MAAE gratefully acknowledges North Carolina Arts Education Coalition for compiling these suggestions, with assistance from New Jersey and South Carolina.

(1) Any activity authorized by the ESEA of 1965, including the Native Hawaiian Education Act and the Alaska Native Educational Equity, Support, and Assistance Act (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) (‘‘IDEA’’), the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) (‘‘the Perkins Act’’), or subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.)

• Any item that would otherwise be funded by Title IV Part A to support a well rounded education

(2) Coordination of preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies with State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments, and other relevant agencies, to improve coordinated responses among such entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus

• No Arts Education-specific recommendations at this time

(3) Providing principals and others school leaders with the resources necessary to address the needs of their individual schools

• Purchasing masks, or other protective equipment for use in the arts education classroom

  • Instrumentalist or singer masks

• Individual dance shoes and somatic materials yoga mat, yoga blocks, theraband, etc) for each student

• Make-up kits for each performer

• Individual mouthpieces and/or instruments for each school owned instrument assigned to a student to ensure health, safety, and wellness

• Props, Scenery, staging

(4) Activities to address the unique needs of low-income children or students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster care youth, including how outreach and service delivery will meet the needs of each population

• Individual student kits:

  • Choreography Supply kit

  • Personal dance shoes

  • Personal Instrument Purchase or Rental (and supplies such as reeds, rosin, valve grease, mouthpiece, etc)

  • Visual Arts Kits

  • Make Up Kits

  • Individual Props 

• Online private or group lessons with master teaching artists in partnership with local arts organizations

• Activities to address the unique needs of low-income children or students, children with disabilities, English Language Learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster care youth, including how outreach and services delivery will meet the needs of each population 

• Development of a peer coaching program

• Establishment of partnerships with local Latin Chambers of Commerce, United Sound, etc.

• Establishment of partnerships with local, regional, and/or statewide arts, culture, and historic organizations to utilize current or develop programming (El Sistema)

(5) Developing and implementing procedures and systems to improve the preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies

• Individual student kits:

  • Choreography Supply kit

  • Personal dance shoes

  • Personal Instrument Purchase or Rental (and supplies such as reeds, rosin, valve grease, mouthpiece, etc)

  • Visual Arts Kits

  • Make Up Kits

  • Individual Props 

(6) Training and professional development for staff of the local educational agency on sanitation and minimizing the spread of infectious diseases

• Supporting training for arts educators on strategies to conduct in-person arts instruction safely

• See our Recommendations for Arts Education as North Carolina Reopens Schools document

(7) Purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean the facilities of a local educational agency, including buildings operated by such agency

• Purchasing supplies to sanitize the dance studio, costumes, dressing areas, stage, etc.

• Dance floor cleaner appropriate for marley, wood floor or other dance floor surfaces

• Purchasing supplies to sanitize instruments and music classroom

• Microphone Cleaner

• Sanitation supplies for all technical hardware--microphones/headsets, sound and light boards, lights, rigging—costuming, props, shop tools, and all surfaces in the control booth and auditorium

• Purchasing supplies to sanitize the art studio including sanitizing materials

(8) Planning for and coordinating during long-term closures, including for how to provide meals to eligible students, how to provide technology for online learning to all students, how to provide guidance for carrying out requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401et seq.) and how to ensure other educational services can continue to be provided consistent with all Federal, State, and local requirements

• No Arts Education-specific recommendations at this time

(9) Purchasing educational technology (including hardware, software, and connectivity) for students who are served by the local educational agency that aids in regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors, including low-income students and students with disabilities, which may include assistive technology or adaptive equipment

• Purchasing devices for internet connectivity, laptops, and/or supplemental software that would allow for instruction and assessment through virtual means

• Subscriptions to software services for student learning, student assessment, sound editing, video editing, and licenses for virtual productions

• i.e. Loopback, Prezi, imovie, Final Cut Pro, Premier Pro, DaVinci Resolve,  WeVideo, GarageBand, Audacity, Isadora, VoiceThread, Video Collaboratory, Coach’s Eye, Hudl Technique, Soundtrap, Flat, Noteflight, Quaver, Theatrefolk, Loopback, Prezi, imovie, Final Cut Pro, Premier Pro, DaVinci Resolve,  WeVideo, GarageBand, Audacity, Isadora, VoiceThread, Video Collaboratory, Coach’s Eye, Art of Ed, iMovie or other video editing to record lectures, document scanner with video to project while demonstrating

• Trainings in available online resources specifically designed for arts educators to create virtual ensemble performances/productions/exhibitions

• Mic/Headset for being on camera

• Offer career and technical education services to prepare all students for postsecondary education and the workforce (e.g., virtual job-shadowing, resume writing, interview skills, etc.)

