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ARTS FOR ALL: Los Angeles County Regional Blueprint for Arts Education provides guidance and an outline of how to achieve this vision. It presents a comprehensive series of policy changes, educational initiatives, and establishment of a new infrastructure to promote systemic and balanced provision of the arts, and identifies the roles of key stakeholders. The Blueprint proposes that systemic change can only occur through the cooperative participation of all stakeholders and by working to develop supportive policy and action at each level of involvement. Complete listing and access info »

These Arts Education Performance Indicators (AEPI) document the status of arts education in each of the County's 82 school districts. As the first ongoing examination of arts education in Los Angeles County, this report provides a framework to evaluate self-reported school district data on critical success factors for arts education. It is a crucial component of the County's ability to measure and track district improvement over time.

AEPI ensures that the arts are one of the indicators by which school districts are measured. Complete listing and access info »

ARTS FOR ALL: Los Angeles County Regional Blueprint for Arts Education provides guidance and an outline of how to achieve this vision. It presents a comprehensive series of policy changes, educational initiatives, and establishment of a new infrastructure to promote systemic and balanced provision of the arts, and identifies the roles of key stakeholders. The Blueprint proposes that systemic change can only occur through the cooperative participation of all stakeholders and by working to develop supportive policy and action at each level of involvement.

Since 2002, when the Blueprint was adopted, much progress has been made toward achieving its vision and many new partners have been engaged in the process. Updates on pages 11 -- 17 reflect this forward movement. Complete listing and access info »

The mission of Arts for All: Los Angeles County Regional Blueprint for Arts Education is to establish sequential K-12 arts education in each of the 80 school districts in Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) classrooms.The Blueprint focuses on building an infrastructure to support districtwide education in dance, music, theatre and the visual arts. Progress is measured by five critical success factors.

The data provided in this report gives a County-wide picture of the status of arts education with regard to five critical success factors in 2005. Complete listing and access info »

The 2008 Arts Education Performance Indicators Report shows an increase in the number of school districts that are building infrastructure in this area, demonstrating a long-term commitment to improving arts education. The report is issued periodically by the Arts Commission as part of the county's regional Arts for All initiative to return quality, sequential arts education to the county's 81 school districts.

Overall progress includes:
<ul><li>64 percent of districts report having an arts education policy, compared to 37 percent in 2005. </li><li>61 percent of districts report a board-adopted arts education plan or indicated they are developing one, compared to 35 percent in 2005. </li><li>39 percent of districts report having an arts coordinator, compared to 12 percent in 2005. </li><li>16 percent report having a 400 to 1 ratio of students to credentialed arts teachers, compared to 10 percent reporting that ratio in 2005. </li><li>98 percent of districts report using general fund budgets to support arts education programs (sources of arts ed budgets were not included in previous surveys). </li></ul>The 2008 AEPI Report is based on self-reported data from superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors of curriculum and/or district arts coordinators. Of the 81 school districts, 72 responded. Complete listing and access info »

Provides study of K-12 education programs offered by performing arts centers nationwide. Showcases 74 institutions that are partnering with local schools. Complete listing and access info »

Profiles components of the After School Arts program within the School District of Philadelphia that have helped provide students with integrated, rich learning experiences.

More information about this publication is available at PubHub. Complete listing and access info »

This resource brief profiles the CERC/M.S. 67 program as an example of effective after-school arts enrichment. Although it features the performing arts, the same principles and practices apply to many arts activities in other after-school settings. Complete listing and access info »

What impact can after-school programs have on the educational achievement of high school students? A new study of Chicago's After School Matters (ASM) program -- which offers paid internships in the arts, technology, sports, and communications to teenagers in some of the city's most underserved schools -- finds a relationship between participating in after-school activities and higher class attendance, lower course failures and higher graduation rates.

Even after taking into account student demographic characteristics and prior attendance records, students who participate in ASM miss fewer days of school than their classmates. Similarly, students who participated at the highest levels in the after-school program tended to fail fewer core academic courses (English, Math, Science, and Social Studies). Furthermore, over the course of their time in high school, students who were enrolled in ASM for three or more semesters and those who participated at the highest levels had higher rates of graduation and lower dropout rates than similar students who did not participate in the program.

The findings in this report highlight the importance of further research into what leads students to participate in after-school programs and the factors that lead to higher engagement and retention once they are enrolled. A better understanding is crucial for improving enrollment in after-school programs such as ASM. Moreover, accounting for student factors that lead to a greater engagement in the program will lead to a clearer understanding of ASM's contribution to the positive outcomes -- independent of hard-to-observe student characteristics such as enthusiasm or dedication. Complete listing and access info »

The San Francisco Beacon Initiative (SFBI) has been in effect in the San Francisco Unified School District since 1996. A collaboration of public and private funders, SFBI operates comprehensive after-school programs in six middle schools, one elementary school and one high school. P/PVs evaluation found that SFBI programs consisted of high quality after-school activities, provided young people with important developmental experiences (such as adult support) and prevented declines in school effort (typical among middle school youth). Although the initiative did not explicitly set out to improve young peoples academic outcomes, these were also examined. Despite the high quality of the centers developmental programs, participants showed no academic gains, and the authors conclude that positive developmental experiences are not sufficient for ensuring academic success among youth who are already struggling in school. Complete listing and access info »