#collaborative effect

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Meeting Recap | DC Collaborative Annual Membership Meeting: Launching DC Co-lab

Submitted by: Conrad Shartel, DC Collaborative Education Programs Intern Date: 11/16/2021

Meeting Summary

On Wednesday, November 10, 50 members and collaborators attended the DC Collaborative's Annual Membership Meeting: Launching DC Co-lab. DC Co-lab, the DC Collaborative’s Community Collaboration and Data Initiatives platform, uses data as a tool to garner feedback about programs, create conversations between community stakeholders, and monitor and demonstrate the impact of our programs in the DC area.

The meeting began with an DC Collaborative welcome and agenda review from DC Collaborative Executive Director Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe. The agenda moved to the Board of Directors Governance segment where Barbara Stauffer, President of the Board of Directors, led participants through voting on new Board members and officers. This portion of the meeting concluded with a special thank you to a Linda Harper (previous president), Greg McGruder (previous Vice President) and Terry Thomas (previous secretary) who are stepping off the Board at the end of their terms.

A financial and programmatic highlight was shared and then Tracey Wyton detailed the evolution of the DC Collaborative's Community Collaboration & Data Initiatives. Wendy Wang Pisa, DC Collaborative's Community Engagement Manager then led participants through a live registration and led a virtual tour of the DC Co-lab. Participants got to hear from Dr. Danielle Boyce, DC Collaborative's Data Science Advisor, about her work with the DC Collaborative and the data webinar series presented by DC Collaborative's Assessment and Evaluation Subcommittee.

Mary Lambert of DCPS Arts presented findings from DCPS arts' recent data analytics, completed in partnership with the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation and presented on how best to partner with DCPS Arts.

The meeting concluded Anita Doutt, DC Collaborative Board of Directors Vice President reviewing meeting next steps and resources (below) and adjourning the meeting.

Meeting Next Steps and Resources

Register on DC Co-lab

Complete the Surveys and Peruse the Platform

Register for the Webinar: How to be a Data-Driven Leader with Dr. Data Diva Danielle!

Sign up for DC Co-lab Committees

View Meeting Handouts/ Resources

Meeting Detail

Board of Directors Updates

The board welcomed 2 new members to the team during this meeting: Laure Sprinkle Byerly of KPMG and Kathryn Keane of National Geographic. The vote was passed during the meeting, making the pair officially on the board for the DC Collaborative. The slate of officers was also renewed by vote, and is now made up of: Barbara Stauffer (National Museum of National History- Smithsonian Institution) as President, Anita Doutt (Finance and Audit Professional) as Vice President, Kent Withycombe (The Washington Lawyers' Committee) as Secretary, and Laure Sprinkle Byerly (KPMG) as Treasurer. DC Collaborative is excited to welcome these new members to the Board, and the Slate of Officers. Linda Harper, Greg McGruder, and Terry Thomas have been pillars of our community and of DC Collaborative, and while we are sad to see them go, we are glad to have had the opportunity to work with them for 9+ years.

Financial and Programmatic Updates

This section summarizes some statistics regarding our interactions with schools in the DC area. View the Report.

DC Co-Lab: DC Collaborative's Community Collaboration and Data Initiatives, DCColab.org

Tracey Alperstein Wyton, Deputy Director, introduced DC Co-lab by sharing that Community Collaboration is and always has been the core of the DC Collaborative's mission. The DC Collaborative was formed out of the community's need- equitable access and high quality arts/ humanities education for students in the public education system. Tracey emphasized that students are at the center of are work and we serve the community by providing them high quality resources with equity. She also shared that the DC Co-lab was formed out of feedback from members, educators, other community stakeholders regarding the need to frame our work better and provide more ease when collecting data and garnering feedback.

Community Engagement Manager, Wendy Wang Pisa then showcased DC Co-lab and defined its purpose:

providing a platform for our community to garner feedback

initiating meaningful conversations

measuring reach, engagement, and impact of our community's learning opportunities

enhancing strategic planning with data

bridging further collaboration and partnerships based on our shared mission

Participants registered live on the platform as she walked them platform's features. Wendy described in detail the "Community Collaboration Portal", where community members can submit data, view upcoming events, take part in DC Co-lab Committee work, and communicate their ideas through platform proposals.

