. However, she believes that Teaching Artists must familiarize themselves with the available…

Discusses four different ways art teachers can take advantage of the local newspapers in their area: (1) write press releases; (2) ask a reporter to cover school "art news"; (3) take advantage of "Newspapers in Education" programs; and (4) submit student artwork to contests. (CMK)

Cutbacks in federal spending have affected art programs severely. Arts advocacy is needed to produce solid arguments for the role of the arts in education. But standards and goals, perhaps those set forth by the National Art Education Association, must first be established by art educators. (CS)

Addresses the reasons arts education has not become a fully accepted part of the school curriculum. States that one cause is the failure to develop a sequential arts curricula. Discusses potential curriculum content, scheduling, assessment, and grading. (LS)