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Theatre Communications Group (TCG) |
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Written by Maryellen Rogusky
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 07:21 |
Building a National TEAM: Theatre Education assessment Models
In consortium with ASSITEJ/USA, the American organization of theatres for young people and children, TCG has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support our new education initiative—Building a National TEAM: Theatre Education Assessment Models. We are currently seeking matching funding for this project. Building a National TEAM will assemble a working group of theatre educators who will create 10-12 national models for theatre education program evaluation and student assessment, and provide Rubrics for teaching artists to use nationwide. These models will be adaptable to the needs of both TCG and ASSITEJ/USA members which, together, reach over 8.6 million theatre-goers in America each year. The project will also provide a professional training session for education directors to implement the program. Currently, there is no structure in place for sharing best practices for evaluation and assessment of theatre education programs. We must create such a system, as a field, to document what we have accomplished. This work is geared toward arming education directors with national models and frameworks that establish basic competencies so they can more effectively hire and develop teaching artists and evaluate their education programs.
Organizational Background
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, offers a wide array of services in line with its mission: to strengthen, nurture, and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. Through its artistic, management, and international programs, advocacy and education activities, and publications, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field, and promote a larger public understanding of and appreciation for the theatre field. TCG has over 430 member theatres nationwide.
TCG’s Education Activities
Over 220 of TCG's member theatres report offering educational programming and, with ASSITEJ/USA's members, theatre educators in approximately 300 theatres throughout America are fostering new audiences and educating young people about the art form. Through in-school teaching residencies, theatre workshops and classes, student matinees, After school and community-based programs, theatre educators are reaching, educating and training people of all ages throughout the country. Since 1999, our education department has offered teleconferences for theatre educators, publications focusing on education as part of our Centerpiece series, ongoing research and the enhancement of the education pages of our website (www.tcg.org/education). Our annual Education Survey is now entirely online, and member theatres can access each other’s profiles and study guides.
Details of the Project: Building a National TEAM
When it comes to assessment, individual theatres range from those that have not begun the conversation to those with fully developed, program-specific assessment and evaluation models. Currently there are no national models for theatre educators, and models that do exist are homegrown and specific to individual theatres. At a time when more and more funders and schools want to see quantitative measurements of a program’s success, it is crucial that we find a way to help the field be accountable. Building a National TEAM will provide education directors at our member theatres with the tools and structures necessary to be pro-active in meeting the needs of funders and schools today. This is a field-driven project stemming from the work done at Crossing Paths, a 3-day performing arts educators conference in November 2003, which featured educators Eric Booth and Mary Campbell-Zopf.
We envision a two phase project that will take place from July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2007:
Phase 1—Developing Models (July 05-Dec 06): We will hire a consultant who is an expert in the field of arts-in-education and has extensive experience in creating assessment and evaluation models. This consultant will work with a group of ten professionals from the theatre field, who will be invited to form a working group. The working group will include educators working in both school-based and community-based theatre programs, who will meet four times in New York over the course of a year and a half.
Phase 2—Training, Implementation and Dissemination (Jan 07-June 07): In order to ensure that the models are used to maximum effectiveness, we plan to host a mini-conference to train education directors. We are planning to hold this training session in conjunction with the 2007 TCG National Conference, which will take place in the Minneapolis-St. Paul. One component of the training will be alignment of the evaluation and assessment work with federal and state standards.
As the national organization for the American theatre, TCG is uniquely positioned to undertake a project such as Building a National TEAM, in partnership with ASSITEJ/USA. We look forward to working together to develop nationwide assessment and evaluation models for the theatre education field and to disseminate models and train education directors in the most effective practice, thereby strengthening theatre education programs throughout America. |
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