Other features of the platform include:

"Who We Are" segment of the site describing the DC Collaborative as an organization and its role in the community and a glossary of terms.

"House of Data" showcasing data vizzes, examples of data collected, and other data infographics and analytics.

"Connect with Us" page wherein community members can sign up for committees and to receive communications

Webinar: How to be a Data-Driven Leader with Dr. Data Diva Danielle

Wendy Wang Pisa introduce Dr. Danielle Boyce as the DC Collaborative's new Data Science Advisor. Dr, Boyce is a researcher, public speaker, and patient advocate. Her work is featured in multiple scientific journals, and her kids book is used in children’s hospitals across the country.

Please join us!

Dr. Data Diva Danielle is hosting a webinar series presented by the DC Collaborative's Assessment/ Evaluation Subcommittee. The first webinar taking place December 4, at 1 PM, is entitled "How to be a Data-Driven Leader with Dr. Data Diva Danielle". The webinar will entail how to people are already utilizing data to problem solve and how organizations can utilize data in storytelling. Anyone who wants to become data-driven in their work or to understand data better should attend! RSVP Today

The second program in the series is a BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Data) Workshop, where participants can get feedback and help understanding their data from actual case studies. This will take place on February 2, 2022 and registration will be announced soon!

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DC Collaborative and Education Programs Manager, Trés McMichael Featured

Cross Post: Today at Elon Tres McMichael ’19 couples arts with education in role at the D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative By Leila Jackson '22, student July 10, 2020

Following a fellowship in Washington, D.C., Tres McMichael ’19 has been able to bring his love for the arts and education together.

A double major in music theatre and arts administration with minors in leadership studies, business administration and African and African American studies, McMichael started his role at the D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative as the education programs manager in February. The D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative in a nonprofit organization that works with cultural organizations in the Washington metro area. The nonprofit connects these organizations to the district’s public and public charter schools to provide arts and humanities programming at little or no cost. In his role merging the arts with education, McMichael works closely with member organizations to make sure their programming is high quality.

The organization was created because many of the students who were taking advantage of arts educational programming in Washington were not actually from the city.

“Our organization was formed out of that idea that all students in the District of Columbia should have access to the arts and humanities here, “McMichael said. “We’re unique in the sense that we work with D.C.- specific students and D.C.-specific arts organizations.”

The arts have always been important to McMichael. He sang in his church choir, attended opera and theater camp, and went to arts-focused magnet programs in middle and high school.

“For me, the arts have always been coupled with education and I know how important that was for my development,” he said. “I think that I come to my organization at a place where I realized that my normal was not everyone else’s normal.”

The coronavirus pandemic has upended his new role, but McMichael and the organization have adapted. Normally they reach out to educators so students can have in-person experiences, like going to a museum.

“We are in the business, essentially, of field trips,” McMichael said. “Once COVID-19 happened it was like, well, schools are not happening, the museums are closed, the theaters are dark.”

To try to keep arts and humanities education continuing, McMichael developed a distance-learning resource database that is being shared with teachers and families. The database has a collection of over 120 arts and humanities resources and is designed for pre-K students to high school seniors.

“Even if field trips aren’t happening, some type of arts and humanities education still needs to happen because we know that when things become complicated with education, whether it’s funding or anything, the arts are always the first to be rolled back,” McMichael said. “We wanted to make sure that even at home, whatever happens moving forward, that there’s still some place where students can go and have some type of arts education.”

For families who don’t have ready access to technology, the Collaborative has worked on making files such as lesson plans downloadable so they can possibly be printed at home or so schools can deliver them to students. The organization is also exploring options for virtual field trips.

McMichael’s lifelong passion for the arts and the goal to make experiences in the arts easily available to every student, drives his work.

“I knew that growing up everyone else didn’t get an opportunity to go see operas, everyone else didn’t have an opportunity to go to art museums, or ballets or concerts, all of these things that I was fortunate enough to have,” he said. “Part of my life’s mission is to make what was my normal, a readily accessible opportunity for everyone else for who it’s not.”

His Elon experience with being a leadership fellow and having experience in both the performing and business side of the arts helped him navigate being a young professional, McMichael said.

