'Making the Case' Tool: Annotated and Linked Bibliography
Chorus America Staff | October 15, 2011
This annotated and linked bibliography for Making the Case for Your School Choir provides data from more than 40 different studies, advocacy guides, and publications at your fingertips.
Web Resources
- Afterschool Alliance (www.afterschoolalliance.org)
See “America After 3PM” and “America After 3PM: From Big Cities to Small Towns” studies, as well as “Issue Brief 21: Arts & Afterschool: A Powerful Combination.”
- Americans for the Arts (www.artsusa.org)
- See “Arts Education” under Networks to find the Online Education Center: Arts Education in Public Schools’ guide prepared in collaboration with the National School Boards Association: http://americansforthearts.org/information_services/arts_education_community/default.asp
- Also see the Advocacy Center for legislative advocacy efforts around Arts Education: http://americansforthearts.org/get_involved/advocate.asp and sample letters to 17 decisionmakers from a teacher to a Congress member as part of their Arts: Ask for More campaign: http://www.americansforthearts.org/public_awareness/get_involved/003.asp
- Arts Education Partnership (www.aep-arts.org)
Sign up for the ArtsEd digest; use “Maximizing the Nation’s Arts Report Card”; use the Arts Education Policy State Database; and reference all their important publications, specifically: Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning (1999), Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement (2006), and Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Social and Academic Development (2002).
- Center on Education Policy (www.cep-dc.org)
See Choices, Changes, and Challenges: Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era. - Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University
Authors of the HSSSE: Charting the Path from Engagement to Achievement: A Report on the 2009 High School Survey of Student Engagement. http://www.indiana.edu/~ceep/hssse/reports.html; and http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/14593.html - Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University (www.civicyouth.org)
See Joining Young, Voting Young: The Effects of Youth Voluntary Associations on Early Adult Voting.
- ChoralNet (www.choralnet.org)
- Chorus America (www.chorusamerica.org)
The Chorus Impact Study and selected articles from The Voice of Chorus America, such as:
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- “Singing in the Schools,” Volume 34, Number 1
- “Education with Impact,” Volume 33, Number 1
- “Recruitment Strategies for Children’s Choruses,” Volume 32, Number 4
- “We Sing and We’re Proud!” Volume 30, Number 1
- “Why We Need Choral Music – Ubuntu” Volume 30, Number 2
- “Tomorrow’s Voices” Volume 29, Number 1
- “Rising Up: Urban Youth Choruses” Volume 29, Number 3
- “How Choral Singing Changes Lives” Volume 27, Number 2
- College Board (www.collegeboard.org)
See the Advocacy & Policy Center for multiple resources, including 2010 College Bound Seniors; and Arts at the Core: Recommendations for Advancing the State of Arts Education in the 21st Century (2009).
http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/preparation-access/arts-core
- Dana Foundation (www.dana.org)
See “Singing in Schools” webcast (2006); Transforming Arts Teaching: The Role of Higher Education (2007); and Neuroeducation: Arts, Learning & The Brain (2009).
- Dewey21c Blog (http://www.artsjournal.com/dewey21c/)
Written by Richard Kessler; the reading list is perennially useful and his regular posts focus on arts education. - Education Commission of the States (www.ecs.org)
Read the arts education statements of all former chairmen, including Mike Huckabee's interview, "Putting the Arts Front and Center on the Education Agenda" (2004).
- Edutopia (www.edutopia.org)
The George Lucas Educational Foundation is behind this site, and so there are a lot of interesting ideas about technology integration, as well as five other core strategies for innovation and reform in learning. Videos to support “New Day for Learning” can be found here, and particularly of interest is the Arts/Music/Drama Discussion Group.
- Government Accountability Office (www.gao.gov)
Access to Arts Education:http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-286
- Kaiser Family Foundation (www.kff.org)
Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year Olds: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm - Keep Arts in Schools (www.keepartsinschools.org)
A project funded by the Ford Foundation to provide resources for a wide community of arts advocates. There are several webinars on various topics that are of interest.
- Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network (www.kennedy-center.org/education/kcaaen) Particularly A Community Audit for Arts Education, which is very comprehensive, and the Arts Education Advocacy Toolkit.
- MENC-National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org)
See data about the arts education and attendance/graduation rates; and The Music and Literacy Connection by Dee Hansen, Elain Bernstorf, Gayle M. Stuber (2004); the “Chorus” section of educational tools and resources; and the Music Education Advocacy center, especially the “Make Your Case” database: http://www.menc.org/resources/view/music-education-advocacy-central
- National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (www.nasaa-arts.org)
The comprehensive Research-Based Communication Toolkit includes three sections: Arts and the Creative Workforce, The Arts and Literacy Development, and The Arts, Cognition, and Social Development. http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Research/Key-Topics/Arts-Education/Research*Based-Communication-Toolkit.php - National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) (www.namm.org)
The Community Action Kit includes a number of excellent resources: http://www.nammfoundation.org/support-music/community-action-kit
- National Center for Education Statistics (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/)
Home of the NAEP reports for arts in 1997 and 2008, better known as the Nation’s Report Card. Also home to the FRSS Arts Education report from 2009-2010, published in 2012 as Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012014
- National Endowment for the Arts (www.arts.gov)
The 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts: http://www.nea.gov/research/SPPA/index.html and The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth (2012): http://www.nea.gov/research/Arts-At-Risk-Youth.pdf - National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (www.nga.org)
The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation: http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/050102ARTSED.pdf - National PTA (www.pta.org)
Are your students currently participating in PTA Reflections? If not, consider the composition category: http://www.ptareflections.org/
- New Day for Learning (www.newdayforlearning.org)
This website for the New Day for Learning report (2007) also includes the rationale for the initiative and information about initiatives in ten cities.
- Partnership for 21st Century Skills (www.21stcenturyskills.org)
See particularly the 21st Century Skills Map in the Arts: http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=504&Itemid=185#maps
- Performing Arts Alliance (www.theperformingartsalliance.org)
PAA has identified federal funding for arts education as one of their critical issues.
- Public Agenda (www.publicagenda.org)
All Work & No Play?http://www.publicagenda.org/reports/all-work-and-no-play
- Support Music (www.supportmusic.org)
A host of material provided by NAMM, MENC, Chorus America and others. Of particular interest are the Community Action Kit, the CounterPoint blog, and “The Advocates’ Plan” PowerPoint presentation.
- U. S. Department of Education (www.ed.gov)
Find Secretary Duncan’s speeches about arts education in “Speeches”; the current administration’s education policy; and details on US DOE Initiatives such as in “Investing in Innovation” and “Race to the Top.”
Regional resources
- Arts Education Collaborative (Western PA) http://artsedcollaborative.org/pages/policy-and-advocacy
- The Center for Arts Education (New York City) http://www.cae-nyc.org/
- State MEA chapters: http://www.menc.org/about/view/menc-federated-state-associations
Case-making information
- Arts Education Partnership: "Making a Case for Arts"
- MENC: "Arts in the Schools"
- SupportMusic.com: "Keep Music Education Strong"
Print Resources
- Catterall, James S. Doing Well and Doing Good by Doing Art, Los Angeles, CA: I-Group Books, 2009.
- Davis, Jessica Hoffmann. Why Our Schools Need the Arts, New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 2008.