Journal for Learning through the Arts

This paper examines the impact of two approaches to teacher professional development in arts integration – a summer institute model and a model combining the summer institute with instructional coaching.  In an experimental design, the intervention trained third and fourth grade teachers to integrate visual arts and theater into reading curriculum.  Findings suggest the coaching plus institute intervention had a greater impact on teacher confidence, use and frequency of arts integration than the institute-only intervention or on the comparison group.

Coached teachers reported greater confidence integrating the arts, produced higher-quality work samples, taught more reading concepts with arts integration, implemented more arts standards, and used arts integration more frequently than did the institute-only teachers or the control group teachers.  Coached teachers reported in greater numbers about the positive impact the professional development had on their teaching practice, including feeling more creative, inspired and finding greater enjoyment in teaching.  Coached teachers were more likely than institute-only teachers to correctly use state VAPA standards and to perceive student progress towards those standards.

Institute-only teachers demonstrated greater confidence in and used arts integration more frequently than did the comparison group.  However, they did not reach the same levels as the coached teachers and were more likely to report time constraints and other roadblocks to successful implementation.

Teachers in both treatment groups reported high student engagement and better expression of learning by students when using arts integration instructional strategies.

This project was funded through the U.S. Department of Education Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination program.