Arts Education Partnerships and Program Evaluation: How Do They Work Together to Sustain and Support School Reform Efforts?

This thesis looks at arts education partnerships in New York City and how program evaluation can help sustain these partnerships while also supporting school reform efforts. It begins by giving an overview of current national school reform initiatives including: A Nation at Risk, the National Standards, Goals 2000: Education America Act, and No Child Left Behind. Following, this report looks at arts education and its role in responding to school reform efforts. This includes a synopsis of how arts education partnerships began to develop in New York and the role the Annenberg Challenge played in that development. Next, this study explores program evaluation giving several definitions as well as looking at the reasons why one would engage in an evaluation study. This section also looks at the different types of evaluation and the basic structure of an effective evaluation plan. Finally, using a real case study of an evaluation of an arts education partnership, this report attempts to demonstrate how evaluation played a key role in helping a New York City school address school reform issues while also sustaining its partnership with a local arts education organization.