New Horizons for Learning's Journal Fall 2002

How many teachers are there who no longer include the arts in the curriculum as they focus on improving test scores in reading, writing, and math? How many teachers, however, intuitively know that the arts are not only of cultural importance and help students to develop their capacities more fully, but also that the arts are among the most effective ways of increasing students' motivation and equipping them with effective, alternative ways of learning?

The focus of our Fall Journal is on the arts in education, leading off with new research by James Caterall tying the arts to academic achievement. Supportive articles give specific examples of what can happen academically when creative energies start flowing. We also include materials that can be used with school boards, parents, communities, and potential funders to make a case for integrating the arts as essential parts of the curriculum. In addition, you will find in this issue a number of other articles on different but related topics.

Subsequent issues of the Journal for this school year will also focus on a specific topic. The Winter Journal will focus on New Technologies in Education; the Spring issue will highlight Multicultural Education and Bridging the Achievement Gap; and the Summer issue will highlight Environmental Education and Project-Based Learning.

We would be delighted to receive your suggestions for potential authors and/or articles about your own work in the above areas, as we are always anxious to be responsive to your interests, needs, and requests. Please email us at info@newhorizons.org. (Even though our virtual Building no longer exists, we are continually building our website for you!)

TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES: Arts in Education
Please visit our Teaching and Learning Strategies area for more articles on this subject.

The Cappies: Celebrating High School Theater Like Never Before Bill Strauss and Judy Bowns

A new program for showcasing the acheivements of high school theater students and critics.

An excerpt from Learning from Lyrics John Chase

How teachers in all subject areas can make use of songs to help their students learn.

Filling the Gap in After-School Arts Education: A report on a new organization's progress in the community Lisa Fitzhugh

A report on a new organization's progress in the community. Arts Corps offers free, after-school arts education classes in underserved neighborhoods and sees remarkable results.

Art Therapy: A Proposal for Inclusion in School Settings Eve C. Jarboe

A professional explains the basics of art therapy and how it can bring about profound changes in troubled youth.

Making Music With Your Child Kia Portafekas

A music educator shows how to create and use music in all types of everyday situations in and out of the classroom. Please see the book review on Making Music With Your Child.

Coming Up Taller Judith Weitz

The Coming Up Taller Awards support after school, weekend, and summer arts and humanities programs that use the arts, words, and ideas to provide children with paths to self-discovery, self-expression, and self-confidence. Please see the book review of this program.

I Made It By Myself Richard Lewis

This artist/poet explains that while our hands play, the inner realms of our imagination may grow. Please see the book review of In the Space of the Sky.

TRANSFORMING EDUCATION
Please visit our Transforming Education area for more articles on this subject.

What Will It Take David Conley

What are the characteristics of quality schools that make it possible for students to master new, ambitious academic standards? Is there a relationship between the funds provided the schools and the results? The What Will It Take (WWIT) project is focused on finding answers to these challenging questions.

NEWS FROM THE NEUROSCIENCES
Please visit our News from the Neurosciences area for more articles on this subject.

Enrichment in Action Dr. Marian Diamond

A neuroscientist describes her new research project in Cambodia that investigates whether visual-spatial intelligence can be enhanced in an enriched environment.

Misunderstood Minds Dr. Mel Levine
Dr. Levine explains how his institute applies the latest neuro-developmental research to the understanding and management of differences in learning.

TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES: The Democratic Classroom
Please visit our Teaching and Learning Strategies area for more articles on this subject.

The Responsive Classroom: A Practical Approach for Bringing Democratic Ideals into the Daily Fabric of Classroom Life Belinda Gimbert
An educator explains her "responsive classroom" method of creating a democratic classroom.

TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES: Learning Styles
Please visit our Teaching and Learning Strategies area for more articles on this subject.

The Human Dynamics Body of Knowledge and its Implications for Education: A Brief Account Sandra Seagal and David Horne
The authors describe how Human Dynamics, a new paradigm for understanding both individual and collective human functioning, has immense implications for conducting effective education.

Unlocking the Playground in My Mind: An Educator's Story Shelly Loewen

The author shares how her personal learning challenges and unique experience at the playground led her to develop a dynamic learning theory and assessment, addressing learners' cognitive, affective and sensory learning style values while recognizing the similarities between how people learn and how they play.

SPECIAL NEEDS AND INCLUSION: Gifted Education
Please visit our Special Needs area for more articles on this subject.

