Turnaround Arts: Using the Arts as Part of the Toolkit in High-Poverty, Low-Performing Schools

Monday, October 7, 11:10am – 12:40pm

Organized and presented by Rachel Goslins, Executive Director, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Presented by Andrew Bott, Principal, Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School, Roxbury, MA.

Turnaround Arts is an initiative led by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and an extension of the Obama Administration’s investment in turning around America’s failing schools. All Turnaround Arts schools are in the lowest performing 5% of schools in their state, and as recipients of federal SIG Grants (School Improvement Grants), are using the arts as a part of their basic toolkit in school reform. The Turnaround Arts program brings in strategic planning, arts supplies, musical instruments, training for teachers, community partnerships, and the involvement of high-profile artists, actors, and musicians over a two-year period to help increase student engagement, improve school morale and environment, boost parent involvement, and foster creative thinking and innovation.

This session will share details of program implementation, best practices, and lessons learned. Presenters will discuss how outcomes are evaluated as part of a research component led by Booz Allen Hamilton and the University of Chicago. They will also explore the leveraging of public and private funding and the impact of the program on federal and local arts education advocacy and educational stakeholders.