Leadership in Practice Grant Program

Bronx

PS 205: The LaGuardia Academy of Arts and Technology
Region: 1
District: 10
Grades: K-5
Student Population: 1,010
Partner(s): Young Audiences/New York

PS 205, located in the Belmont area of the Bronx, partnered with Young Audiences New York. The Leadership grant enabled PS 205 to build on the development of instructional extensions to the arts activities in the residencies. The two units of study explored identity, culture, and community with the 5th grade students. The first unit, "I/You/We," used sculptural self-portraits and journal writing to explore self-identity and self-expression. The second unit, "Family Link with Mexico," explored cultural identity and community.

To assess student work, a newly created arts rubric was used as was documentation of the teaching and learning; the results were shared both inside and outside the school community.

PS 220: The Mott Haven Village School
Region: 9
District: 7
Grades: K-5, 8
Student Population: 490
Partner(s): Dreamyard Project, Inc.

PS 220, located in the lower Bronx, partnered with Dreamyard Project on two consecutive theater residencies that allowed the partnership to build on literacy instruction in the 4th grade classroom by providing a response to literature and a way to explore and understand character development. Ensemble-building and theater production skills were learned through the production of two plays based on books read in class.

The units of study included interdisciplinary arts integration with a focus on theater and visual arts. To further develop effective assessment tools, PS 220 and Dreamyard emphasized exploring ways to capture meaningful moments of spontaneous teaching and student learning that have eluded documentation in the past.

Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School
Region: 2 Autonomy Zone
District: 12
Grades: 9-12
Student Population: 485
Partner(s): The Studio Museum in Harlem

Fannie Lou Hammer Freedom High School (FLH) partnered with The Studio Museum in Harlem. FLH’s student development emphasizes arts in the context of interdisciplinary learning and project-based instruction. To this end, four teachers and one teaching artist developed an integrated curriculum based on Greek mythology and the role of women in ancient Greece. Project activities included student papers, mask making, rehearsals, and performance of the Greek play Medea.

FLH’s unit of study focused on integrating a humanities curriculum with visual and performance arts and included 9th and 10th graders. Tools of assessment included photographs and video of student activity, teacher discussion, and student writing samples.

Brooklyn

IS 259: William McKinley School
Region: 7
District: 20
Grades: 6-8
Student Population: 1,370
Partner(s): Symphony Space, Creative Arts Team

IS 259, a multithemed school, partnered with Symphony Space and The Creative Arts Team. Through an earlier CAE Partnership grant, IS 259 established a program entitled called "Making Instructional Connections" based on the study of ancient civilizations by examining their art, culture, and literature. During the Leadership grant residencies, teaching artists from Symphony Space visited with social studies and dance classes and introduced Asian cultural arts through discussion and demonstration of Japanese tai-ko drumming, Indian dance, Chinese opera, and Asian art. Teaching artists from Creative Arts Team worked with English/language arts teachers and engaged students in role-play using an Asian folktale as a vehicle for developing critical thinking and literacy skills.

IS 259’s unit of study focused on 6th graders and integrated the visual and performing arts with the social studies and English/language arts curriculum. Assessing student work was done on a more sophisticated level using the benchmarks in the NYC DOE Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts; video documentation was also used.

PS 321: The William Penn School
Region: 8
District: 15
Grades: Pre K-5
Student Population: 1,275
Partner(s): Brooklyn Museum, Together in Dance: Zalesky & Associates

PS 321 partnered with the Brooklyn Museum of Art (BMA) and Together in Dance (TID). The BMA educators and TID teaching artists worked closely with teachers in each grade to design and outline a skills-based, process-oriented, and sequential approach to learning about, talking about, and creating visual art and dance.  This partnership helped make an explicit connection for students between the processes used for creating a piece or art or a dance. Since PS 321 has been a long-standing model of literacy in the city, students and teachers at the school were well acquainted with the process skills used in writing. The collaboration further established this link between the visual arts, the performing arts, and literacy.

The unit of study focused on one second grade class. Data was collected through transcripts, videotape, photographs, and narratives as the students participated in the dance cycle, created work in the BMA art studio, and participated in classroom art lessons and projects. Students were interviewed at the beginning and end of the dance cycle, and samples of the students' work, which included written pieces, were used to assess their growth.

Manhattan

PS 142: Amalia Castro School
Region: 9
District: 1
Grades: Pre-K - 6
Student Population: 549
Partner(s): Mark DeGarmo & Dancers/Dynamic Forms, Inc.

PS 142 M partnered with Mark DeGarmo & Dancers/Dynamic Forms, Inc. The partnership brought 16 weeks of dance residency to classes in grades Pre-K through 3. Two teaching artists worked with classroom teachers to develop an integrated curriculum based on themes  identified during the partnership. Promising practices included dance teaching and learning; teaching artist/classroom teacher collaboration, which involved physically challenged and special needs students in dance study; rehearsal and performance; and improved literacy through dance activities, journaling, and other reflective practices.

