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Read all the research, news, and policy in our arts education RECAP for August 2022.

Research

Paper Books Linked to Stronger Readers in an International Study “An Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study across approximately 30 countries found that teens who said they most often read paper books scored considerably higher on a 2018 reading test taken by 15-year-olds compared to teens who said they rarely or never read books. Even among students of similar socioeconomic backgrounds, those who read books in a paper format scored a whopping 49 points higher on the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA. That’s equal to almost 2.5 years of learning. By comparison, students who tended to read books more often on digital devices scored only 15 points higher than students who rarely read  – a difference of less than a year’s worth of learning.” KQED

The U.S. Student Population is More Diverse, but Schools are Still Highly Segregated “The U.S. student body is more diverse than ever before. Nevertheless, public schools remain highly segregated along racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines. That’s according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). More than a third of students (about 18.5 million of them) attended a predominantly same-race/ethnicity school during the 2020-21 school year, the report finds. And 14% of students attended schools where almost all of the student body was of a single race/ethnicity.” KQED

How Naming Emotions Can Help Kids Grow “In my work as a parent educator, I often run workshops on how to help kids build emotional literacy. And one concept that really resonates with caregivers is “emotional granularity.” Coined by neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, author of “How Emotions are Made,” emotional granularity is the ability to name what we are feeling with a high degree of precision and specificity.” Desert News

A Hot Time for Summer Learning Listen to ​​​​Episode 1: What We’ve Learned about Summer Learning, a podcast episode that “features leading field experts, researchers and practitioners who are involved in summer learning and enrichment on the national, state and local levels. Learn how communities across the country are planning for these important programs, what it takes to make summer learning opportunities effective and engaging for young people and what is being studied and learned along the way.” Wallace Foundation

Equity

New Pathway to a Diploma Opens Doors for Students with Disabilities “Advocates for students with disabilities hailed the idea, saying it’s long overdue. A high school diploma for students who’ve worked hard and met their academic goals opens doors to further schooling, more meaningful careers and other options for a fulfilling life.” EdSource

Children’s Book ‘Calvin’ Shows How a Community Can Embrace a Trans Child’s Identity “We have a political environment in which trans youth in particular are being targeted around the country. We have trans kids coming out every day in classrooms around the country. And I would just encourage them to take a risk. Your child is going to be open and eager to learn this, and it may help them be a better, empathetic friend to somebody in their class or their community. And I would say learn from our experience. We were scared. We were fearful of even using that word in the beginning when, in fact, our child found it so empowering.” KQED

Congress Approves Free Student Meal Extension Through Summer “The legislation is intended to extend the rules that were adopted soon after COVID-19 disrupted schools nationwide so that summer meal distribution sites could operate in any community with need, rather than just where there’s a high concentration of low-income children, and offer to-go meals.” AP News

3 Key Considerations to Ensure Effectiveness of New 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline “In 2020, nearly 46,000 Americans died by suicide, a 30% increase in the rate since 2000. An additional 1.2 million adults and 629,000 adolescents attempted suicide in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to amplify mental health distress and substance use, both of which contribute to suicide risk, experts know that 988 must effectively connect people in crisis to the services they need.” PEW

Calls-to-Action

The Arts Education Conference “Join the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) in Baltimore, MD for the first in-person Annual Convening in three years! This year’s event offers the opportunity for learning and networking—and just as importantly, an opportunity to celebrate our collective work and to help ensure everyone has access to an excellent arts education. Whether your goal is to build your personal network, take part in thoughtful discussions or enjoy the company of leaders across the nation in beautiful Baltimore, the Annual Convening is the place to be on September 14-15.” Arts Education Partnership

OJJDP FY 2022 Arts Programs for Justice-Involved Youth “The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention seeks applications to develop, enhance, or expand art programs for justice involved youth. This program furthers the DOJ’s mission by supporting high-quality art programs for current and previous justice-involved youth, including Tribal and Indigenous youth, to reduce juvenile delinquency, recidivism, and/or other problem and high-risk behaviors.” US Department of Justice

