NMWA Receives $1.1 Million Grant

National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The four-year grant will fund Teachers Connect: Distance Learning in the Arts; an arts education program that will research the use of distance technologies in professional development programs for teachers.

"This project is about more than bringing the arts into the classroom, it is about helping teachers be better educators," said NMWA Director Dr. Judy L. Larson.

Teachers Connect will study how professional development for teachers impacts student achievement. The program aims to demonstrate that intensive, on-going professional development impacts teachers' ability to integrate the visual arts into core curriculum. At the same time, Teachers Connect will evaluate how ongoing support for educators improves student learning.

The Department of Education awarded NMWA this grant through its Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) program. This is NMWA's second AEMDD grant; the first was awarded in 2003. It funded Art, Books, and Creativity (ABC) which developed and evaluated an arts integration curriculum.

ABC will serve as the core curriculum for Teachers Connect. NMWA will work with six schools in Mississippi and New Mexico to reach 60 teachers and 1,500 students. The program will target fourth- and fifth-grade classes and is expected to run through 2010.

Teachers Connect will incorporate distance technologies, like Web access and videoconferencing, which can make art-education training and resources available to all teachers in the program. By breaking down geographic barriers and using a curriculum based on national art education standards, Teachers Connect has the potential to be replicated in schools across the country.

A team of outside evaluators will study the effectiveness of the Teachers Connect professional development program and its use of distance technologies. Researchers will compare pre- and post-test scores from students in the program to those in classrooms not taught by participating teachers. Evaluators will also compare students' knowledge of visual arts concepts and critical thinking skills to indicate the program's success.

"We hope Teachers Connect can serve as a model of bringing students, teachers and technology together to enhance arts-based education," Larson said.

By www.nmwa.org