Units of study focused on kindergarten and second grade students and involved assessment of student journals, dance skill rubrics, and analysis of standardized tests.

PS 188: Island School
Region: 9
District: 1
Grades: Pre-K - 8
Student Population: 480
Partner(s): Third Street Music School

PS 188, located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, partnered with Third Street Music School. The Leadership grant provided an opportunity to refine the "laboratory" atmosphere where students have developed promising practices (innovative violin repertoire, composition techniques, sight-reading). The Leadership grant also dovetailed with the school wide initiative to implement student multimedia "Who I Am" portfolios.

The first unit of study focused on the 4th grade choral techniques of reading and singing from soflege notation at the beginning level. The second unit of study includeed mixed grades in the middle school and focused on developing instrumental, choral, and performance skills. Assessment tools included rubrics that are aligned with the NYC DOE Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts.

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Staten Island

PS 37
Region: 7
District: 75
Grades: Ungraded
Student Population: 280 Special Education
Partner(s): Marquis Studios

PS 37 is a District 75 self-contained Special Education school that partnered with Marquis Studios to prove that the visual arts can contribute to developing the skills needed for students to achieve their Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals. One teaching artist collaborated with classroom teachers in a residency and included a final project of a mosaic with each child contributing by making his or her own tile.

Within the completion of the visual arts residency there was one unit of study that had connections to the NYS Standards, IEP goals, and the second grade NYC DOE Blueprint for Teaching and Learning. The children were videotaped and photographed to document their growth. 

The success of PS 37's Leadership grant led to the creation of the PS 37 Arts Academy and the Teaching Artist Training Institute, partnerships of PS 37, Marquis Studio, and CAE. The Arts Academy is a more comprehensive arts residency with 2 arts disciplines, longer residency periods, and more contact time with students. The Teaching Artist Training Institute was created when it became apparent that teaching artists needed more detailed professional development to teach children on the autism spectrum.

2001-2003

The Curriculum Development and Access "Leadership" Grant Program, initiated in spring 2001, provided two-year grants to New York City public schools that had participated in the Center’s Partnership Grant Program. Leadership grants allowed the schools to share the products of their exemplary arts programs. Their projects included viewbooks, CD-ROMS, web sites, and curriculum guides. The 18 grant recipients and the cultural organizations with whom they partnered attended the Center’s professional development and peer exchange gatherings. As a result of their participation, they learned how to articulate their programs’ goals and objectives. Selected Leadership schools also hosted intervisitations, offering instruction to educators interested in implementing their own schoolwide interdisciplinary arts programs.

PS 156: The Waverly School

Brooklyn’s PS 156, now considered a national model for excellence in education, has designed a curriculum that comprehensively integrates the arts and multicultural studies with activities in literacy, social studies, math, and science. The website they have created describes otheir multidisciplinary approach, the Arts Strand Program, and also features lesson plans, tips for curriculum integration, and a gallery of photos.

Students study the dance, music, or visual arts of a particularly culture as part of a 12-week "strand" with the participation of resident artists and writers. Classroom teachers integrate the strand into their own standards-based lessons and projects.

PS 144 Q: The Col. Jeromus Remsen School

PS 144 has created a website with step-by-step instructions for planning a successful arts partnership with cultural institutions, including resources and links to curriculum planning sites. With its partner, the Queens Museum of Art, this school has developed a "Promise of the Park" program that fosters connections between the cultural organizations located in nearby Flushing Meadow Park, aligning classroom curricula with museum visits, workshops, and residencies.

Publications

If you are interested in obtaining information about any of the following programs, they are available on request through the schools. Please see the accompanying links for more information.

The Hungerford School

The Hungerford School on Staten Island serves high school students with disabilities. Hungerford has designed A Captain’s Log, a manual written by special education teachers, speech teachers, an occupational therapist, and educators from the Noble Maritime Collection. The manual contains lesson plans for special education students that address maritime history while simultaneously addressing New York State Learning Standards in language arts, social studies, math, science, and the arts.

The Petrides School

PS 80, The Petrides School, expanded the concept of "Book in a Bag" kits with its partner Education In Dance to include musical selections as well as a book. When taking part in dance residencies led by teaching artists, students bring home a "Book in a Bag" to engage in curriculum-related activities outside of the classroom. The school also developed A Guide for Integrating the Arts, which instructs classroom teachers, administrators, and teaching artists on how to make the most out of an arts residency and how to assemble their own "Book in a Bag" kits for any integrated arts program.

El Puente Academy

El Puente Academy, a Brooklyn high school, has published the Integrated Arts Handbook, a source of best practices for creating an integrated arts curriculum. The handbook addresses scheduling, funding, eliciting ideas, collaboration, documentation, a timeline, and evaluation information. The handbook is also accompanied by a CD-ROM that contains video clips, curriculum samples, schematics, and examples of student work. In the guide, the school provides examples of its own Integrated Arts Projects, all of which address community concerns. The contents of the handbook can be viewed at El Puente’s website, which contains additional information about the school's arts education programs.