• iPads for students to film and edit work with iMovie

• Electronic instruments for each child

• Digital media software and/or student subscriptions

(10) Providing mental health services and supports

• No Arts Education-specific recommendations at this time

(11) Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and supplemental afterschool programs, including providing classroom instruction or online learning during the summer months and addressing the needs of low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care

• Paying for additional instruction, such as through an adjunct teacher, private lessons instructor, or full-time teacher, to provide remediation in each arts education discipline

• Afterschool and summer learning programs to accelerate arts education learning and support social-emotional learning (SEL). Please see the CASEL SEL ARP Policy Brief

• Fund out of school time arts training programs with local arts organizations

• Enrichment activities including those relating to arts education

  • 1. Dance examples: choreography; wellness - yoga, pilates, mindfulness, floor barre; dance for camera; movement practices not covered in the curriculum; dance production; etc.

    2. Music examples: guitar, keyboard, mariachi, music technology, ukulele, melodica, drum circles, steel drum band etc.

    3. Theatre examples: Improv, clown, scene writing, etc.

    4. Visual Art examples: painting, pottery, mural making, mosaics, etc.

  • Delivery of services during extended school year programs and/or summer enrichment programs for all students such as summer dance, band, choir, orchestra, theatre, or art camp and summer enrichment programs including extension activities outside normal school hours to support a successful return to school such as introduction to dance induction program prior to the opening of school

(12) Addressing learning loss in local educational agencies among students, including low-income students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care

• Afterschool and summer learning programs to accelerate arts education learning and support social-emotional learning (SEL). Please see the CASEL SEL ARP Policy Brief

• Provide additional staffing to expand beginning level programs to reach students who were unable to participate in arts instruction during the 20/21 school year

(13) School facility repairs and improvements to enable operation of schools to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, and to support student health needs

• HEPA filters for the arts education studio/classroom/stage/theatre and rehearsal spaces to increase the amount of clean air and the number of air changes per hour

• Arts Education Classroom Furniture (cubbies, bins, shelves, etc) to support distancing of student belongings and instructional materials

• Specific cleaning products to properly clean dance studio/classroom floors and locker rooms

• Removal and replacements of carpets located in dance, theatre, or music areas such as locker rooms, entrance ways to studios, studio/classroom, changing rooms, green rooms, offices

• Touchless refillable water stations 

• Provide equipment to allow for temperature checks/screening for audience members attending in person productions

(14) Inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities, including mechanical and non-mechanical heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, filtering, purification and other air cleaning, fans, control systems, and window and door repair and replacement

• HEPA filters for the arts education studio/classroom/theatre and rehearsal spaces to increase the amount of clean air and the number of air changes per hour

• Ensure proper ventilation for all dance classrooms

(15) Other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation of and continuity of services in local educational H. R. 748—287 agencies and continuing to employ existing staff of the local educational agency

• Paying for arts educators where enrollment numbers have dropped due to COVID-19

• Purchasing materials to set up arts education classrooms with physical distance between students such as masking tape or outdoor tents and/or purchasing equipment, such as a media cart, to make the arts education classroom mobile.

• Supplies and materials to make instructional environment meet recommended standards (barrier tape, portable carts, tents/pop-up canopies for outdoor instruction, platforms/portable stages, pipes & drapes, folding chairs/folding tables related materials)

• Purchasing materials for outdoor performance spaces such as speakers, mics/mic stands, tents, chairs, etc.

• Purchasing technology to improve remote learning instruction Large screen televisions, wide angle web cameras, short throw projectors, portable white boards, Elmos

• MAAE Google Slides Presentation - June 8, 2021 - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ccoSP4WOfmjz-IPJLAZM6OHsmKmCILr8vFfjVBLisv4/edit?usp=sharing

• Missouri ESSER III Allocations https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/esser-iii-allocations

• Missouri Allocations Teacher Retention and Recruitment ($50 Million) https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/oeq-rr-teacherrecrutimentretentiongrantallocation

• Missouri Guidance Document for ARP (American Recovery Act) for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/arp-guidance-leas

• Missouri Economic Recovery Resources through DESE - State Board of Education Meeting COVID Relief Funding Report (found on page 4)

• ESSER and GEER (Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund) - FAQ’s from https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/esser-geer-faqs

• EDTA Educational Theatre Association - Esser Guide to Funding https://www.schooltheatre.org/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDocumentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=e34945af-e1d1-a5a3-a7fd-bf2a26703894&forceDialog=0

• NAEA - Townhall Recording on ESSER (June 2, 2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KrSJXVRKys and access other information and slide deck here.

