The Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) is seeking applications for educators who wish to participate on subject matter expert panels to align California Subject Examinations for Teachers (CSET) assessments in the visual and performing arts (VAPA) with the newly adopted California Arts Standards for Public Schools. VAPA teachers and teacher educators, as well as individuals who advance VAPA education and programming for school-aged children outside of traditional school settings, are needed for the following areas: Art, Dance, Music, and Theatre.

•    The deadline to apply is March 28, 2019. Deadline extended to April 7, 2019.
•    CTC is prevented by statute from providing compensation for advisory panels such as these, but travel and accommodations are provided, depending on the home location of the panel members.
•  The California Dance Education Association recommends applicants have at least ten years of service in education.  Applicants should be sure about their teaching credential status before applying.  If you are selected for this panel, you will not be able to take the CSET for Dance for five years after completion of this assignment.

Please send any questions related to this announcement to Phyllis Jacobson at PJacobson@ctc.ca.gov. 

If you are interested in applying, please complete this application form. 

Californians for the Arts is launching CA’s first Arts, Culture & Creativity month this April, and they’re calling on us as arts educators to get involved! The goals of this month include:

• educating our representatives about the public arts programs that benefit Californians
• sharing our arts impact stories
• connecting, advocating and mobilizing
• building our case and showing our strength

so that we can:

• support Governor Newsom’s permanent funding increase of $10 million in the 2019 budget
• recommend continued increased and permanent funding for the arts
• ensure all students have access to arts education and the ed code is enforced

You can get involved by joining them for Arts Advocacy Day in Sacramento April 23rd, exploring their Ways to Engage page, or registering for free advocacy training in your city. Discover more here.

California’s Dance Teaching Credential is in the making! Listen to Jessy Kronenberg (CDEA Past President and Director of the Dance Credential Task Force) as she sits down with Dance with Teachers to discuss the history of California’s dance credential, where it stands now, and what we can expect in the future. Check out the 36 minute free podcast here.

Advocating for dance at the governmental policy level can be intimidating if you don’t know where to start or what kinds of small steps have impact. Americans for the Arts has some resources that can help, including ones that are state-specific. Find out what’s happening in your state, who your arts representatives & supporting organizations are, and how to get involved here.

The National Arts Action Summit is a multi-day event, March 4-5, 2019 in Washington, D.C., giving you the opportunity to receive crucial advocacy training from experts in the field and then put that training into practice on Arts Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill. Hosted by Americans for the Arts in partnership with over 85 national arts organizations, Arts Advocacy Day is the largest gathering of its kind, bringing together a broad cross section of America’s cultural and civic organizations. Grassroots advocates from across the country come to Washington, DC to meet with their Members of Congress to garner support for issues like arts education policy, the charitable tax deduction, and funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

On Monday, March 4, 2019, hundreds of arts advocates from across the country convened for interactive advocacy training and peer-to-peer learning and networking. That evening, attendees will have the opportunity to attend the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Then, on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, after the Congressional Arts Kick Off, advocates met with their U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives to share their stories about the impact and transformative power that the arts have in their communities.

Why should I attend the National Arts Action Summit?

1. Networking with your fellow arts advocates from across the country and go on congressional visits led by State Captains.
2. Learning the latest research facts and figures on the arts to help make your case.
3. Strategizing with experienced advocates during an interactive role play session on how to make the case for the arts and arts education to your Members of Congress.

More info & registration.

A central belief of the California Alliance for Arts Education is that an equitable education for all children includes a high quality arts education. Innovative arts strategies can also play an essential role in raising student achievement in some of our lowest performing schools. Title I, the largest federal education block grant program, is dedicated to closing the achievement gap for students living in poverty. The Alliance’s Title I Initiative is dedicated to helping school leaders understand how arts strategies can play a role in meeting student achievement goals in Title I schools.

Over the last several years, the California Alliance for the Arts has developed a number of tools and resources for teachers and education leaders to better understand Title I, and to support them with planning, developing, and advocating for Title I and the arts. Check them out here.

Did you know that 21 out of 53 California state representatives received an A in this year’s Congressional Arts Report Card? Did you also know that Congress appropriates a mere 47 cents per person to support the arts across the country? Before casting your votes November 6th, find out how your state representatives and senators rank in their support of the arts here. As artists & arts educators, who do you want to represent you?

All children deserve high quality arts education, but did you know that only 39% of CA students take an arts class? Who has access? Who doesn’t? This is the kind of data that can help teaching artists & organizations as we outreach & work with school districts, but where can we get it? Create CA’s Arts Education Data Project is our resource to show us where and how arts education is offered across the state, and gives us access to all kinds of statistics. Listen to leaders of arts ed organizations – including Luna’s Director of Community Engagement Nancy Ng! – as they share how they use the Arts Ed Data Project to collaborate with schools & districts, and find funding. 

Supported by the Declaration of Student Rights to Equity in Arts Education, arts organizations, arts councils and teaching artists are expanding and adjusting their programming to match the goals and priorities of their school district partners. This webinar highlights the capacity of these tools to empower all sectors to collaborate strategically.

Presenters representing statewide partners include Josy Miller, Arts Education Program Specialist, California Arts Council; Sibyl O’Malley, Senior Director of Advocacy and Communications, California Alliance for Arts Education; and Pat Wayne, Program Director of Create CA. California Arts Council grantees who will share their compelling arts education programs and strategic partnerships include Nancy Ng, Executive Director of the Luna Dance Institute, Eve McEneaney, Executive Director of Arts For The Schools (Placer County) and Meghan O’Keefe, Executive Director of AmadorArts.

Webinar:
Collaborating with School Districts in the Age of Data

Listen to the webinar here.

Recorded July 18, 2018.