Let’s Start Thinking About Climate Change as a Modern Educational Problem — and Solve It “Seeing climate change through this lens would highlight the multifaceted nature of the challenge — with critical emotional, attitudinal, motivational and behavioral dimensions complementing the requisite learning of key concepts. Given that learning is intrinsically motivating, this new orientation could spark more energy and optimism to address the issue.” Hechinger Report

Advocacy

Three Ways L.A. Schools are Trying to Get Ahead of Chronic Absenteeism “Faced with a crisis of chronically absent students last academic year, Los Angeles County education officials have spent the summer training workers to connect with families so children return to class next month. Teachers and social workers have been learning to spot mental health issues; and help parents find resources such as daycare so older siblings can return to school.” LA School Report

Send a letter to support Advancing Equity Through the Arts and Humanities Act, H.R.7627 “Sponsored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) and developed by and for BIPOC artists and creatives, the Advancing Equity Through the Arts and Humanities Act, centers the arts and humanities as a critical lever to dismantle systemic racism in the United States. This is the first bill that intentionally brings together racial justice and arts groups to build a national movement on this issue.” Every Action

Foremost King and the Freedom Art Squad “For his CalArts MFA thesis, Foremost King (Art MFA 22) created a distinct kind of art. Instead of painting, sculpture, or mixed media, he established the Freedom Art Squad—a youth development project that uses art and imaginative play to reimagine school safety and advocate for alternatives to law enforcement on school campuses in the Antelope Valley.” CalArts

Policy

Ed Dept Urges Discipline Bias Protections for Students with Disabilities “The guidance emphasizes schools’ responsibilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide behavioral services and supports to students with disabilities. The department also let schools know federal laws don’t stop them from responding to emergencies, and that they can take steps to ensure school safety that aren’t discriminatory.” K12 Dive

LAUSD Reveals Their 2022-26 Strategic Plan: Ready for the World! “For the next four years, Los Angeles Unified will focus on a singular goal: ensure ALL our students graduate READY FOR THE WORLD – to thrive in college, career, and life. This Strategic Plan represents a promise to our entire Los Angeles Unified community that we will achieve this goal. With this plan, we are establishing a new, inspiring vision on how we can improve student achievement and close opportunity gaps. We believe that by outlining a singular goal, and a vision for achieving this goal, we can ensure that everyone who is a part of Los Angeles Unified will be able to support and uplift our district together.” LAUSD

For the next four years, Los Angeles Unified will focus on a singular goal: ensure ALL our students graduate READY FOR THE WORLD – to thrive in college, career, and life. This Strategic Plan represents a promise to our entire Los Angeles Unified community that we will achieve this goal. With this plan, we are establishing a new, inspiring vision on how we can improve student achievement and close opportunity gaps. We believe that by outlining a singular goal, and a vision for achieving this goal, we can ensure that everyone who is a part of Los Angeles Unified will be able to support and uplift our district together.

Universal Preschool Bill Advances in the Assembly “Universal preschool might become available to all California 3- and 4-year-olds if a new bill eventually gets signed into law. Introduced by state Sen. Connie M. Leyva,D-Chino, Senate Bill 976  would remove requirements that students be low-income to enroll in free state preschool and allow community child care providers such as in-home day cares to tap into state funds.” EdSource

Congress is Starting to Tackle Student Mental Health “Understanding of student mental health issues was growing before the pandemic took hold, and the stigma around these issues slowly breaking down. The pandemic, and the profound way it has affected young people, has brought the topic to the center of the public conversation, and now to Washington.” Hechinger

College or Career? California Invests $500 million in Program that Tackles Both “A question that has long vexed American secondary education is whether to prepare students for college or a career. With the creation of the Golden State Pathways Program, California has decided to invest in both.” EdSource

Ed Department Proposes Regulatory Changes to Borrower Defense, PSLF, Other Student Loan protections “Students whose colleges misled them would have an easier time seeking loan forgiveness from the federal government under a series of regulatory proposals the U.S. Department of Education released Wednesday.” Higher Ed Dive

Ed Dept. Announces New Push to Expand Afterschool and Summer Programs “The U.S. Department of Education wants to make it easier for families to find high-quality summer and afterschool programs and for schools and local governments to use federal relief funds to pay for them.” The 74

 


 

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