// Resources
Strengthen your teaching practices
Whether you’re a parent, student, teacher, artist, administrator or afterschool coordinator, you have a vital role to play in bringing art to your community.
The Workshop’s arts education publications can help you link the performing arts directly with academic subjects in the classroom, strengthen your teaching practice, and foster critical thinking in your students.
Department of Education Reports
Artists-in-Schools, California Arts Council 2001-2003
For two years, the Workshop participated in an evaluation project run by the California Arts Council. The goals of this project were to identify potentially “at-risk” student populations and then evaluate the effects of a Creative Movement or Theatre residency in the classroom. Areas for student improvement were based on the Workshop’s Cycle of Artistic Inquiry which seeks to demonstrate the process of critical thinking through arts learning. The following reports deal with the findings of this project at three separate locations: The Paul Robeson & Diego Rivera Academy, John Muir Elementary, and Mission Education Center.
- First-Year Demonstration Project Report for the CAC (2001-02)
- Second-Year Demonstration Project Report for the CAC (2002-03)
During the 2001-2002 year of programming, Performing Arts Workshop engaged Richard Siegesmund, an arts education researcher and current professor at the University of Georgia, to evaluate the Artists-in-Schools program. From this relationship, the Workshop gained invaluable knowledge about its methodology and practice, including the Cycle of Artistic Inquiry – a visual representation of the Workshop’s methodology, as well as numerous recommendations to strengthen the program.
Artists-in-Schools, U.S. Department of Education 2003-2006
Over the course of three years, Performing Arts Workshop and evaluators measured five goals of the Workshop’s Artists-in-Schools program. These goals were: to improve student critical thinking in the arts, to use the arts to positively impact academic performance, to identify problems in teaching at-risk youth, to use the arts to develop pro-social behavior, and to institutionalize arts and arts education in school settings to increase sustainability. The ability of the Artists-in-Schools program to meet these goals is examined through a quasi-experimental, mixed-method research design in the following reports.
- AIS First-Year Annual Evaluation Report for the U.S. Dept. of Education (2003-04)
- First-Year Executive Summary for the U.S. Dept. of Education (2003-04)
- AIS Second-Year Annual Evaluation Report for the U.S. Dept. of Education (2004-05)
- Second-Year Executive Summary for the U.S. Dept. of Education (2004-05)
- AIS Third-Year Final Evaluation Report for the U.S. Dept. of Education (2005-06)
The ARISE Project, U.S. Department of Education 2006-2010
Arts Residency Interventions in Special Education (ARISE) was a federally-funded research project led by Performing Arts Workshop with five San Francisco Unified School District elementary schools. The project provided year-long Theatre or Creative Movement residencies to over 1,000 3rd-5th grade students in general and special education classrooms. Key findings from the research demonstrate improved test scores, reduced absenteeism, and growth of critical thinking skills among students who participated in the project. Follow the links below to read our Executive Summary and full reports.
- ARISE Project 2008 Annual Evaluation Report
- ARISE Project 2009 Annual Evaluation Report
- ARISE Project 2010 Final Evaluation Report
- ARISE Executive Summary 2010
- ARISE Summary Report
PACT-21, U.S. Department of Education 2010-2014
Performing Arts Workshop has been awarded a 4-year Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant from the U.S. Department of Education to explore how our Artists-in-Schools program supports the development of 21st Century skills. We are thrilled to have our work recognized for a third time at the federal level and look forward to sharing our results from our forthcoming evaluation. PACT-21 stands for Performing Arts Create Tools for 21st Century Learning. To read more about PACT-21 please download the document below. Be on the look out for our first report in Spring of 2012.