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Resources: Fall Forecasting Series w/ DCPS Arts

On Tuesday, June 16, DC Collaborative and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities kicked off its Fall Forecasting Series and hosted a conversation with approximately 90 community-based arts and humanities education institutions and practitioners to help our community directly engage and support the needs of the DCPS Arts team in the upcoming school year.

Mary Lambert, DCPS Arts Director and DC Collaborative board member, presented a brief and informative overview of the DCPS Arts Curriculum, discussed assumptions for learning in the Fall and spoke to updates and programming supports that will be needed.

Meeting Resources:

Meeting Recording

PowerPoint

DCPS Framework for Arts Learning Curriculum Guide

DCPS Arts Curricular Support Signup

OSSE Guidelines for Reopening

DCPS Arts Showcase

Sign up for the CAH Grant Workshop 6/17 at 10 AM

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DC Collaborative Virtual Convening Digest: May 6, 7, 12

Submitted by: Clarissa Heartsfield, School Partnerships Manager and Tracey Wyton, Deputy Director, Community Engagement 5/14/2020

The DC Collaborative is committed to continuing virtual convenings in response to COVID-19 on weekdays at 11 AM. We are no longer holding convenings every single day but reserve the spot for others to host, if interested! Those who would like to lead a session can sign up here.

Meeting Resources

DC Collaborative Virtual Convening Archive (View recordings here.)

Suggest a topic or sign up to lead a future convening 

National Children’s Museum Community of Practice PowerPoint

National Children’s Museum Website

Regie Cabico Original Poems in response to COVID-19

Marcia Daft’s Website- MovingThroughMath.com

Marcia Daft Distance Learning E-Announcement

Affordable video editing software for those recording distance learning videos from home- Screencast-O-Matic

Wednesday, 5/6: Equity/ Access Planning Convening

On Wednesday, 5/6, at 11 AM Clarissa Hearsfield led an Equity/ Access Committee meeting with several members of the community. This session was used as a planning sessions for future covenings, and the group discussed several topics that they would be interested in learning about in future sessions, including: learning more about working with students experiencing homelessness, prioritizing student mental health, engaging Parent Teacher Organizations and addressing the lack of closure (of the school year) with students. Stay tuned for future sessions!

Have an idea for a future equity conversation, want to co-host or suggest guests? Reach out to Clarissa Heartsfield at [email protected].

Thursday, 5/7: Community of Practice with National Children’s Museum

The DC Collaborative was pleased to host the National Children’s Museum on their Daily Virtual Convening on May 7! The National Children’s Museum team discussed how they pivoted from their February 2020 reopening to generating online STEM content for their daily STEAMwork video series and forthcoming virtual field trips. Staff shared their collaborative (a word we like!) and creative approach and the nuts and bolts of their processes! Developing thematic arches over the daily video content and streamlining an ideal production schedule has assisted them in making high quality content more quickly.

The fact that their museum was only open for 17 days prior to shutting down due to the pandemic, makes this an even more interesting case study. This is in no doubt due to the National Children’s Museum team and their commitment to making their museum accessible for families with children ages 0-12, even when its physical doors are closed to the public. Check out their online programming here.

Their detailed PowerPoint is full of resources and links to their online content.

Have followup questions? Contact: Barbara Stemler- [email protected] Christina Hernandez- [email protected]

Thursday, 5/7 4 PM: #TYTeacher Happy Hour

In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week the DC Collaborative hosted a Music Therapy session and Happy Hour for school and community-based educators. Amanda Rosado, Board-certified Music Therapist opened the floor for educators to share their challenges and resources that they were using for their own self care. After that she led a tension and release exercise. Subsequently, the group sipped their favorite beverages and discussed what they were looking forward to quarantine. The evening ended with Regie Cabico performing one of his poems for us. Next happy hour- Regie will host a writing workshop! Stay tuned for that event! View the poems that Regie shared here. 

