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Prompts for Teachers & Teams
Arts Integration - Comparison of Essentials
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Each Oklahoma A+ school and the network as a whole are bound by a firm commitment to the A+ Essentials™ framework. Years of independent research tell us that this framework supports the whole school, particularly in schools with strong principal leadership, high faculty engagement and regular OKA+ professional development. OKA+ Schools is an active, accessible and growing network. We are propelled by ongoing research and operate in a culture of evidence that keeps continuing professional development and partnerships relevant and central to the network.

ARTS
Valued as essential to the learning process, taught daily and included in planning

CURRICULUM
Linking core classes to promote meaningful experiences and spark enthusiasm for learning

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Hands-on real world application of learning objectives, using differentiated instruction to support innovation and critical thinking

MULTIPLE LEARNING PATHWAYS
Provide opportunity for information to be absorbed in a variety of ways

ENRICHED ASSESSMENT
Evaluates achievement by allow­ing students to demonstrate mas­tery through multiple measures

COLLABORATION
Strengthens ownership across the school community while promoting broad-based leadership and intentional connections

INFRASTRUCTURE
Organizes time, space, technology and resources to support transformative learning

CLIMATE
Teachers and students are respected, and the creative process is highly valued

EdWeek Comprehensive Article on A+ Schools

Schools participating in the A+ network in Oklahoma and other states commit to a set of eight A+ essentials.

Arts
Taught daily. Inclusive of drama, dance, music, visual arts, and writing. Integrated across curriculum. Valued as “essential to learning.”

Curriculum
Curriculum mapping reflects alignment. Development of “essential questions.” Create and use interdisciplinary thematic units. Cross-curricular integration.

Experiential Learning
Grounded in arts-based instruction. A creative process. Includes differentiated instruction. Provides multifaceted assessment opportunities.

Multiple Intelligences
Multiple-learning pathways used within planning and assessment. Understood by students and parents. Used to create “balanced learning opportunities.”

Enriched Assessment
Ongoing. Designed for learning. Used as documentation. A “reflective” practice. Helps meet school system requirements. Used by teachers and students to self-assess.

Collaboration
Intentional. Occurs within and outside school. Involves all teachers (including arts teachers), as well as students, families, and community. Features “broad-based leadership.”

Infrastructure
Supports A+ philosophy by addressing logistics such as schedules that support planning time. Provides appropriate space for arts. Creates a “shared vision.” Provides professional development. Continual “team building.”

Climate
Teachers “can manage the arts in their classrooms.” Stress is reduced. Teachers treated as professionals. Morale improves. Excitement about the program grows.

SOURCE: Oklahoma A+ Schools

More on A+ Schools

What are the Ten Guiding Principles of the Music-in-Education National Consortium?

Systemic reform practices are based on a set of beliefs about teaching and learning. Below are the MIENC Ten Principle Statements that guide our current research and development initiatives funded by the Federal Department of Education’s FIPSE (Funds for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education) and National Endowment for the Arts. These statements are intended to provoke dialogue; they are also meant to ensure the essential role of music in public school education, and generate innovative practices in teacher preparation in higher education and professional development.

Principle 1Re-Forming Educational Practice

We believe in the continuous reformation of educational practices to optimize the capacity of all children to learn, and that crucial to this re/form is the rethinking of the essential role of music in education.

Principle 2 Site-Based Change

We believe that in order for music-in-education to be effective as part of a larger practice of school change, it must be understood in the context of the particular school’s concept of evolvement.

Principle 3 Differentiation and Synthesis
We believe that a comprehensive music program assumes its full power in education through the dynamic tension between music as a distinct authentic subject area, and as part of a rich curriculum integrated with other subject areas.

Principle 4 School and Its Community

We believe that music-in-education changes the culture of a school, supports it in the invention and articulation of its own change, and invokes the school and its community as agents of this change.

Principle 5 Diverse Strategies for Teaching and Learning

We believe in diverse strategies for the implementation of music-in-education practices as a way to improve teaching and learning throughout the school.

Principle 6 Musicians and Society

We believe that teaching experiences and mentor relationships are an essential part of the developing musician’s growth as an artist and citizen, critical to his/her success as a practitioner and as a significant contributor to society.

Principle 7 Equity and High Expectations

We believe that the compelling nature of music generates unique opportunities for teachers to provide equitable access to learning while invoking and sustaining high expectations for all students.

Principle 8 Reflective Practice

We believe that teachers and musicians build their capacity as reflective practitioners through a scholarship of teaching that involves documenting, analyzing, and sharing their own work and evidence of student learning.

Principle 9 Participation in Professional Community

We believe in the creation and expansion of professional networks to generate discourse, share practices, develop new inquiry, and further research as an ongoing extension of the music-in-education process.

Principle 10 Diverse Assessment Strategies

We make a commitment to develop, document, and disseminate multiple assessment strategies, including new technologies, in order to illuminate the complexity and scope of teaching and learning processes, to refine definitions of quality, and to address a variety of audiences and purposes.

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