Young Audiences, Inc

Young Audiences, Inc.

Arts for Learning Lessons

The Program

Arts for Learning Lessons (A4L Lessons) © is a ground-breaking supplemental literacy program that blends the creativity and discipline of the arts with learning science to raise student achievement in reading and writing and to develop skills for learning and life. Working with a design team from the University of Washington led by learning scientist Dr. John Bransford, Young Audiences(YA) developed five Units of A4L Lessons. Each Unit includes 9-12 hours of sequential, cumulative lessons anchored in at least one well-recognized literary work and focused on a particular art form (theater, visual art, music, or dance). Studentswork back and forth in an integrated manner between literacy and arts as they strengthen their creative and critical thinking skills, learn about and create in each art form, andbuild higher-level literacy skillsaligned with state and local standards, such as determining point of view,making inferences, and summarizing. The arts-integrated curriculum educates the whole child, developing students’ metacognitive skills (“learning how to learn”) andfostering skills and dispositions associated with active, engaged learning. The program emphasizes the practice of “learning and life” skills,such asproblem solving, planning, communication, and collaboration. Initially designed for use by grade 3-6 classroom teachers, the Units have been adapted by YA and collaborating teachers for grades 1-2 and grades 7-8, supporting whole school participation and coordination across grades. The Units also may be implemented in afterschool and summer programs.

While A4L Units are designed for delivery by classroom teachers, YA’s A4L Residenciesare delivered by trained teaching artists in cooperation with the classroom teacher. Each Residency is text-based and consists offive or more 45-55-minute sessions that focus on student outcomes in literacy and the arts. Residencies are either 1) aligned with the A4L Units for grades 1-8, or 2) inspired by the Emmy award-winning PBS series Between the Lions®(BTL), created by WGBH and Sirius Thinking, Ltd.,forchildren ages 4-7 (pre-K to grade 2). The BTL Residenciesuse arts-based activities, incorporating brief segments ofBTL episodes to bring the show’s curriculum of phonemic awareness and phonics to life while building vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency in reading. All Residencies include a sequence of learning stages that foster creativity: Explore (brainstorm, experiment), Organize (select, sequence, edit), Produce (rehearse, revise, assemble), Present (inform, perform or present artwork), and Reflect/Celebrate (affirm, assess).

A common learning framework provides connections within and among A4L Units and Residencies. This framework is grounded in the learning science of How People Learn (HPL), published by The National Research Council with Dr. Bransford’s leadership. A4L utilizes carefully selected arts integration techniques that naturally enhance, or “leverage,” students’ literacy learning, helping them acquire deeper understanding and facility with challenging literacy concepts and skills for thinking and working. Through cycles of teacher-led instruction, independent practice, reflection, self-evaluation, and revision,studentstake on increased responsibility for their own learning and gain valuable strategies for “learning how to learn.” Units and Residencies culminate in a “perform and inform” session, in which studentspresentand explain their artwork related to their literacy learningto an invited audience.

A team of local YA program staff and a reading specialist provide teachers at least 3 hours of professional development training and follow-up for each A4L Unit, as well as a Teacher’s Guide, student workbook, and embedded assessments. Pre and post assessments for each Unit are used in selected sites participating in an external evaluation. Those assessments may become available for local use after further field testing. Professional development for A4L Residencies includes preparation for the teaching artist and a 1-2-hour planning session with the classroom teacher. Classroom teachers and teaching artists may receive guidance during implementation.

Research Results

2006-2007: In fall 2006, four districts in New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas piloted A4L Units and took part in an independent evaluation conducted by WestEd, a national leader in education research. Analysis of pre/post tests taken by 467 A4L students and 228 comparison students showed that in every district and grade, A4L students achieved greater gains on tests of literacy skills and understanding than comparison students. A4L student responses to the Lessons were highly positive, particularly their engagement in learning activities and enthusiasm shown for work in the arts.WestEd observed that A4L’s “results are impressive when compared with the outcomes of other curriculum and instruction [we] have studied.”

2007-2008: The positive results of 2006 led to rapid expansion of Arts for Learning in 2007. Between September 2007 and June 2008, more than 5,300 students in 14 school districts across the country received A4L Units or Residencies. Field tests of Between the Lions Residencies began in December 2007 and continued in two more sites through spring 2008. In fall 2007 and spring 2008, Young Audiences commissioned twoadditional independent studies by WestEd to assess the learning impact of A4L Units.These studies of over 2,000 students in 8 participating districts found that students experiencing A4L Lessons showed a consistent pattern of statistically significant improvement on literacy assessments related to state and local standards. The studies again found that A4L students showed significantly greater literacy learning than students in comparison groups receiving only their standard literacy curriculum. A4L students again exhibited greater interest and engagement in A4L Lessons compared to their regular literacy curriculum.

2008-2009: Research studies were conducted across three implementation sites, Hillsboro, Oregon, Roanoke, Virginia, and Tyler, Texas. The focus was on comparative effects of strength of treatment, with an additional ethnographic study being conducted in Tyler, TX to determine the effectiveness of the program with students across different conditions, including ELL. Results reported by WestEd showed that the Arts for Learning (A4L) Lessons program improves student literacy learning, with greater strength of treatment contributing positively to student literacy gains. Students reading below grade level showed greater gains than students above or on grade level. Students again showed engagement and interest in Arts for Learning Lessons, claiming that the A4L Lessons were easier and more interesting than regular reading instruction, a finding that is particularly significant when paired with the finding that students participating in A4L Lessons also showed greater gains in literacy skills. Teacher attitudes toward A4L Lessons Units, and more broadly towards arts-integrated instruction, were positive and fidelity of implementation of A4L Lessons Units was very good.

In 2009-2010 the A4L Lessons program is being expanded to reach thousands of students with Units and Residencies in 18 YA Affiliate sites.