Amanda Rosado’s Bio: Amanda is a board-certified music therapist with a passion and focus in serving the mental health community. Amanda received her Bachelor’s Degree at Shenandoah University in 2009, and her Master’s Degree of Music Therapy in 2018. Amanda has been practicing for ten years, providing trauma-informed, person-centered music therapy services for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental health needs. Amanda has had opportunities to work with these individuals in inpatient, residential, and outpatient care. She has also conducted research examining experiences of music therapy for adolescents in inpatient care, which has been peer-reviewed and published in Music Therapy Perspectives. Amanda is passionate about advocating for music therapy in mental health care, with experience in providing in-services for the community and being featured in CBS local news about her work in the Baltimore area.

Contact Amanda: [email protected] 

Tuesday, 5/12: Teaching Artist/ Practitioner Program Critique

On Tuesday, 5/12 Sylvia Zwi and Marcia Daft joined us to share their Distance Learning videos. Sylvia shared highlights from a few home-produced videos and Marcia shared a professionally edited video production called Caterpillar to Butterfly that was developed pre-COVID-19.

Sylvia explained the challenges and of providing asynchronous learning opportunities for her students. She was overwhelmed that she and the other educators in her school became producers, editors and the performers overnight. In the beginning, it took her a whole week to make an 11 minute video. Sylvia recommended the video editing software- Screencast-O-Matic

Marcia Daft showed participants “Caterpillar to Butterfly” which was produced in 2009-2010, for homeschool parents and educators facilitating programs for students aged 4-8. Marcia has generously put up the resource on her website (and in her e-announcement) for free through the end of the school year for access to all community- and school based educators. The content is broken into chapters:

how to set up the at home/ classroom learning space,

learning science content,

music and movement,

drawing story maps activity,

performance.

Sylvia, Marcia and the other teaching artist participants discussed strategies to keep the videos engaging for children, including having the students follow examples of other children and utilizing the video as a starting point and incorporating pieces of the video into teaching. The group also discussed the challenges of not being affiliated with an organization when producing Distance Learning content, including expense, production time and understanding of the technology.

Sylvia Zwi Bio: Sylvia is a firm believer that the arts are intrinsic to our humanity and is committed to its transformative power. A native of Brazil, she has worked with institutions dedicated to the arts, arts education and teaching through the arts for the past 34 years. Sylvia is currently Dean and Director, Early Childhood Arts and Professional Development at Sitar Arts Center as well as Teacher, Teaching Artist and Arts Integration Coach with Sitar Arts Center, The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, Inner-City Inner -Child, and District of Columbia Public Schools. Sylvia’s past engagements also include schools such as Stecher and Horowitz School of Music and Woodmere Academy in New York and institutions such as Levine Music (The Selma Levine School of Music), Imagination Stage (Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts) and Choral Arts Society in the Greater Washington Area. Sylvia is co-founder of “Cultural Remittances,” an initiative which aims cultural empowerment through information, cultural arts’ exchange, health education and financial literacy. Sylvia is also founder of Coaching Through Practice: Perfecting the Art of Learning and Teaching, LLC

Marcia Daft Bio: Marcia Daft is the Founder of Moving Through Math and Teaching the Music of Language arts integration programs for STEAM education. She produces award-winning children’s books, instructional materials, and videos that bring arts-integrated learning to life in the classroom. Marcia is a national workshop presenter for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She has traveled nationally and internationally as a Master Artist with the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. Her unique teaching methods have been energizing classrooms, performing arts centers, and school districts across the United States for over twenty-five years. Ms. Daft has developed museum exhibitions and educational programs for the Smithsonian Institution. She has written more than twenty children’s educational booklets with CD’s for The Smithsonian Institution and the National Symphony Orchestra.

Read more about the DC Collaborative’s Virtual Convenings here.

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DC Collaborative Zoom Chat Digest: Week of 4/20

Submitted by Kelsey Schultz, Membership and Collective Impact Intern, DC Collaborative; Clarissa Heartsfield, School Programs Manager, DC Collaborative April 24, 2020

Meeting Resources

DC Collaborative Virtual Convening Archive (View video archives of the meetings here.)

