The Ford Foundation has awarded a $200,000 grant to Lesley University’s Creative Arts in Learning Division to study the education impact of the school’s Integrated Teaching through the Arts (ITA) Master’s degree program.
Using teacher surveys, focus groups, test scores and class evaluation, the research will allow Lesley to study and assess the value of the innovative program as graduates apply their skills in classrooms across the country.
The grant money, paid over two years, will allow Lesley to design and implement a nation-wide assessment ofthe ITA program, which is offered in 24 states. The assessment will examine teacher growth and skills, as well as student growth. It will then seek to determine the impact that growth and integrated arts teaching has on schools and districts as a whole.
Phase One of the project officially kicked off in November with the research team conducting a literature review on arts integration research studies, projects and methodologies. The Team will assemble a four-person advisory board that will consist of high-profile experts in the field of arts integration and education research An internal advisory board has also been formed. Lesley University’s Provost, Martha McKenna, Associate Provost Gene Diaz and Vice-President of Institutional Research Linda Pursley will provide project input.
A two-year timeline has been developed and includes:
Literature Review Completed
February, 2009
Survey to Alumni Administered
February 2009
Focus groups in Seattle, Las Vegas, South Carolina and New Hampshire
April 2009
Pilot School Participation
August 2009
