Integrating the Arts with Academic Subjects Boosts Student Score (page 3)

As of 2008, 10 Fairfax County schools with a total of 4,767 students were participating in CETA.

At most of the participating schools, CETA has reached “a tipping point,” according to Duma. “A majority of the teachers are integrating the arts with other curriculum on a regular basis,” she said. “Teachers are also collaborating more with each other and especially with the arts specialists at their schools. Student engagement and motivation to learn has risen. There has been a positive impact on test scores overall, but much of the impact of deeper learning is not measured by standardized tests. We are especially noticing that English language learners and special education students benefit even more from arts integration.”

Teachers who are not at one of the CETA schools can bring the benefits of the program to their students by taking one of the courses or workshops led by experienced teaching artists at the Kennedy Center. The center offers about 60 courses and workshops as part of the CETA program to more than 700 teachers from throughout the Washington area.

Teachers from a CETA school typically attend as a team, participating in courses that focus on integrating dance, drama, music, visual arts, poetry and storytelling with language arts, social studies, science and mathematics. CETA artists also come to their classrooms and coach the teachers.

The program continues to evolve and expand. “Our mission and goals have remained the same since the beginning, but adjustments and revisions to the program are made each year based on suggestions from teachers, principals, arts specialists, fine arts coordinators, Kennedy Center staff and teaching artists throughout the Washington metro area,” Duma said.

There is a waiting list of schools interested in joining the program, she added. “Right now, we are at a limit for the number of schools with which we can work. However, we are starting to share with other communities and schools how they can develop a modified CETA program for their schools. The Kennedy Center just hosted a national CETA conference with schools attending from across the country. They will modify the program for their schools so that it can be successful in their local situations.”

The CETA program has certain costs — fees for workshops and courses, compensation for substitutes for the teachers who are attending certain courses, and the price of additional supplies. But Roger Tomhave, the fine arts coordinator for Fairfax County Public Schools, is convinced the program has been “worth every penny” that the Kennedy Center and Fairfax County Public Schools have put into it.

When he visits CETA schools, Tomhave said, the “climate is positive, excited and infectious.” “It’s all about helping students learn. The byproducts are that teachers get re-energized about teaching and schools become collaborative learning places,” he said. “CETA is helping develop 21st-century schools.”