Working in partnership with teaching artists, cultural organizations, and Metis Associates evaluators, ESBOCES is bringing performances, museum experiences and residencies to Grades 4 and 5 students, classroom teachers, and specialty teachers in the Patchogue-Medford and South Huntington school districts. In addition to cultural experiences, participating teachers and teaching artists are collaborating to create and execute student-focused projects that integrate 21st century learning through the arts. Students are learning to dance, sing, act, write and develop artwork. They are expanding on their own critical thinking and interpretive abilities, utilizing skills that are transferable to all subject areas. These projects are linked to the New York State Common Core Learning Standards as well as National Learning Standards.
During the 4-year project, participating educators are being given collaborative planning time to practice and model collaborative instructional strategies (ie, lesson planning and co-teaching) as well as reflect on and adjust instructional approaches over time. Multiple Peer-to-Peer professional development sessions as well as annual Summer Institutes offer these teachers an opportunity to acquire the knowledge, tools, materials, and experience to teach arts-integrated lessons as well as learn how to assess educational programs delivered by cultural institutions. The project is also giving local cultural organizations and teaching artists the tools—ie, an understanding of the Common Core State Standards, 21st century skills, and potential educational programming—to connect and develop partnerships with the participating schools.
As the (C3) SQUARED project develops, a web-based "toolkit" comprised of model lessons, assessment tools and protocols, images, and video clips will be publicly accessible via the (C3) SQUARED website. ESBOCES will share the tools for teaching and learning throughout the New York State and national education communities.
Funding for this 4-year project is being provided by the US Department of Education Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) program grant
