Advocating for Arts Education can be a challenging because of the complex nature of education reform within your state or community. Learn about our new toolkit designed to arm advocates with a series of videos and strategies to deliver an impactful message to their decision makers.  Learn how to use this toolkit and how to organize others in your community to do the same!

Speakers:

Kristen Engebretsen, Arts Ed Program Manager, Americans for the Arts

Narric Rome, VP of Gov't Affairs & Arts Education, Americans for the Arts

Arts education is a unique model within the United States’ education system, in that arts learning is truly provided by a myriad of stakeholders—certified teachers, parents, afterschool programs, community centers, etc. Sometimes this happens in a well-orchestrated manner. Sometimes these relationships are fraught with strife, such as making a decision to spend money on a certified arts instructor versus a community-based program that would serve more students but on a less frequent basis.

In coordination with the U.S. House of Representatives' STEAM Caucus co-chaired by Reps. Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR),  Americans for the Arts will bring together STEAM leaders in diverse sectors, including academic, industry, government, and education fields to discuss briefly their work with STEAM and respond to a moderated question to build a conversation and showcase STEAM as a movement the public can join.

Advancing Arts Education through an Expanded School Day: Lessons from Five Schools presents case studies of five schools utilizing the longer student and teacher days to prioritize time for arts education as they work to improve overall academic instruction and focus on individual student achievement. Join our panelists to learn more about the report, the work happening in these five schools, and how your community can implement the lessons learned from schools using an expanded day.

Art education and advocacy starts at home. A parent's strongest role supporting arts education should be as a local advocate. Parents levy expectations onto school boards and their child's principal and teachers, which can translate into a better environment for arts education. This kind of parental advocacy takes the form of votes, public opinion, volunteerism, fundraising and donations. Participate in this webinar to learn from our panel of experts how you can involve parents in your programs.

We may be conditioned to think that going to the Principal's office is a bad thing, but it's high time you paid your local Principals a visit. They are critical partners to ensure better arts education in schools. Principals create a school vision; provide leadership and support, and set schedules, budgets and other priorities which can ensure that the arts get the same attention as other academic subjects. Join this webinar to learn from our expert presenters how you can start or grow your relationship with a school's instructional leader.

Business leaders can be key advocates for arts education. They can champion arts education by offering internships, mobilizing resources, and raising visibility and can also be effective advocates with elected officials because of their role as a driver of the local economy. With this much local clout, you can't afford to pass up partnerships with local businesses. This webinar can help you learn how to move local businesses from single event sponsors to more fully engaged educational stakeholders within your community.

Superintendents can play a crucial role in arts education. They propose budgets; provide district wide training (including professional development for teachers and leadership training for principals); hire and empower curriculum directors (including district arts coordinators); and can ensure the arts are included in district planning. This webinar will share a case study about 5 different district leaders, and help you learn the importance of the superintendent position within the field of arts education.

School boards often provide infrastructure support for arts education. They review, revise, and adopt superintendents' proposed budgets, policy, and arts education curriculum. Learn more about how they can be a primary audience for advocacy efforts through this webinar and explore examples of interactions with school boards from two cities.

States wield an enormous amount of power in education through both legislation and funding. Learn how your organization can better partner with your state's arts council, advocacy groups, and Department of Education, to the benefit of arts learning.

Just how much power do federal constituents wield in the ecosystem of arts education? Learn how to create and leverage relationships from the White House to the US Dept of Education, and learn why you should be inviting your member of Congress to your next event!

Join us for a presentation discussing best practices for local arts agencies when working with teaching artists and vice versa. The webinar will include managing mutual expectations, contracts, and more.

Presented by: Narric Rome, Senior Director of Federal Affairs, Americans for the Arts; Victoria Plettner-Saunders, principal, Plettern-Sauders Consulting; Michael Gagliardo, Music Director/Conductor, Etowah Youth Orchestas; Ralph Lane, Vice President, Gadsden City Schools

After a decade of debate since the last major education bill, is it time for action? According to President Obama, Education Secretary Duncan and leaders in Congress, education reform is one policy area that could find bipartisan agreement in the new Congress. However with limits on federal spending, new players in town and different ideologies there's a lot of reasons why it may not happen.