Mass Cultural Council Convenes International CYD Leaders
In July, as part of the Creative Youth Development National Partnership’s Stakeholder Meeting (NSM), Mass Cultural Council took the opportunity to host a cohort of international guests to spark a conversation on how the field of practice looks around the world.
With a varied roster of national and local agencies, educators, artists, and academia from South Korea, Scotland, India, Australia, Norway, and New Zealand, these guests met to distill the findings of the NSM, and, led by veteran teaching artist Eric Booth, were engaged in an incredibly fertile conversation, in which different models and approaches were presented, all unified by the importance of empowering young people and nurturing creativity as an integral part of our communities.
Arts as a Key Strategy to Dismantle, Change the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Alex Johnson, Managing Director for Californians for Safety and Justice, and member of the Creative Youth Development National Advisory Committee, shares his experience of the power of creative youth development in the juvenile justice system at the National Stakeholder Meeting in July 2017.
AFTA’s ARTSblog Spotlights Youth Voice
As part of the festivities around National Arts in Education Week September 10-16, 2017, Americans for the Arts’ ARTSblog highlighted stories from youth sharing what arts education means in their lives. One post featured Xavier Harvey, a seasoned veteran of Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s youth productions and youth mentor.
For four years, Xavier participated in ASP’s creative youth development program, Shakespeare Inside & Out, which works with youth in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS), on probation, or in transition back into society, through ensemble and performance-based Shakespeare and theater projects.
Fall Webinar Series – Evaluation as a Strategy for Building CYD Programs
Join the National Guild for Community Arts Education for a fall webinar series on evaluation as a strategy for building, improving, and funding creative youth development programs. (And check out previously-recorded webinars.)
FREE for Guild members
$35 each for non-members or $120 for all four.
The growing strength of the creative youth development movement necessitates that programs, staff, partners, and funders re-think fundamental ways of doing business—program design, staffing, and evaluation to create more active and ongoing roles for young people as critical thinkers, designers, and decision makers. In response to this imperative, the National Guild for Community Arts Education will be presenting a four-part webinar series. The webinar series is chaired by Dennie Palmer Wolf and informed by many voices from the CYD field including: Julia Gittleman, Steven Holochwost, Gladys Hidalgo, Ruth Mercado-Zizzo, James Miles, Käthe Swaback, and others.
You can register for webinars individually below or sign-up for the whole series and save! Across the series participants will build four sets of vital strategies by examining examples from the work of other CYD organizations and reflecting on their own practices.
Webinar 1: Sept. 26 – The Foundations of Creative Youth Development Evaluation
We will begin by exploring the basic principles of creative youth development and their implications for evaluation. From there, we will examine how an organization builds the foundation for doing effective evaluation: developing an organizational story, building a logic model or theory of change, developing powerful infographics, and creating a culture of inquiry that includes young people as full partners. Register for webinar 1 (FREE for members; $35 for non-members) or the full series.
Webinar 2: Oct. 3 – Stepping Up to Survey and Use Observational Data
In this session, we will explore how to design and use surveys and observational protocols, both field-tested tools and new ones tailored to individual programs. As part of this work, we will look at a range of strategies for involving current youth and alumni as critical respondents to and designers of tools. We will discuss the important work of formative assessment: the fine art of using findings to improve programs over time. Register (FREE for members; $35 for non-members)
Webinar 3: Oct. 17 – Thinking through Comparisons
Many evaluations depend on comparing participants to non-participants and looking for the changes that are correlated with being in a program. This kind of correlational work is a major step in thinking about the impacts a program may have – but doing this work well, and understanding its limits can be demanding. Together, we will think through what can – and can’t – be learned through this approach. Register (FREE for members; $35 for non-members)
Webinar 4: Oct. 24 – Partnering for Large-Scale, Quantitative Evaluation
In light of the growing demand for more rigorous evidence – from government and private funders – this final webinar will look at what it takes to conduct quasi-experimental and experimental research into the impact of CYD programs. We will look at the demands such studies place on programs and their staff and consider when programs are ready to take on those demands. We will also explore the kinds of research partnerships that CYD organizations might undertake with external partners in order to learn about and conduct these demanding, but powerful, forms of evaluation. Register (FREE for members; $35 for non-members)
The webinars will be interactive and include: 1) pre-assignments that will alert you to the big ideas, prepare you to examine your own current practices, and allow you to send in questions ahead of time; 2) an exchange of distinctive perspectives from the presenters; and 3) ample time for audience questions.
We encourage programs to support teams of participants in order to sustain the inquiry and conversation between and beyond the individual sessions. All materials will be sent to participants in advance of each session.
Register for National Guild’s Conference Featuring Dynamic CYD Track
This year’s National Guild for Community Arts Education Conference, will feature a dynamic CYD track as part of our comprehensive conference program. This exciting line-up of workshops, site visits, and other opportunities is designed to inspire and inform experienced practitioners and interested newcomers! Creative Youth Development (CYD) integrates the arts, humanities, and sciences with youth development principles, using creativity to build critical skills that help young people realize their full potential. Join us at the Conference for Community Arts Education in the Bay Area this November 15-18 to be on the cutting edge of this crucial work.
Zion’s Story
artworxLA is a non-profit organization combating the high school dropout crisis by creatively engaging alternative education high school students. In this short film, filmmaker Rich Lee and his partner Louise Baker Lee spent an entire day with Zion, learning about his creative process, his life, his neighborhood, and the impact artworxLA has had on his life.