Perpich Center for Arts Education

Question

The Perpich Center for Arts Education wanted an in-depth evaluation of one of its professional development programs called Quality Teaching in the Arts: The Minnesota Arts Education Network (QTA); the program had recently received a three-year U.S. Department of Education grant to increase participation by Minnesota teachers from high poverty schools. During the second year of the initiative, the Improve Group was asked to assess program implementation and examine QTA success in: sustained and intensive professional development; building teacher understanding of the applicable Minnesota Academic Standards in the Arts; helping teachers to collect significant evidence of student learning in and through the arts; and facilitating a framework for assessing quality in student work.

Process

To gather qualitative insights on dynamics of teacher participation and reaction to QTA, the Improve Group is observing workshop and other sessions and reviewing workshop materials for alignment with goals and needs. For a qualitative and quantitative perspective on how teachers gained knowledge and skill through the sessions, we developed and administered quick, online post-session surveys. A teacher impact survey annually assesses program impact on the educators and their classrooms and their level of arts knowledge pre- and post-program. Additional approaches used were focus groups, informal participant interviews and panel assessment review. Since the project was partially funded through federal money, an IRB review of the evaluation plan and tools was completed. This project exemplifies the Improve Group’s ability to bring knowledge and experience from other projects in arts and education to inform a sound, multi-faceted evaluation plan and helpful, applicable analysis for this project.

Outcome

The Improve Group is in the data gathering stage of the third year of the three-year grant period. PCAE is using the Year 2 annual report to reflect on the strengths and challenges of the QTA program, and applying the lessons of these observations to make adjustments in the QTA program.