DCPS YouTube Channel

Kid Pan Alley: Songwriting and Concerts for kids

Ford’s Theatre Digital Resources

Community of Practice Zoom Chat Links Shared

National Portrait Gallery Classroom Resources

National Portrait Gallery Distance Learning Resources

National Portrait Gallery Teacher YouTube Playlist

National Portrait Gallery Digital Workshops

Smithsonian Learning Lab

Distance Learning Lab (includes resources tied to DCPS Curricular Pacing Guides)

How to Make your Virtual Meetings and Events Accessible

Capacity Interactive Webinar (Self Care)

SGN Network (SelfCare)

Arts Education Update with Mary Lambert

This past Monday we had the pleasure of having Mary Lambert from DCPS Art start off our week strong with an awesome update and dialogue. She announced the new May 29th closing date for DCPS and mentioned the potentiality of schools opening 3 weeks early coming out of summer. They are working on creating content for weeks 8 and 9 of distance learning. If you wish to view their YouTube classes that have been posted for weeks 4 and 5 click here. In our Q&A portion of the meeting, Ingrid Zimmer from Inner City Inner Child asked about the best way to get content to students and families. Mary said that YouTube has had the most success.

Additionally, Paul Reisler from Kid Pan Alley gave some awesome resources including info on songwriting and concerts for kids. If you wish to reach out to Paul contact him at [email protected].  Ford's Theatre shared some of their current digital resources here. To view the rest of the resources shared in Monday’s meeting look to the resource links above.

 Tuesday’s Self-Care Open Forum

Among having a successful meeting discussing the stresses of the current news and how to balance staying informed and taking care of one’s mental health, the group was able to begin brainstorming an amazing potential campaign for teacher appreciation week. From partnering with a visa or credit card company to providing gift cards supporting small businesses and giving them to teachers to a window hashtag campaign encouraging students and families alike to post art in their windows to thank teachers. We even brought up the possibility of reaching out to John Krasinski and his Some Good News Channel to potentially gain national coverage. Big ideas were thrown out all with the common goal of thanking our teachers during this stressful and discouraging time. If you would like to help make these big ideas a reality just email [email protected] for more information.

Practitioner Program Critique

What a fun meeting! We had the absolute pleasure of witnessing some great Teaching Artists in action. Becky Lallende began the demos leading us through a dance through the forest of created by our imagination. Next Ms. Magdelena gave us an awesome Flamenco Dance tutorial. Melissa took us on a hunt for her sneaky puppet friend, Shuchi got us up on our feet with an amazing Bollywood dance session, and lastly Katie Macyshyn brought some much needed art and education into our lives teaching about ant colonies as we got to create one from household art supplies.

At the end though we ran low on time we were able to get some great critique and feedback for our teaching artists including an appreciation for the new consistency in encouraging students to wash their hands and drink lots of water. It was an absolute treat of a ZoomChat!

Community of Practice

Oh boy, did we have a ZoomChat for you! Jocelyn Kho from the National Portrait Gallery and Tess Porter from the Smithsonian Learning Lab gave us some awesome resources to take advantage of during this time of social distancing.

Jocelyn included in her presentation a look into NPG’s Classroom Resources, Distance Learning Page, Teacher YouTube Playlist, as wells as digital workshops, and their latest hashtag campaign #ColorOurCollections among other things.

Tess shared the three sections she was really excited about on the Smithsonian Learning Lab Website. The Discover section provides resources such as artwork, artifacts, primary documents, and lesson plans compiled by all the Smithsonian institutions and educators. The create section allows anyone to create a Collection. A collection is an assortment of the documents, artwork, videos you can find on a similar topic. This collection can include outside materials from your personal computer, YouTube or other institutions. Next is share; share your creation with others whether it be a classroom, a colleague, your students, or for your personal use. You can also embed a collection on your own website.

For a full list of the links provided for both Jocelyn’s and Tess’s presentations click here. To contact Jocelyn or Tess for more information you can reach them via their emails: [email protected] & [email protected].

Equity/ Access

During this conversation, the DC Collaborative team opened the floor for the community to talk about their challenges and successes with Distance Learning. The group mainly focused on the digital divide and the different ways it impacts families and students. The group stressed the importance of keeping live streams and video conferences accessible by using platforms which support live captioning. In addition, it was brought to our attention that there are many students who have gone "missing" as teachers have not been able to get in contact with their parents. The group brainstormed different approaches to work with community based organizations as a means to reach these students and parents. Lastly, we segued into a brief conversation about the importance of self-care and self-preservation. Articles about How to Make your Virtual Meetings and Events Accessible as well as self care resources can be found in the meeting resources above.