• NDEO - Esser Toolkit https://files.constantcontact.com/8110f869001/1eae2766-ddaf-4dd7-b182-f8dc41b46cf8.pdf

• NAfME - Esser Toolkit https://nafme.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ESSER-Funding-Toolkit-2021.pdf

• Be a Part of the Music Worksheet for planning -adaptable for other arts https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DW0iK6TBVp-M2Ukvps6ScpFs3lNO1h3h2IzygUDrBu4/edit?usp=sharing

• Yamaha Cares Act Resources for instrument purchases https://yamahaeducatorsuite.com/cares-act-funding

• New Jersey -  https://www.artsednj.org/esser/

• North Carolina  - http://artsnc.org/docs/ESSER_Recommendations_6_21.pdf

• South Carolina -  https://www.abcprojectsc.com/esser3/

• Missouri Economic Recovery Resources through DESE - State Board of Education Meeting COVID Relief Funding Report (found on page 4)

• US Economic Stabilization - Covid Relief Fund Spending thus far may be viewed here.

Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs (U.S. Department of Education)

Specifically cites the importance of incorporating the arts when planning in-school, summer, and afterschool interventions to accelerate learning in response to COVID-19. Evidence suggests the arts are key to providing a well-rounded education and supporting social and emotional learning.

Review of Evidence: Arts Integration Research Through the Lens of the Every Student Succeeds Act (American Institutes for Research)

A research review of 27 studies that meet ESSA design criteria found an average improvement index of 4 percentile points in core learning areas for students receiving arts-integrated instruction.

Gallup Student Poll, conducted and published in partnership between Gallup Research, the South Carolina Arts Commission, and Palmetto State Arts Education

An arts-rich school can help neutralize the effects of poverty. 2018 Gallup survey data shows that arts-rich schools with free/reduced-price lunch program participation 75% or greater scored higher than the state mean in four elements linked to desirable student outcomes: engagement, hope, entrepreneurial aspiration, and career/financial literacy.

Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement (National Assembly of State Arts Agencies)

This research describes in nontechnical terms how study of the arts contributes to academic achievement and student success. It offers impartial, to-the-point reporting of the multiple benefits associated with students’ learning experiences in the arts.

Investigating Causal Effects of Arts Education Experiences (Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research)

Through a randomized controlled trial with 10,548 students who were enrolled in 42 schools across the Houston area, researchers found arts-learning experiences benefit students in terms of reductions in disciplinary infractions, increases in compassion for others and improvements in writing achievement. Furthermore, arts-education experiences improve school engagement and college aspirations.

Review of Evidence: Arts Education Through the Lens of ESSA (American Institutes for Research)

According to the meta-analysis conducted as part of this evidence review, the average effect found in the 20 well-designed studies examined was moderate and statistically significant, indicating that an average child would gain 15 percentile points in a relevant student outcome examined in this review (i.e. academic achievement, art learning, social-emotional learning, and process abilities) as a result of participating in an arts education intervention.

Selection into, and academic benefits from, arts-related courses in middle school among low-income, ethnically diverse youth

Alternate Link (paywall)

A new study from the George Mason University Arts Research Center and published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts found a link between arts elective courses in music, dance, visual art and drama, and better grades in middle school. ​

The University of California-San Marco has compiles and collects current research in support of arts education. They have divided 15 "arguments" in favor of Arts Education into 3 categories: 

• EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION - The arts allow for the Development of Young Brain, helping students engage in Critical Thinking. The arts produce Engaged Motivated Students who Test Higher with Better Attendance and Pursue and Succeed in post-secondary education.

• Preparation for the Workplace - The Arts lead us to In-Demand Employees, who become Tomorrow’s Leaders, who are also  Creative & Innovative These workers who cooperate and collaborate, and show courage and flexibility.

• Living Life to the Fullest - The arts build Empathy and Kindness, incorporate Student Voice. This Builds hope and resiliency, and Lifelong Arts Participation.

Visit the MAAE Art=Opportunity Page for more details and links to the research.