Author Archives: Liane Brouillette

About Liane Brouillette

Liane Brouillette is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of California, Irvine.

Opinion: Pressing State Issue

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It is Time to Restore CA Dance and Theater Credentials

by Malissa Feruzzi-Shriver and Amy Shimshon-Santo, Ph.D.

California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) is considering a landmark reform in Arts Education policy on June 13. At stake is the reinstatement of credentials in dance and theater that have been dormant in California since 1970. This simple and affordable step, supported by education leaders throughout the state, would be catalytic for teaching core subject matter and improving learning outcomes for California students, especially for the underprivileged.

Research confirms the positive impact of the arts on teaching and learning. A recent study by Dr. Liane Brouilette found that arts education increases literacy and numeracy scores on standardized tests – especially for children struggling to master basic skills. Dr. James Catteral’s research shows that students in the lowest socio-economic strata who participate in arts education gain the greatest benefits in terms of academic achievement and civic engagement.

According to California Basic Education System Data (CBEDS), over half of California’s children in public school qualify for Free and Reduced Lunches (FRL), an indicator of low-income. However, over two thirds of Latino children (78%), and 68% of African American children, are eligible for FRL. A mere 16% of students enrolled in visual and performing arts courses at school are low-income (Blueprint for Creative Schools, CA Dept. of Education, 2013).

The lack of access to arts education for public school students is exacerbated by the lack of clear pathways in higher education for teacher preparation and certification in all the arts.

Dance and Theatre are the only two core academic subjects with approved No Child Left Behind Standards that don’t have corresponding California Single Subject Credentials. California is one of only three states in the nation without them.

Recent comparative research by Senator Gloria Romero’s office found that states with dance and theater credentials reported increases in the following areas: demand for the credentials, quality instruction for students, students pursuing the arts in college and career, demand for dance and theater classes in schools, professional status for dance and theater teachers, and teachers who remain in the profession.

Why doesn’t California provide credentials in all core subject areas of instruction? Clues are found in legislative history. In the 1960’s, many teachers in California were certified to teach Dance and Theatre under the Fisher Act of 1961. In 1970, the state’s credentialing regulations were reformed through the Ryan Act. From that time forward, the CTC only offered credentials in Music and Art but revoked Single Subject Credentials in Dance or Theatre.

According to the California Dance Education Association, without such credentials and adequate teacher prep programs in Dance and Theatre, California school districts “are hard-pressed to recruit, contract and retain” highly-qualified dance and theater teacher, and thus, “sustain robust Dance and Theatre programs and fully implement the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Framework and Standards for all students in all arts disciplines.”

California universities are waiting for the CTC to support the credentials so that they can be approved to offer programs for which there is already a demand. If the CTC approves reinstatement of the Dance and Theater credentials, California can move forward to introduce a bill that adapts legislation to include the missing disciplines. Then teachers will be able get the dance and theater jobs that currently go to teachers who earned their credentials outside the state.

As legacy members of CREATE CA (Core Reforms Engaging Arts to Educate), a statewide consortium that aims to eliminate opportunity gaps for access to a quality education for all students, we applaud the CTC for considering reinstatement of the missing credentials. This important step would restore opportunities for teachers and children in accordance with the recommendations outlined in the Blueprint for Creative Schools.

The CTC should support reinstatement of credentials in Dance and Theater. Restoring the missing credentials in these core academic subject areas will increase access to a quality, creative education for all children, and enhanced leadership, excellence, and longevity among California’s teachers.

Spring 2010 ITQ Advisory Board Meeting

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The San Diego Improving Teacher Quality Project in the Visual and Performing Arts will be wrapping up this year by having both teachers AND administrators from YEAR TWO and YEAR ONE sites come together in one grand workshop to evaluate, discuss and share our journey over the past two years. Those schools that are in year two will be encouraged to share their experiences with the year one folks from Knox, Paradise Hills and Jones Elementary Schools as they finish their year of co-teaching with teaching artists and embark upon the task of teaching the VAPA lessons on their own in 2010-11.

We will also begin preparations for the year two folks to expand on the ITQ arts instruction and strategies next year as they find ways to use it in their own curriculum.

Year TWO folks, please be thinking of the following:

1. What will the arts look like in your classroom, at your grade level, and at your site next year?

2. In what capacity will the arts be taught or used?

3. What kind of support will you need for year three of your work?

As we get closer to the date, Denise Lynne will be sending out more information to prepare participants for this day.

Date and Time: Tuesday, June 8, 4:30-6:30 (workshop rate compensation)

Place: TBA (We’re looking for a venue with plenty of room.)

Teaching K-2 Literacy through the Arts

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The Teaching Artist Project, a partnership between the San Diego Unified School District and the University of California, Irvine, uses the arts to boost language skills of K-2 students in 14 schools located in San Diego’s least affluent neighborhoods. Instead of asking children to sit quietly at desks, teachers co-teach 27 arts lessons (9 in theater, 9 in dance, 9 visual art) with teaching artists in their own classrooms. While co-teaching with the teaching artists, the teachers learn the content knowledge, key concepts, and skills of the three arts disciplines. As part of the arts lessons, the children are able to hear, see, respond, and demonstrate what they have learned at the same time. This boosts vocabulary and facility in the use of oral language.

In Year 1 of the program, 180 teachers and 3600 students were served. During Year 2, the school year following the weekly visits with teaching artists, teachers continue to teach the academically rigorous, standards-based arts lessons on their own. Teachers continue to get support, as needed, from San Diego arts resource teachers and teaching artists. Enthusiasm is high as teachers who worked with teaching artists last year approach the end of their first term of teaching the arts on their own. To assist teachers in remembering important aspects of the lessons, video versions of the theater lessons have been made available on-line: http://www.clta.uci.edu/Theatre_1.html

The Teaching Artist Program is funded by an $828,000 Improving Teacher Quality grant administered by the California Postsecondary Education Commission. In 2009-10, three more schools joined the program, bringing the number of schools to 15.

Over a million children who are unfamiliar with English attend California schools. English learners make up a quarter of K-12 students, state-wide; in the San Diego Unified School District 30.2 % of students are English learners. If these students are to achieve to their full potential, they will need direct and frequent interaction with individuals who know the language of instruction well and can provide English learners with accurate feedback.

As budget cuts force class sizes higher, (K-2 class size in San Diego could be as high as 30 next year), one-on-one verbal interactions between teachers and individual pupils become more limited. Arts activities that allow for the use of nonverbal communication in combination with verbal interactions can be an effective way for teachers to directly interact with many children at once, providing feedback and building vocabulary.

Please see photos on the following pages. For more information please call:

Denise Lynne, Coordinator
ITQ Teaching Artist Program
Phone: 858-539-5350
E-mail: dlynne@sandi.net

Liane Brouillette, Principal Investigator
ITQ Teaching Artist Program
Phone: 949-824-4317