Teacher Training: Arts as Literacy
U.S. Department of Education
Professional Development for Arts Educators: 2008-2011
Teacher Training: Arts as Literacy (TTAL) is a joint project with Seattle Public Schools in collaboration with local arts organizations. The project expands arts education in the Seattle School District, supports literacy learning, and develops a district-wide professional development model.
Project Design
TTAL trains teacher leader teams from four elementary schools with free and reduced lunch percentages of 50% or higher. The project expands Arts Impact’s existing arts/literacy infused lessons to support the Seattle Public Schools “Balanced Literacy” initiative. The project brings teachers together in learning communities to share knowledge within their buildings. A project leadership team comprised of Arts Impact and Seattle School District curriculum specialists collaborates to develop a professional development model for the district.
Quantitative and qualitative data is collected to compare integration of arts education into the core curriculum, growth in teacher practice, and student academic achievement in the arts and writing. Instruments include:
- Autonomy Rubric for Teachers (PDF, 200KB)
- TTAL Family Survey (Word, 52KB)
- TTAL Post Institute Survey (Word, 32KB)
- Performance-Based Assessments: Specific criteria-based performance assessments are included in each lesson and can be found in the Arts Impact lesson database.
- Measurements of Student Progress: Information about the Washington State Assessments, Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) Tests, can be found on the OSPI website.
Project Goals
- Expand standards-based arts education in Seattle Public Schools
- Strengthen and build capacity of teachers and schools to deliver standards-based arts education
- Integrate standards-based arts instruction with literacy
- Create a sustainable and replicable model of professional development in the arts and arts-infused education for Seattle Public Schools
Professional Development Components
- Teacher teams (one teacher per K-5 grade level) in four schools
- Two years of direct professional development: 52 total hours of instruction per year include:
- Experiential Summer Institute: 30 hours per year
- Classroom mentorship:10 hours per year
- Cultural study trip to museum exhibition, dance or theater performance
- Supplementary Workshops: 6 hours per year
- Learning Communities: 6 hours per year
- 52 clock hours or 4 graduate credits from Seattle Pacific University per year
Curriculum
TTAL Scope and Sequence - Year 1 (128KB)
TTAL Scope and Sequence - Year 2 (56KB)
- Year 1 focus: arts-infused concepts in dance, theater, visual arts with descriptive language in narrative writing; infused processes of generating ideas, making meaning, and self-reflection
- Year 2 focus: arts-infused concepts in dance, theater, visual arts with comprehension and story sequence in reading; infused processes of generating ideas, making meaning, and self-reflection
Resources
- Two Curriculum Notebooks: arts-infused writing lessons and arts-infused reading lessons
- Artworks from local museums as object-based references of concepts in each visual arts lesson and on disc
- Professional performances at partnering theaters and performing arts centers
- Museum tours customized to complement TTAL lessons
- Teacher-written lesson plans on disc
- Documented, district-wide professional development plan
- Web-based lesson plan database available after project completion in 2011
Report
- 2009-10 TTAL Annual Report (PDF, 628 KB)