Arts Centered Education Program
The Missouri Alliance Arts Centered Education (ACE) promotes and supports an arts integrated approach to teaching and learning in Missouri's schools. This program enables schools to receive customized onsite professional development at no cost to the school.
Arts in Education leads to:
Engaged learners
Deeper understanding
Greater retention of content
Positive classroom and building climate
Joy in teaching and learning
Arts Integration practitioners may need:
support in learning more about arts areas outside their field of expertise
to learn about ways the arts can be included in lesson/unit designs
to learn how to allow students to construct and demonstrate understanding while engaging in a creative process.
Ideally, arts integrated instruction is designed from local curricula and aligned with the Missouri Learning Standards. Through an arts integrated approach to teaching and learning, students engage in a creative process which connects the art form and at least one other subject area and meets evolving objectives in both
Teaching artists, who specialize in arts integration, will customize the training received, based on the professional learning needs of the building. MAAE Arts Integration Specialists will meet with building leaders and determine which services will best meet the needs of the adult learners in a given situation.
Large group
Professional development for the full school staff can take the form that best meets the needs and professional learning objectives for the school. We suggest at least one session of professional learning for the entire staff to help those unfamiliar with arts integration become acquainted with the concept, and increase the likelihood of individuals from the school becoming a part of the current arts integration co-hort group or an arts integration practitioner of the future.
Cohort
Within the cohort group, professional learning often looks like:
the local educator identifying local curricular content to be delivered
the teaching artist and local educator designing lessons within a unit of study from the local curriculum, which reflect Missouri Learning Standards
the teaching artist facilitating any need for additional learning or experience as it relates to a given art form included in the unit of study.
the teaching artist modeling lessons utilizing an arts integrated approach in delivering instruction
the local educator and teaching artist co-teaching a given lesson from the unit of study
the teaching artist providing coaching services for the local educator in regard to delivery of instruction
Program Evaluation
We want to ensure that the program meets the stated objectives for the school, and collect evidence for our funders about the efficacy of the program.
Elements of the program evaluation will be determined for each school based on their objectives. It may include items such as:
examining teacher and student attitudes
student engagement
content assessment
retention of content knowledge
building climate data
We wish to learn about the needs and objectives for professional learning at each school and seek out teaching artists who may uniquely suited to meet the needs of the school and the individual members of the cohort.
If you want to become an ACE school or if you just what to learn more, please contact Lauren Hanahan, Arts Integration Specialist, at lauren.hanahan@moaae.org.
The Missouri Arts Integration Network is a collection of individuals with an interest in arts integration. We welcome arts and non-arts teachers from any subject or discipline at every level PreK-college. Our FREE one-hour quarterly meetings via ZOOM provide a forum for connecting with other educators and hearing success stories from practitioners.
Access the registration link for each ZOOM meeting here.
Arts Integration can benefit you and your students!
MAAE is committed to helping Missouri teachers use Arts Integration as a strategy to improve student achievement and behavior. Helping educators learn best practices for effective implementation honors the expertise of all teachers involved and addresses both arts and non-arts standards to yield great benefits for all.
Do not fear that you will lose something by working collaboratively with others. Arts Integration can actually help meet your classroom goals, enriching your work in the arts with your students. Collaborative planning for arts integrated learning experiences honors the arts as a partner and reflecting standards in the arts and non-arts subject area(s) and providing opportunities for assessment of skill and understanding in both.
Our partners in Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield offer professional development training and follow-up which to teacher interested in Arts Integration.