Focusing on our Gifted Youth Gail E. Hanninen

A school administrator describes five principles for providing appropriate and quality educational programs for gifted and talented youth.

GIRAFFE OF THE MONTH

We asked the folks at The Giraffe Project to let us share stories about some of the education heroes they've discovered quietly sticking their necks out to make the world a better place. This month, The Giraffe Project shares the story of Twinkle Rudberg of Montreal, Canada.

RECOMMENDED READING

Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning Edward B. Fiske

Coming Up Taller Elizabeth Murfee

In the Space of the Sky Richard Lewis

Art Matters Eileen S. Prince

Making Music With Your Child Kia Portafekas and Karen E. Marlow

Qualities of Effective Teachers James H. Stronge

A Hope in the Unseen Ron Suskind

Multiple Intelligences and Instructional Technology Walter McKenzie

Becoming a Multiple Intelligences School Thomas R. Hoerr

BULLETIN BOARD

The Art and Science of the Brain, Fall Lecture Series 2002, Second Lecture: The Mind, The Brain and The Computer
Lecture by Dr. Earl Hunt, UW Professor Emeritus of Psychology• Tuesday, October 22

Take an exciting look at the relationship between the computer and the brain, and discover how our emerging understanding of both unlocks the mysteries of intelligent beings -- whether made of proteins or silicon.

3- Day Fragile Brain Learning Recovery Program
October 2-4 in Houston, TX• October 7-9 in Sturbridge, MA • October 16-18 in Atlanta, GA • February 24-26, 2003 in San Diego, CA

National Educational Computing Conference: Visions & Reflections
Seattle, Washington• June 30-July 2, 2003

HAVE YOU SEEN?

(Re)Designing Learning Environments
This site focuses on the opportunity new school construction projects are bringing to public education. Over the next five years the United States will spend an estimated $100 billion to build and renovate public schools. It is our hope that together we can resist building new schools that function like old schools. (Re)Designing Learning Environments offers an in-depth journey into the planning and creation of new types of schools and learning environments. The first case study launching today focuses on Minnesota's School of Environmental Studies (SES), located adjacent to the Minnesota Zoo. This will be an ongoing project with additional case studies of new schools to come.

Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999-2000
This report provides national data on arts education in public elementary and secondary schools during 1999-2000.

The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation
This Issue Brief provides examples of arts-based education as a money- and timesaving option for states looking to build skills, increase academic success, heighten standardized test scores, and lower the incidence of crime among the general and at-risk populations.

Kart00
Kart00 is a meta search engine which presents its results on a map. As soon as you launch a search, Kart00 analyses your request, questions the most relevant engines, selects the best sites and places them on a map. On this map, when you move the pointer over a 'ball,' the description of the site is displayed.

DailyApples.com
A site that is devoted exclusively to keeping teachers motivated. It has free daily morale boost for teachers.

Quick-Guides to Inclusion 3: Ideas for Educating Students with Disabilities
This user-friendly volume provides teachers with examples, ideas, and tips for making inclusion work in their classrooms. Topics covered include differentiated instruction, literacy, and peer relationships. There is even a bonus chapter that shows readers how to assist students who use wheelchairs.

History News Network
A non- profit, nonpartisan website featuring articles by both liberal and conservative historians on current events and historical issues. This website is a great resource for anyone interested in the history behind what is happening in the world today.

Washington Virtual Classroom Water Quality Curriculum
WVC provides elementary, middle and high school students with the exciting opportunity to investigate the health of salmon spawning streams in their different areas. Using both qualitative and quantitative testing parameters, data is maintained, compared and evaluated throughout the year.

Authentic Intellectual Work and Standardized Tests: Conflicts or Coexistence?" (January, 2001). Consortium on Chicago School Research.
This study of math and writing assignments by third, sixth and eighth grade teachers in Chicago shows that students who received assignments requiring more challenging intellectual work demonstrated greater than average gains on standardized tests. The authors of this study defined challenging intellectual work to mean student assignments that involved students in projects that had meaning in their world, demanded higher order thinking and in-depth understanding of the subjects they were studying.

Talaris Research Institute: Mommy, is this okay?
If you have ever watched a child stop reaching for something hot just by seeing or hearing an adult "gasp" in fright, then you will be able to relate to Talaris' newest spotlight on "Social Referencing." It's all about how babies and young children read expressions at a very early age.