History
The Arts Impact program was developed in response to a survey conducted by the Cultural Council of Greater Tacoma in 1997, which showed that only 21% of Pierce County teachers felt qualified to teach the arts. The Cultural Council saw a community-wide need for teacher training in the arts.
In 1999, Arts Impact was launched in partnership with the Cultural Council of Greater Tacoma, Tacoma Art Museum, and the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts to train elementary teachers in Pierce County, Washington.
In 2002, Arts Impact joined Puget Sound Educational Service District and expanded its reach to include King County. Partners now also include Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Children's Theatre, and University of Washington World Series.
In 2009-2010, Washington State began requiring students to meet Essential Academic Learning Requirements in the Arts, making Arts Impact training even more vital for teachers.
Over the past twelve years, Arts Impact has trained 494 teachers, from 18 districts and 77 schools, impacting over 57,460 students. Fifteen of those schools participated in a whole school or whole district model.
Arts Impact is the recipient of five U.S. Department of Education grants to research the impact of arts-infused learning on student achievement and to develop and disseminate best practices in arts education. It is also featured in a case study by the U.S. Department of Education of programs with promising practices for replication in other sites.