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Dear colleagues,
We send deep thanks for your continued work and best wishes for creative inspiration in 2022. This new year is already full of adjustments, change, and uncertainty. Thank you for the work that you do to ground students in their passion, and in demonstrating how disruptions in this world can teach us so much about creative problem solving and how to care for each other. This month we are highlighting resources to serve and support your students experiencing disabilities in the art classroom. You may also find the resources on care, connection, and social emotional learning in the arts from the December 2021 newsletter helpful as you transition back with students.
In this newsletter, we share with you some announcements, resources, and opportunities for training from statewide and national colleagues that may be of interest to you. As our community grows, we will continue to adapt the newsletter to fit the needs of the arts education community. If you have suggestions or feedback for the newsletter, please reach out to Shannon Johnson, Arts Education Specialist at ODE.
Photo by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash
ODE Arts Education Updates
Arts Ed Spotlight:
Inclusion for Student Artists Experiencing Disabilities
The various materials, sensory components, and unique context of an arts classroom present a different set of circumstances for students as compared to other classroom environments. In addition, many art educators have a large number of students to serve. Knowing and meeting each student’s accommodations and needs is an important task that may have new challenges due to shifting education formats during the pandemic, and there are resources available to help. Students With Disabilities and the Core Arts Standards, produced by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2014, is a helpful anchor document that outlines considerations when designing for inclusion in your classroom. The Kennedy Center’s VSA program has been working on art learning with students with disabilities for years, and provides a wealth of resources and research on the topic. The program offers a webinar series focused on accessibility for students during Covid-19 and for students who are blind, low vision, deaf, and hard of hearing.
As always, strength comes from connection, and it’s a great idea to connect with the special education team at your school if you have any questions about how to support a student.
Additional Resources:
Photo by Daniel Ali on Unsplash
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Arts Ed News, Research & Resources
Teaching high quality, inclusive, and culturally relevant content through the arts is essential to increase equitable access to arts education for all students.
Please see below for related news and resources that may be relevant to your practice.
News
Resources
Grants and Youth Opportunities
Grants:
Artist Resilience Program
Oregon artists may now apply to the Artist Resilience Program, administered by the Oregon Arts Commission in partnership with the Oregon Community Foundation and the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation. The Artist Resilience Program provides relief funding to Oregon artists who have experienced financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic due to loss of income, loss of opportunity, or other unanticipated impacts to their artistic practice.
Apply here by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.
Prior to completing the application, you are encouraged to read through the Grant Guidelines.
The application is available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese and Russian. La solicitud de subvención y las pautas están disponibles en español: Las Pautas de la Programa de Recuperacion para Artistas.
Youth Opportunities:
Calling all young musicians with disabilities, ages 14-25! Each year outstanding young musicians from around the world receive the VSA International Young Soloists Award, $2,000, and the opportunity to participate in professional development and performance opportunities provided by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
This program is open to U.S. and international soloists and ensembles of any genre or instrument, including voice. Multiple winners will be selected by a panel of music professionals.
Apply here by Monday, February 28, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern
Young writers with disabilities are invited to submit a 'ten-minute script' of any genre. Scripts may be for plays, musicals, multimedia, video, film, TV, podcasts, or other writing for performance. Entries may be the work of an individual student or a collaboration of two students that includes at least one student with a disability. A panel of theater professionals selects division winners. Writers must be in ages 15-18 and must have a disability. Please read the eligibility for participation.
Multiple winners will receive exclusive access to participate in virtual professional development activities provided by the Kennedy Center. Winners will have the opportunity to work with industry professionals in further development of their own script, as well as participating in networking opportunities.
Apply here by Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education's annual art and writing competition prompt has officially been released. You can find a PDF of the prompt along with recommended resources and submission guidelines on the OJMCHE website.
Prompt: Reflecting on Holocaust history, create a piece of writing or work of visual art that examines the plight of Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, and how their experiences might inform the choices that individuals and governments make in responding to refugees today.
Submissions are due April 1, 2022. Read the art guidelines to learn more.
