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OUR PROGRAMS

Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD)

AEMDD funds go to school districts and non-profit arts organizations working in partnership with school districts in grades K-8. They should be used in public schools to improve the connection between arts integration and the other core academic subjects, to strengthen arts instruction, and to improve student achievement. This must be done by using approaches that have proven successful in doing this and enhancing, expanding, documenting, evaluating and disseminating them. Recipients are required to compare the academic results of students benefiting from this program to students who are not.

Arts in Education National Program

This program supports national level high-quality arts education projects and programs for children and youth, with special emphasis on serving students from low-income families and students with disabilities.

Types of Projects

A project must serve low-income students and students with disabilities; and (b) conduct the following activities on a national level:

  • Professional development based on national standards for pre-kindergarten-through-grade-12 arts educators.
  • Development and dissemination of instructional materials, including online resources, in multiple arts disciplines for arts educators.
  • Arts-based educational programming in music, dance, theater, media arts, and visual arts, including folk arts for pre-kindergarten-through-grade-12 students and arts educators.
  • Community and national outreach activities that strengthen and expand partnerships among schools, school districts, and communities throughout the country.

Close-Up

Checkout this video some of our students meeting leaders of the U.S. Government in Washington including Secretary Duncan:! http://www.closeup.org/teachers/studentvideo.aspx.

These funds are used to support programs that make students better citizens and increase their understanding of the Federal Government. By law, the funds must be administered by the Close Up Foundation. The Close Up Foundation provides fellowships that are used for: (1) economically disadvantaged middle and secondary school students, with special consideration given to students with disabilities, ethnic minority students, and students with migrant parents; (2) professional development programs for middle and secondary school teachers to increase their understanding of civic education principles; and (3) the New Americans Program, which serves economically disadvantaged students whose families have immigrated to the United States within the past five years.

Excellence in Economic Education (EEE)

Please check out a recipient of our funds and their voluntary national standards www.councilforeconed.org/eee

EEE Program funds are used to improve understanding of finances among K-12 students to help them develop the skills they need to become knowledgeable consumers, savers, and investors. Funds must be awarded to a national nonprofit educational organization, whose primary purpose is to improve the student understanding of personal finance and economics. Also, subgrants are awarded to state and local educational agencies and non-profit educational organizations to establish teacher training programs, provide resources to schools, conduct research and evaluations on the impact of economic and financial literacy education programs, and innovative school-based student activities.

Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations (ECHO)

Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations (ECHO) is a federally funded educational and cultural initiative that serves thousands of children and adult learners in various areas of Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Mississippi. Authorized in 2001 by Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 (as amended), ECHO recognizes and celebrates the shared history and traditions of participants that first came into contact as a result of the whaling trade of the 19th century. The program seeks to capitalize on the unique ability of cultural institutions to “provide practical, culturally relevant, education-related internship and apprentice[ship] programs” in order “to prepare youth…for careers in the cultural sector” while “illustrating and interpreting the contributions of Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, the whaling industry, and the China trade to the economic, social, and environmental history of the United States.”

ECHO partners include:

  • Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, Alaska;

  • Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii;

  • Inupiat Heritage Center (North Slope Borough) in Barrow, Alaska;

  • Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians of Choctaw, Mississippi;

  • New Bedford Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts; and

  • Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.

In addition to site-specific programming and activities (e.g., standards-based curriculum creation, teacher institutes, special exhibits, youth symposia, art and culture workshops, school programs, artist exchanges), partners collaborate regularly on the echospace.org website. The website features various learning centers grouped by theme and other resources that may be of interest to educators and youth alike. Collaborative efforts have also produced “Echoes,” a symphony highlighting each cultural area represented by the ECHO partners.

For more information about the ECHO program, please contact Justis Tuia at 202-453-6654 or justis.tuia@ed.gov.

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Please check out our links:

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' impact and responsibility reaches Across America, and this is particularly the case with the Center's education programs. For more than 35 years, the Kennedy Center's Education Department has provided quality arts experiences for students, teachers, families, and the general public throughout the U.S. Its education programs annually impact more than 10 million people. The resources of the Department are focused on producing, presenting, and touring performances and educational events for young people and their families; school and community-based residencies and other programs that impact teachers, students, administrators, and artists through professional development; systemic and school improvement through arts-integrated curriculum and partnerships; creating and providing educational materials via print and through ArtsEdge; and the development of careers in the arts for young people and aspiring professionals, such as the American College Theater Festival. A special initiative of the Center's Education Department, Any Given Child, is seeking to bring access, balance, and equity to each child’s arts education by creating long-term arts education plans for students in grades K-8 in selected cities and communities across the country.

Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE)

PDAE funds go to school districts for grades K-12 in high poverty schools. They are to be used for the professional development of educators teaching music, dance, drama, media arts, or visual arts. The professional development should be about improving arts instruction or integrating the arts into other core subjects. Professional development models used are expected to be of high quality and are required to be implemented in schools that have a poverty rate of at least 50%.

Reading is Fundamental (RIF)

Please check out our guide to help parents choose good books! download files http://www.rif.org/documents/us/choosing_books.pdf (376KB)

RIF funds must be used to help prepare young children to read, and to motivate older children to read through the distribution of inexpensive books. By law, the funds are administered by RIF, Inc. RIF enters into voluntary agreements with local private nonprofit groups and organizations or with public agencies to distribute free books to children, to provide training for volunteers, to develop motivational activities, and other essential literacy resources.  Priority is given to programs that serve a substantial number or percentage of children with special needs, such as low-income children (particularly in high poverty areas); children at risk for school failure; children with disabilities; foster children; homeless children; migrant children; children without access to libraries; institutionalized or incarcerated children; and children whose parents are institutionalized or incarcerated.

VSA

Please check out our links:

VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, was founded more than 35 years ago by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to provide arts and education opportunities for people with disabilities and to increase access to the arts for all. With more than 50 international affiliates and a network of nationwide affiliates, VSA's various programs impact an estimated 7 million people of all ages annually. VSA provides educators, parents, and artists with the resources and tools to support arts programming in schools and communities. VSA showcases the accomplishments of artists with disabilities through a number of national programs, from its International Young Soloists Competition to the annual Young Playwright's Award to national visual arts exhibitions. It partners with both the public and private sectors to increase education opportunities, such as through the VSA and CVS Caremark All Kids Can initiative. VSA also offers a wide range of curricular and instructional resources to its affiliates and the public and sponsors a number of professional development programs and initiatives such as the VSA Institute in locations nationwide and Communities of Practice, which provides ongoing professional development opportunities for teaching artists who work with students with disabilities. Every five years, VSAsponsors the International VSA Festival, the most recent of which occurred in June 2010, in Washington, D.C. VSA is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA)

WEEA's purpose is to (a) promote gender equity in education in the United States; (b) provide financial assistance to enable educational agencies and institutions to meet the requirements of title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); and (c) to promote equity in education for women and girls who suffer from multiple forms of discrimination based on sex, race, ethnic origin, limited English proficiency, disability, or age.


 
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Last Modified: 11/02/2011