Ingenuity State of the Arts Report 2016-17 Ingenuity_SOTA_2016-17 | Page 13

INTRODUCTION
THE INITIATIVE’S
STRATEGIES
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
DATA
THE CREATIVE SCHOOLS
CERTIFICATION
THE CREATIVE
SCHOOLS FUND
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The Initiative has four interlocking strategies, each of which responds to a
central issue or challenge identified by instructors, community arts partners,
and others during the development of the Plan.
The Initiative envisions developing a solid arts infrastructure in each
CPS school, with each school’s Arts Liaison leading that effort. Arts
Liaisons help drive each school’s budgeting and planning; report progress;
and coordinate curricula, programs, and partnerships. Also important are
peer-to-peer principal and instructor professional development programs
that offer blueprints for school decision-making.
To develop their arts programs, schools must first recognize the existing
infrastructure on which to build. Ingenuity’s artlook ® collects detailed
information on arts instruction in every school. The goal is to identify
student needs for each school, including additional staffing, minutes of
instruction, disciplines taught, and partnerships.
Based on data collected from CPS and through the Creative Schools Survey,
each school is identified along the CSC continuum; that ranking is then
placed on each CPS School Report Card. The Certification’s five categories
create a road map for improving quality and access. The Certification
is a tool to support principals’ decisions to grow arts instruction in
their school.
The Creative Schools Fund provides modest grants directly to schools
based on need. Grants made by the Fund support instructor-designed
arts programs that would otherwise go unfunded. The Fund exclusively
supports programs involving school-based, credentialed arts instructors.
PROGRESS REPORT | 2016–17