The U.S. Department of Education’s Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program is designed to enable schools and organizations to develop and disseminate comprehensive approaches for integrating the arts into elementary and middle school curricula, strengthening arts instruction in these grade levels, and improving students’ academic performance. Innovative, cohesive models should be based on research and have demonstrated that they effectively integrate standards-based arts education into the core elementary and middle school curriculum; strengthen standards-based arts instruction in these grades; and improve students' academic performance, including their skills in creating, performing, and responding to the arts.
This program must be administered in partnership with a local education agency. The project duration can be up to four years, with the first year used to plan an imbedded evaluation process.
In July of 2006, the U.S. Department of Education announced thirty-four new awards. These FY06 grants support the further development, implementation and expansion of standards-based arts education programs and the integration of arts instruction into the core curriculum. Grants were awarded to both local educational agencies (LEAs) and state and local nonprofit arts organizations that work in partnership with LEAs.
Among previous grants, at least four awards have supported collaborations with orchestras: Houston Independent School District for partnering with the Houston Symphony; Rockford Public Schools for working in partnership with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra; Tucson Unified School District has partnered with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra; and the Brooklyn Philharmonic has received a grant award.
For more information, please check the Federal Register listing under January 14, 2008. Applications are currently available.
The deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply is February 13, 2008 and the deadline for transmittal of applications is March 14, 2008.