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Upcoming Events, Training & Conference Opportunities
All trainings are listed in Pacific Time zone unless otherwise noted.
ODE Hosted Events and Training Opportunities:
Join the “Grading for Equity” Book Study
Transforming traditional grading practices is vital in order to shift the focus away from students simply working for a grade toward a more learning-centered and equitable educational experience. Efforts to foster positive student identity and increase academic safety are undermined by not addressing grading practices, both at the classroom level and at the system level. Many Oregon schools, consistent with national trends, are reporting higher failure rates for students during the COVID-19 pandemic than ever before. This is especially true for students in historically underserved communities. How can we respond?
With the goals of analyzing current grading practices and taking action to make them more equitable, the Oregon Education Association and Oregon Department of Education are facilitating a book study for educators of Joe Feldman’s bestselling book Grading for Equity: What it is, Why it matters, and How it can transform schools and classrooms. OEA will provide copies of the book to participants who commit to participate in 5 sessions. Virtual sessions will meet synchronously on Tuesday evenings from February 1 through March 8, 2022, from 6-7pm PT. Click here to register. The book study is free for OEA members and $75 for non-members.
Contact ODE’s Equitable Grading Practices team for more information.
Other relevant educator opportunities:
Note: Unless hosted or facilitated by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), these events and training opportunities have not been endorsed by ODE, but are being shared as relevant opportunities for arts education professionals to consider.
Well-Rounded Access Program
In October 2020, Oregon received a five-year, $9.8 million grant to expand access to well-rounded education courses in STEAM, arts integration, and the arts. ODE has created a newsletter to inform the community with updates from this grant work. If you would like updates on the Well-Rounded Access Program (WRAP) grant, as well as resources about STEAM and arts integration, sign up for the Well-Rounded Access Program Listserv.
Data Findings for the Arts
The availability of arts courses appears to remain high for students in the 2020-21 school year, especially for students attending middle schools and high schools.
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 An analysis of course data from the Staff Assignment data collection and school enrollment data from the Fall Membership report over the 2018-19 - 2020-21 school years show that the availability of arts courses (dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts) remained high at middle and high schools, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The percentage of students enrolled in middle schools and high schools that offer arts courses saw a slight reduction of 1-3 percentage points in 2020-21 compared to previous years. However, over 95% of students attended middle and high schools that offered arts courses in 2020-21. Elementary schools appear to have been most affected by the pandemic, with 60% of elementary school students enrolled at a school that offered a standalone arts course in 2020-21 compared to nearly 80% of elementary school students enrolled at a school that offered a standalone arts course in prior years. These results may indicate fewer schools offering arts courses in 2020-21, a significant decrease in elementary student enrollment in 2020-21, or other pandemic-related reporting challenges affecting data quality.
For more information, contact Caitlin McRae, the Well Rounded Courses Grant Research Analyst.
The Well-Rounded Access Program has finalized an initial Needs Assessment. Both the full report and an abbreviated executive summary can be found on the Expanding Access to Well Rounded Education website.
As the WRAP program develops a plan for the duration of the grant, your engagement in the arts education community will no doubt be valuable. Stay tuned for opportunities to engage with this important work of increasing access to the arts for every student in Oregon.
Oregon Open Learning
Oregon Open Learning Workshop
The Oregon Open Learning team will host a statewide OER workshop on Tuesday, February 15th from 4:00 - 5:30 pm. Register for the event here and share the opportunity with your colleagues. Contact the Oregon Open Learning Team at OregonOpenLearning@state.or.us with any questions. To receive the Oregon Open Learning monthly newsletter, sign up here.
Oregon Arts Group on the Oregon Open Learning Hub
The Oregon Arts Group on the Oregon Open Learning Hub is a new digital resource sharing and collaboration space for arts educators. Educators are able to access resources that are standards aligned, and contribute high quality resources to the group. Check out the Oregon Arts Group and join to stay connected and share with other educators. The digital resource bank is in its early stages, and will continue to grow.
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