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Q&A
NYC Public Schools' strategy for ensuring equitable access to arts education
0:50:49
ยท
124 sec
Council Member Rita Joseph inquires about New York City Public Schools' overarching strategy for ensuring equitable access to arts education across all public schools. Cordelia Veve, Chief of Curriculum and Instruction, responds by outlining the Department of Education's approach to arts education.
- Arts education is considered part of the core academic experience, not just an enrichment opportunity
- The strategy involves providing high-quality instructional materials, tools, and experiences, along with support for educators
- The Arts Office focuses on supporting leadership, teachers, and expanding successful programs
Rita Joseph
0:50:49
What is New York City Public Schools overarching strategy for ensuring equitable access to arts education across all public schools?
Cordelia Veve
0:51:01
Good morning.
Megan Muttreja
0:51:02
Good morning.
0:51:03
I got
Cordelia Veve
0:51:04
that one, Paul.
0:51:06
So I'm very happy to be sitting here as the chief of curriculum and instruction.
0:51:11
I get to work with all of the teams that provide academics and instructions to students across the city, arts just being one of the teams.
0:51:20
And I think that's one of the pieces that we need to see as important.
0:51:23
We see arts not as an enrichment opportunity, but part of the core academic experience that all students deserve to have.
0:51:31
So therefore our strategy is very similar to our strategy for all of our other content areas.
0:51:36
We believe that in order for there to be a strong and enriching program for students across their academic experience, we need to provide schools with high quality instructional materials, tools, and experiences, and then also provide unprecedented amounts of support to educators.
0:51:53
You heard Paul speak about what the Arts Office has re envisioned in terms of their three pillars of support to schools and to superintendents.
0:52:02
What they do is they support leadership because we know that leaders are the ones who make decisions about how things show up in their schools.
0:52:11
They also have to support teachers around high quality instructional practices.
0:52:15
Those are grounded in the blueprint for the arts.
0:52:18
And then also thinking about how are we expanding programs that we know are good for students.
0:52:23
We know that we would wanna just rush out and send those programs to all schools, but we know that if we want them to be sustained, they need to be phased, and they need to be supported.
0:52:34
That is what the arts office is doing.
0:52:36
He spoke about a couple of those programs, the strings program that's happening in The Bronx, dance programs that are happening.
0:52:43
They're really thinking about how do we make sure that we're not just doing these for compliance or superficial reasons, but that these are going to be lasting experiences for all of our students.