Building a System for Creative Learning

1. Building a System for Creative Learning

2. Big Thought Overview • Mission: To make imagination a part of everyday learning • Vision: We envision communities where every learner is immersed everyday in opportunities to imagine, create and succeed. • Big Thought Manages: • Creative Solutions • Young Audiences • Library Live! • SLANT 45 • ArtsPartners • Thriving Minds 1

3. Big Thought Overview • Thriving Minds • Thriving Minds is a public/private partnership which coordinates and leverages resources from cultural, educational, youth development and social service organizations in support of student achievement and family engagement. • Convenes 100+ partners • Provides professional development • Engages parents and caregivers • Raises funds • Coordinates research • Publishes best practices • Consults • Supports enrichment programming 2

4. Environments Today 3

5. History 1970’s1987 1997 1998 2003 2005 2006 2006-2007 2008 2011 Arts Education removed from classrooms systemically Young Audiences begins to bring back access to the arts City invests in study of arts equality, shows great inequity in arts experiences ArtsPartners provides systemic, widespread arts ed through investment of partners Ford Foundation funds grant exploring the engagement of family/community in the arts Wallace Foundation gives grant to grow work of ArtsPartners, early Ford work – turns into Thriving Minds Big Thought publishes research demonstrating how the partnership is helping academics Arts become priority for city, school district, 100+ partners during school day + in the communities Texas Education Agency funds Thriving Minds OST programs Big Thought and partners work in campuses throughout Dallas in renowned education collaboration 4

6. 1997—Dallas, We Have a Problem • The Problem • No agency overseeing services • Some kids received multiple services • 75% received little to none • No way to measure impact • The Solution, As We Saw It • What if we focused on changing the environment, instead of individual programs? 5

7. How Big Thought Works 6

8. The School District The School District offered arts, but could not provide: 7

9. Initial Concerns 8

10. Strategies to Address Concerns • Conversations with: • Fine Arts Specialists • General Classroom Teachers • Cultural Providers • Individual Artists • Principals • Parents 9

11. Partnering On All Levels Influencers Implementers Educators Dallas ISD Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs Park & Recreation Library System Churches Parents Park and Rec Staff Fine Arts Specialists General Classroom Teachers Librarians Childcare Workers Church staff Trained Volunteers Parents School Board Superintendent City Council City Manager Funders Corporations Community Boards Arts Commissioners Parents 10

12. Align Agendas Influencers Implementers Educators • Determine where partner agendas overlap • Agree on a common language • Discuss individual partner expectations • Identify strategies to address concerns • Articulate desired outcomes 11

13. Activity: Influencer, Implementer, Educator

14. Principles of Partnership Major Ideas: • Plan/vision from a place of abundance • Avoid unnecessary bureaucracy – cut red tape • Build on – never duplicate - capacity in the system • Acknowledge enabling constraints • Address barriers and deal breakers • Bless and release 12

15. Creative Learning Environments In School It’s the relationship between high quality creative learning experiences which build capacitiesin our children and communities Children Out of School Integrated 13

16. Shared Civic Outcomes Livable and Productive City Successful Students, Strong Families, Vibrant Communities Increased Creative Capital AnExcellentSystem An Equitable System 14

17. Shared Civic Outcomes • Everyone has an End Game. What is this Community’s? • Vitality of the arts – audience building, sustenance of cultural community • Arts for arts sake – ensuring students have access to arts experiences for their inherent benefits • Arts for personal development – building self-esteem, empathy, etc. • Arts for academic development – improving test scores, decreasing drop-out rates, etc. • Arts for community’s sake – ensuring that the arts are “in the water” of communities, making all of the above a part of a child’s life 15

18. Pathways to Success Sequential Learning over time in multiple neighborhoods = Increased chance of success 16

19. Pathways to Success Dallas Neighborhood -- 2007 Dallas Neighborhood -- 2009 High School Middle School Elementary School Dance Music Theater Visual Art 17

20. Pathways Plus Dallas Neighborhood -- 2009 Dallas Neighborhood -- 2012 High School Wellness Academic and College Readiness Developmental Assets Middle School Elementary School Dance Music Theater Visual Art 18

21. The Critical Equations 19

22. Video: Engaging MS Students

23. Building Blocks of Our Work Elementary and Middle School programs share the following elements of success: Career-Focused Project-Based Integrated Curriculum Maximizing Resources Community Participation 20

24. Middle School Corporate/ Government Partners • Alford Media • American Airlines • AT&T • Chase • D Magazine • The Dallas Morning News • Dallas Area Rapid Transit • Dallas Police Department • Ernst and Young • Federal Reserve Bank • Liberty Mutual • Lockheed Martin • Perkins + Will Design Firm • PNC Mortgage • Prudential Financial • Southwest Airlines • Target • Texas Agri-life Military Division • University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center • South Dallas Fair Park Trust Fund   21

25. Thriving Minds Partners 22

26. Thriving Minds Artists Big Thought employs approximately 850 community artists who work in the Thriving Minds system. 23

27. The Adults in The Room • Share the Vision • Explain importance of supporting academic development • Offer professional development • Engage in dialogue • Provide feedback mechanisms (surveys, interviews, etc.) • Offer opportunities to showcase their work Instructors 24

28. Program Evolution Developing and Managing Capacity Building Supporting 25

29. Outcomes 26

30. Video: Summer School 2010 Success

31. Student Success 2010 TM Summer Camp students grades 3-5 improved their TAKS passing rates by 7-23%. • Grade 3 Reading: 18.7% • Grade 3 Math: 23.3% • Grade 4 Reading: 8.2% • Grade 4 Math: 7.3% • Grade 5 Reading: 17.2% • Grade 5 Math: 14.6% 27

32. First Grader’s Classroom Writing Before One-hour Museum Visit “If I was a ners, I would be feeling happy because I get to hwod the babby. And I like this child.” 28

33. First Grader’s Classroom Writing After One-hour Museum Visit “Being playful makees me feel like going to the park. You can see the way I look. Being happy makees me feel like I am made up of all differn kind of colros on the inside.” 29

34. AP Study 2005 Report Texas’ Annual Test of Reading Skills No ArtsPartners in Grade 7 ArtsPartners in Grades 4-6 African-American & Latino students participating in AP outperformed their peers on TAKS reading…. and their strong performance continued in 7th grade, without AP 30

35. Quality: Integration Experiments in Learning Behaviors Investment in Quality Behaviors Active Learning Behaviors 31

36. The Funding Braid 32

37. Initial Funding Sources -- ArtsPartners 33

38. Video: West Dallas and the Future

39. Building a System for Creative Learning