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DC Collaborative Zoom Chat Digest: Week of 4/13

Submitted by: Kelsey Schultz, DC Collaborative Programming and Collective Impact Intern; Clarissa Heartsfield, DC Collaborative, School Partnerships Manager April 17, 2020

Meeting Resources

Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic

Books for the pre-K crowd: https://www.dclibrary.org/booksfrombirth, https://www.loc.gov/nls/braille-audio-reading-materials/bard-access/

Article on EverydayDC

Special Education Resources discussed in the 4/17/20 Equity Zoom Chat

DC Collaborative Distance Learning Resource Database

DC Collaborative Website

Virtual Convenings Archive, includes recordings of each session

Monday, 4/13/20: Arts Education Update from DCPS Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

This Monday we started off the week strong with David and Mary’s updates on the DC Commission and DCPS. The DC Commission is going through Interim Reports for the General Operating Service Grants. It’s not too late to turn in your organizations reports! David also verified the information about the NEA grants and how 40% of the funds are being distributed to the states but you can still apply directly to the NEA if you have received funds from them after 2017.

Mary and her team are chugging along and now adding video content to their distance learning curriculum. They are also encouraging anyone with video content to contact Mary especially if you have any dance or theater learning content. DCPC is struggling with ensuring that kids have the proper art supplies and had put in a proposal for funds to do so but the supplies had ran out before they could get the proposal in.

The community participants had a lot of good suggestions and discussion around the possibility of bringing books more present into the curriculum. Some of our partners even provided some great resources you can check out today!

Books for the pre-K crowd:

https://www.dclibrary.org/booksfrombirth

https://www.loc.gov/nls/braille-audio-reading-materials/bard-access/

Article on EverydayDC: https://pulitzercenter.org/blog/fourth-annual-everyday-dc-exhibit-highlights-dc-middle-schoolers-narratives 

Tuesday, 4/14/2020: Tech Tuesday with Uncle Devin

Uncle Devin from The Uncle Devin Show joined us on Tuesday to give us a little insight into the benefits of technology and distance learning. Learning from trial and error, he gave us some equipment recommendations he’s found user friendly and efficient which are provided below. 

Some of the tips he gave include:

Don’t underestimate the power of the iPhone. Uncle Devin has shot most of his videos with an iPhone and with a little bit of editing can look professional. Also, when you are recording with an iPhone shoot horizontally versus vertically. You won’t look like you shot with a phone at all!

Some specific equipment tips: 

When buying equipment, you don’t need to get the super expensive stuff for good quality. Uncle Devin suggested a Focusrite Scarlett Solo Studio Pack (3rd Gen) which in total costs around $250 for a mic, and interface with two inputs, headphones, and an XLR cable. Add in a converter to plug it directly into your iPhone you have everything you need to get great sound quality from your iPhone video. 

Some software to boost your video:

Uncle Devin also suggested www.vyond.com to add some fun animation to your videos as well.

After such a successful session with Uncle Devin the group determined to go out and start some awesome tech projects and bring them back next Tuesday to show the group for feedback. Hence Tech Tuesdays! 

Wednesday, 4/15/2020: Teaching Artist Spotlight with Teaching Artists of Mid-Atlantic

To start our day dedicated to Teaching Artists we invited Tom Howell to show what he’s been up to with his Steam Punk Stories! He showed us some of his awesome women of science comic books along with giving some background on what inspired him to venture into the comic realm. 

Continuing the meeting we had Jennifer from Teaching Artists of Mid-Atlantic to come and give some insight into her organization and their mission. TAMA is a organization that connects and supports teaching artists through advocacy, networking events, webinars, and other various resources. From this meeting the DC Collaborative is in talks to partner with TAMA in order to create a direct connection from TAMA to public and charter schools in DC, bringing jobs to teaching artists and the staff needed to the schools. To take a look at TAMA’s website just click here and feel free to contact TAMA if you would like to reach out to chat or for more info at [email protected].  

Thursday, 4/16/2020: DC Collaborative Closed in Observance of DC Emancipation Day

Read more about DC Emancipation Day here.

