This webinar is the third in a four-part series, Evaluation as a Strategy for Building Creative Youth Development, which examined evaluation as a strategy for building, improving, and funding creative youth development programs. 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. This presentation provides the foundation for approaching these techniques effectively.

This webinar is the first in a four-part series, Evaluation as a Strategy for Building Creative Youth Development, which examined evaluation as a strategy for building, improving, and funding creative youth development programs. The series begins with an exploration of the basic principles of creative youth development and their implications for evaluation. From there, we examine how an organization builds the foundation for doing effective evaluation.

This webinar is the second in a four-part series, Evaluation as a Strategy for Building Creative Youth Development, which examined evaluation as a strategy for building, improving, and funding creative youth development programs. In this session, presenters 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, the presentation looks at a range of strategies for involving current youth and alumni as critical respondents to and designers of tools. We also discuss the important work of formative assessment: the fine art of using findings to improve programs over time.

This webinar is the fourth in a four-part series, Evaluation as a Strategy for Building Creative Youth Development, which examined evaluation as a strategy for building, improving, and funding creative youth development programs. In light of the growing demand for more rigorous evidence – from government and private funders – this final webinar looked at what it takes to conduct quasi-experimental and experimental research into the impact of CYD programs.

At the time of writing, EngAGE provided sustainable arts, lifelong learning, and wellness programs for thousands of people who live in more than 35 apartment communities for low- to moderate-income seniors in Southern California. In this article, you will learn about the strategies that EngAGE has employed in order to align community resources as well as tools that your organization can use to build long-lasting relationships with older adults.

The pilot year (2008-2009) of the National Guild’s MetLife Foundation Creative Aging Program (CAP) built the capacity of member organizations to join the creative aging movement. Reflecting on lessons learned from the program, this article summarizes the unique approaches to creative aging that translate to success in the community arts education environment.

Do you often find yourself wondering how technology is transforming how students learn about, create, and share art? How it may alter longstanding traditions of teaching and learning? How it may transform established business models? You're not alone. In this presentation, Don Marinelli, co-founder of the world-renowned Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) and a former professor of drama and arts management at Carnegie Mellon University, shares his thoughts and experiences from the frontier of arts and technology integration.

Community arts education leaders can contribute directly to the adoption of policy that will increase access to arts learning for all. In this session, you'll hear from leaders, from within the arts field and beyond, who have successfully achieved social change in their communities through collaborative action, cross-sector partnerships, the adaptation of new business practices, and other strategies. Learn how nonprofit organizations, school districts, community development coalitions, and local government can play a key role in moving legislation into action to ensure that all people, regardless of race or socio-economic status, receive the same access to arts learning opportunities.

The national conversation around public education reform has grown increasingly passionate and contentious in the last several years. So often it seems that curiosity, creativity, and inspiration are eclipsed by accuracy, achievement, and uniformity. Dr. Simmons aims to turn the tide. His refreshing vision for teaching and learning emphasizes the important role of arts and cultural institutions and other community based organizations in students' success. In this thought-provoking session, Simmons exomplre some of the key factors contributing to the current state of public education in the US: the backlash against the test-driven accountability movement, the Common Core State Standards, new calls for enrichment opportunities, and the need to expand learning time. He then shares key principles behind what the Annenberg Institute for School Reform calls "Smart Education Systems."

Every organization needs a plan that takes an all-hazards approach to readiness, which means anticipating a wide spectrum of possibilities — natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, fire, acts or threats of violence, and outbreaks of serious illness. Developing a plan takes time, and both the process and the plan must be tailored to your organization’s own needs. This article offers some general guidance to help your organization address emergency preparedness.