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Strengthening Data Systems: Quality

The district seeks to define what quality arts education looks like and improve tools for measuring it. This includes analyzing existing evaluation systems and developing new, arts-specific tools. Annual reports will help guide continuous improvement for schools and educators. CPS will develop systems to measure quality in arts education. This could mirror a similar system to the Creative Schools Certification that currently measures Access.

Strategies:

  1. Analyze the purpose and utility of current district classroom conditions tools (Cultivate and Elevate surveys, 5Essentials Survey, teacher evaluations, Framework for Teaching, Rigor Walks, and other protocols) to determine what is currently being measured in arts classrooms. Develop complementary resources for each of the districtwide classroom evaluation systems, aligned with arts education best practices, for more authentic applications in arts classrooms.
  2. Develop new systems that supplement existing tools in order to holistically analyze school- and district-wide arts education trends in the quality of classroom, educator, and student work.
  3. Create and publish annual analyses that describe the landscape of quality practices. Use those analyses to identify key practice shifts based on that data. Consult with schools and other departments on ways to improve targeted areas of growth, and develop professional learning according to those findings.
  4. Create a proposal, and seek funding for, a research study on the impact of arts education access and quality on the students in Chicago Public Schools. Targeted research should focus on the impact of the developmentally-aligned instructional approaches of Creative Exploration (PreK–2), Arts Integration (3–5), Exploratory Choice (6–8), Artistic Pathways (9–12).

CPS Department of Arts Education

773-553-2170

cpsarts@cps.edu

42 W. Madison St, 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60602