Friday, 4/17/2020: Equity/ Access with the DC Association for Special Education

During this Zoom Chat, we spoke with Molly Whalen from the DC Association for Special Education and we continued our conversation about providing support to students with special needs. Teachers expressed a need for virtual field trips, as many of their students are kinesthetic and visual learners. These virtual field trips should be accessible and should include closed captioning, audio description, and ASL interpreters. The group also discussed methods for arts teachers to best work with students with disabilities via distance learning. 

A special education teacher discussed the importance of collaboration, using the student's IEP as a guideline, and creating one on one lessons for these students. When teaching online, dedicated aides can create a "breakout room" where they can work with their student one on one. Although there is a misconception, services such as teletherapy, Applied Behavior Analysis, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy can be done online in compliance with HIPPA. To support parents, the community suggested that parents have an open dialogue with their child's teacher, as instruction will look different from student to student. The group suggested creating a comfortable environment for distance learning and being willing to adjust regularly.  Lastly, the group talked about being kind to ourselves and each other and setting realistic expectations for what distance learning looks like in a pandemic. All resources can be found in the chat dialogue.Arts Educators and Students with IEP

Mr. Robinson, a long-time Key Communicator from J.O. Wilson Elementary shared a wonderful testimonial as he shared more about the DC Collaborative’s Arts and Humanities for Every Student Program and the daily virtual convenings that we are holding:

“I appreciate this meeting so much!  Our school does not have a line in the budget for Field Trips and we had major cuts in the budget which, of course, leaves our students with very limited resources.  The DC Collaborative field trips are very closely aligned with common core standards and it has been a positive experience for us. In the absence of a SPED curriculum, instructional planning requires special education teachers to think outside the box in order to make modifications and accommodations as needed to show meaningful student progress as expressed in SPED legality. DC Collaborative consistently provides choices that allow me to offer my students the learning experiences they desperately need by offering these wonderful Field Trips.”

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Five Things you Can Do Today in Support of Arts and Humanities Education

Sign up to be a public witness at the Committee on Education and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities FY19 Performance Oversight and FY21 Budget Hearings 

Join us at our next Members Meeting at the National Museum of Women in the Arts date tba

Learn about our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement

Save the Date:  Join Americans For the Arts March 30-31 for the National Arts Action Summit

Submit a story about why equitable access to Arts and Humanities Education is important to you for the DC Collaborative StoryBank!

SIgn Up to Testify in Support of Arts and Humanities Education: DC Council Oversight and Budget Hearing Schedule

Sign-up to be a public witness for DC Council FY19 Performance Oversight Review and FY21 Budget Hearings:

Together, let's ensure that our arts and humanities education community is well-represented in providing testimony for the following Performance Oversight and Budget Review process hearings.

Key Dates (subject to change):

Wed. Feb. 12: Joint w/ Committee of the Whole (COW) FY19 Performance Oversight on Deputy Mayor for Education and Public Charter School Board

Wed. Feb 19: Joint w/ COW FY19 Performance Oversight on District of Columbia Public Schools

Mon. Feb 24:COW FY19 Performance Oversight on DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

Wed. Feb. 26: Joint w/ COW FY19 Performance Oversight on Office of the State Superintendent for Education

Fri. Mar. 6: FY19 Performance Oversight on District of Columbia Public Library and The District of Columbia State Athletic Association

Mon. Mar. 23: FY21 Budget Oversight on State Board of Education, Office of the Student Advocate, and Office of the Ombudsman for Public Education

Tues. Mar. 24: Joint w. COW FY21 Budget Oversight on Office of the State Superintendent for Education

Wed. Mar. 25: FY21 Budget Oversight on District of Columbia Public Library and The District of Columbia State Athletic Association

Thur. Mar. 26: Joint w. COW FY21 Budget Oversight on Public Charter School Board

Tues. Mar. 31: Joint w. COW FY21 Budget Oversight on District of Columbia Public Schools and  Deputy Mayor for Education

NEW Date! Thur. Apr. 7: COW FY21 Budget Oversight on DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

Sign Up Today to be a Public Witness:

If you wish to be a public witness for the CAH Performance Oversight Review hearing on Monday, February 24 at 10:00 am call 202-724-8196 or  sign up at email [email protected]. A complete schedule of COW hearings: http://bit.ly/2RgcmVo

Call 202-724-8061 or sign up online at http://bit.do/educationhearings to be a witness at any of the hearings involving the Committee on Education.

