After year one of
programming in the Cohort
2 expansion, data does not
look as clearly positive, but
there are promising
pockets that need to be
more deeply investigated:
•Attendance at school events,
including Title reading night,
were up, according to building
leadership.
•Every student in the cohort
either experienced a teaching
artist or an external arts event
during the school year.
• Average daily
attendance rates grew
slightly in all schools
except Harding. Overall
the cohort’s attendance
rate moved from 95.56%
to 95.68%.
• There is no clear data on
Level 2+ behavior
referral rates.
•Enrollment in band and
orchestra in the cohort has
exploded.
Artist Chris Vance, an alum of Oak Park Elementary, works to install a mural for the school.
Photo Credit: Des Moines Public Schools
• Academic growth and proficiency data is erratic (see below).
• Barriers to implementation have manifested at all levels.
• Of 127 teachers surveyed in February of last year, 85% reported
implementing at least arts-enhanced learning strategies in their
classroom, 61.4% reported co-planning with a specialist, 40.9%
reported co-teaching with a specialist, and 75.6% reported
implementing independently. Observations of arts integrated
strategies outside of the classroom were reported by 74% of
respondents.
•Approximately 350 students
were involved in after-school
arts clubs.
What role do visiting artists play in the program - are they very
hands-on or more of a mentor?
Visiting artists can play a number of roles in the learning of both
students and teachers. Our ideal model involves a visiting artist having
a pre-learning collaboration with teachers in which they both identify
elegant fits between the content and the art form, then they plan a cotaught experience, carry out the agreed-upon actions, and finally have
a post-learning conference in which ѡ