Advocacy
California Alliance for Arts Education
Alliance partners, Louise Music (Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership Director) and Paul Ammon (Arts Education Initiative Director) are board members of the CAAE which promotes, supports and advocates visual and performing arts education for preschool through post-secondary students in California schools. CAAE is the only statewide organization that unites all primary constituencies for arts education, serving and representing over 100,000 individuals and organizations across the arts, education, public, and private sectors.
California State PTA
The California PTA honors parents as children’s first teachers and also believes that every one of us has a collective responsibility to advocate for the safety, welfare and the opportunity for quality public education for all children. As part of their mission to advocate for a quality public education, the California PTA leads the SMARTS: Bring Back the Arts! Program, provides online advocacy opportunities, and arts program resources for all California children, parents and teachers. The 110th California State PTA conference will take place in 2009.
Arts
California Arts Council
The California Arts Council has the mission to advance California through the arts and creativity with an emphasis on children and artistically underserved communities. The agency encourages broad public participation in the arts; helps build strong local arts organizations; assists with the professional development of arts leaders; promotes awareness of the value of the arts; and directly supports arts program for children and communities. Upcoming events include Arts Day at the California State Fair in Sacramento on August 8, 2008 and California Arts Day on October 3, 2008.
Arts Learning
California Art Education Association
Alliance partner, Susan Manbeian (Fremont Unified School District), is the Co-Chair of the CAEA 2008 Conference “Art Bridges the Gap” to be held in Burlingame, CA on November 13-16, 2008. This organization, formed in 1965, helps and supports educators in all visual arts mediums by anchoring the elements and principles of design in meaningful instruction and promoting the alignment of the approved state and national content standards for visual art.
California Dance Education Association
Alliance partners, Nancy Ng (Luna Kids Dance) and Sue McGreevy (Alliance District Arts Network Coach) are CDEA Co-Presidents of this organization dedicated to the artistic and educational advancement of dance as a discrete art form. The organization is the representative body for linking interests of dance educators, dance artists, dance-related professionals and students, and serves as a liaison and representative to local, regional, state, and national arts organizations.
California Educational Theatre Association
Alliance partner, Carol Hovey (Livermore Unified School District) is the Past President of the Board of Directors of this organization dedicated to strengthening local administrative support for theatre, enhancing classroom teaching/learning techniques, and promoting research and scholarship. The next conference, “The Awakening of Diverse Voices” will be October 16-18, 2008 at the Doubletree Hotel, San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, CA 94010.
California Music Education Association
The purposes of the association are to promote student access to a sequential music education for all PreK-12 students, teacher access to quality pre-service and in-service music teacher preparation programs, and a greater awareness of the value of music education through partnerships and advocacy among state and local agencies. Next conferences will be March 12, 13, 14 2009 in Ontario, CA and March 11, 12, 13 in 2010 in Sacramento, CA.
The California Arts Project
The California Arts Project’s central mission is to deepen teachers’ knowledge of dance, music, theatre, and visual art, to enhance student success pre-kindergarten through post-secondary, and develop instructional strategies to support the Visual & Performing Arts Content Standards For California Public Schools, and the state VAPA Framework. Regional sites offer professional development programs including the Northern California Arts Project Arts Intensive Staff Institute at Tsasdi Resort.
Education
California County Boards of Education
This organization raises public awareness of important public education issues, reviews and takes positions on proposed legislation affecting county boards and offices of education, provides governance training to county board members, and distributes sample policies for use by county boards. The annual CSBA/CCBE Legislative Action conference provides an opportunity to participate in direct, intensive advocacy of state legislators, briefings by state leaders, and special regency strategy sessions.
California County Superintendents Educational Services Association Arts Initiative
Alliance partner, Sheila Jordan (Alameda County Superintendent of Schools), sits on the CCSESA Task Force on Art Education. CCSESA divides all California county into 11 geographical regions; the Alliance is the lead county organization for Region IV which includes Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano counties. Through statewide projects, CSSESA advances the mission that every student deserves a high-quality education in the arts, including the subject areas of dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts, as an integral component of a comprehensive curriculum.
California Department of Education
Alliance Director, Louise Music, attends quarterly meetings of county arts leads from across the state as they work together towards the core goal of the CDE to lead and support the continuous improvement of student achievement, with a specific focus on closing achievement gaps. County arts leads also assist the CDE locally as it disseminates the state legislated Art and Music Block Grants to support standards aligned instruction in visual and performing arts.
California Kindergarten Association
CKA is committed to facilitating quality education for all kindergarten children by: advancing the professionalism of kindergarten and other early childhood educator, providing and fostering leadership in early childhood education, developing curricula to meet the diverse needs of young children in our pluralistic society, and disseminating research in early childhood education. The 27th Annual California Kindergarten Institute and Conference will be held January 16-18, 2009 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
California School Board Association
The California School Boards Association (CSBA) is a collaborative group of virtually all of the state’s more than 1,000 school districts and county offices of education. It brings together school governing boards and their districts and county offices on behalf of California’s children. The CSBA Annual Education Conference which will be held in San Diego, December 4-6, 2008 will including a strand dedicated to the whole child as well as a new strand focused on equity and adequacy.