Your testimonies may not exceed 3 minutes. Each witness is asked to provide 15 hard copies of their testimony on the day of the hearing.

Join us in these online State of Arts and Humanities Education “Town Hall” Hearings to Advocate for the Arts and Humanities!

March 23 online “Town Hall”  2:00pm

June 18 online “Town Hall”

October 1 online “Town Hall”

January 14 online “Town Hall”

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement

DC is committed to providing equitable access to arts education for all of its students. To this end, we acknowledge that inequality in the United States and in the District of Columbia is present, and we continuously work to combat it in order to grant students rich learning opportunities regardless of socioeconomic status. 

Guided by this mission, Any Given Child, DC, led by the DC Collaborative, ensures that the following values are present in everything that we do:

Diversity: We appreciate and leverage our differences, we prioritize and include those with lived experiences in our community, and we seek partnership to make change happen. We expect thoughtful discussion and respectful engagement. Equity: We continuously examine and refine our policies, practices, and resources so that all members of our greater community - geographically, racially, and socioeconomically will have genuine opportunities to thrive. Inclusion: We create an environment of belonging in which everyone is valued and respected.

To learn more about and join us in our commitment, read our full statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion here. 

Save the Date: March 30-31 for The National Arts Action Summit:

On Monday, March 30 and Tuesday, March 31, join Americans For the Arts for its annual National Arts Action Summit. Americans for the Arts, along with representatives from 85+ national arts organizations will be in Washington DC where advocates from all across the country organize, speaking to members of congress to gain support for legislative issues surrounding the arts. 

Monday, Mar. 30 - The Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts & Public Policy at  The Kennedy Center. Tuesday, Mar. 31 - Our advocates plan to meet with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s office to discuss issues impacting the arts community in the District. If interested in participating, please contact Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe at [email protected]

View more info and RSVP Here

Tell Your Story - Submit a blogpost to the DC Collaborative Story Bank Blog

Members, educators, supporters and partners of the DC Collaborative are invited to share their story in arts and humanities education in the

DC Collaborative Story Bank

to help us showcase the work we are collectively doing in the arts and humanities education field and the positive impact we are having on the education of the students in the public school system in the District of Columbia. 

View the DC Collaborative Story Bank

[blogdccollaborative]

2019 AHFES Review

Submitted by: Tessa Kay, DC Collaborative Membership and Collective Impact intern August 7, 2019

On Wednesday, July 17, twenty-five members of the DC Collaborative’s Programming Committee got together to review all School Year 2019-2020 Arts and Humanities for Every student (AHFES) program submissions. 

The DC Collaborative would like to take the time to thank everyone who participated in the programming committee review panels as well as all of the AHFES providers. Thank you so much to our gracious hosts at the Building Museum, and especially Caitlin Miller for helping to coordinate the review. 

Why do AHFES reviews?

The purpose of the application review process is to determine whether, in the opinion of the programming committee, a proposed program offering is ready to be listed in the Arts and Humanities for Every Student (AHFES) catalog.

How Does the Review Process Work?

On AHFES review day, members of the programming committee broke into groups and reviewed different proposals based on their area of expertise: Humanities, Music/Dance, Theatre, and Visual Arts/Film. 

Different members were assigned specific programs to review beforehand, and during the review, the rest of the panel discussed the proposal and worked together to provide helpful feedback for the provider to consider. The rubric used includes a list of 8 qualities to help determine the quality of the experience; three qualities are “Makers of a High Quality Experience” and five are “Even better if” aspirational qualities. Providers can use this feedback in anyway that they see fit. See the rubric here.

The Collaborative is interested in offering the students of the District the widest possible variety of high quality arts and humanities field trips possible. The programming committee also operates with an expectation of providing “idea exchange, leadership, and mentorship” to its member organizations. In that regard, we take seriously the opportunity to provide suggestions and explanations to help improve the programs you are reviewing. 

Thank you so much to all who participated and to the AHFES providers who submitted proposals. We look forward to continuing our partnership with you in the future. 

Additional Links:

AHFES Review Rubric

Become an AHFES Provider

Programming Committee Page

DC Collaborative Website