08 May 2009
This Week from Washington — May 8
Podcast on Obama-Karzai-Zardari meetings, arts integration program
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In Washington, President Obama and other American officials say they have achieved new levels of cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the benefit of all three countries. The White House hosted meetings involving Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on May 6th. Speaking at the White House following both trilateral and bilateral meetings with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts, Obama said that much remains to be done to confront common security threats from insurgents such as the Taliban and al-Qaida, and to encourage greater economic opportunity and hope among their people.
Afghanistan’s economy needs assistance in order to grow, Obama said, and to develop alternatives to the narcotics trade. He called for the support of free and open national elections later this fall, the protection of the hard-earned rights of all Afghans, and the capacity of local governments to stand up to corruption that blocks progress.
Obama also expressed lasting support for Pakistan’s democratic institutions. The president said he has asked the U.S. Congress for sustained funding to help Pakistan’s infrastructure, such as building schools, roads and hospitals.
There is already evidence of a possible future filled with violence and despair without opportunity or hope, if al-Qaida and its allies prevail in the current struggle, according to Obama. He said that's not what the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan want or deserve. The United States has learned that we share the same security concerns, especially after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
The president warned of continued violence and setbacks, but said the United States has made a lasting commitment not only to defeat al-Qaida, but also to support Afghanistan and Pakistan’s democratically elected governments.
President Obama’s meetings with the two leaders followed an earlier high-level delegation meeting at the State Department chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. That meeting included U.S. diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic officials and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who spoke with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts on agricultural assistance, water rights, anti-erosion measures and alternative crops. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Afghan counterpart, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, signed a memorandum of understanding to achieve a trade transit agreement by the end of 2009. Clinton described the agreement as an “important milestone”. Once ratified, it will remove obstacles to the movement of goods and people across the border.
Earlier at that meeting, the secretary said the United States “deeply, deeply regret[s]” the loss of civilian life in Afghanistan in a May 5 incident that press reports have described as an airstrike that occurred in the western region of the country. Clinton said that there will be a joint investigation by the Afghani and American governments to determine the causes and circumstances of the incident.
In 1999, five school principals approached officials at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. They asked for help to establish a school-wide focus on integrating arts into their schools’ teachings. The schools and the Kennedy Center — which in addition to being a performing arts center is a national cultural and educational institution — worked together to design the Changing Education through the Arts program. Today, the program offers a model for both arts integration in schools and professional development for teachers.
What is arts integration? When they began, knowing how to answer that question was the biggest challenge for teachers. One answer led to a new way of learning for students at Bailey's Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia. The school’s third-grade students first explored concepts and vocabulary shared by dance and science. They also studied energy, patterns and cycles, and then they created a dance that applied their experience.
Fourth-grade students at Bailey’s read and discussed information about slavery abolitionists and then engaged in activities such as analyzing slavery themes in visual art, writing poems and staging a short theatrical performance.
Controlled comparison studies have shown that students participating in the program show significant improvement in academic achievement not related to art — including test scores in English and history — and student effort has also increased, according to the school district’s Web site. As of 2008, 10 Fairfax County schools with over 4,700 students were participating in the program.
Today, at most of the participating schools, the program has reached a new level, according to school officials. Many teachers are integrating arts with other subjects on a regular basis. They are also collaborating more with each other and especially with arts specialists at their schools. Student engagement and motivation to learn has risen. English-language learners and special education students benefit even more from arts integration.
Teachers not already at a participating school can take courses or workshops led by experienced teaching artists at the Kennedy Center. The center offers about 60 courses and workshops as part of the program. Teachers usually attend as a team, participating in courses that focus on integrating dance, drama, music, visual arts, poetry and storytelling with language arts, social studies, science and mathematics.
The arts integration program continues to evolve and expand. Right now, there is a waiting list of schools interested in joining. The Kennedy Center just hosted a national conference with school representatives from across the country. The conference included tips on how each school can modify the program so that it can be successful in local situations.
No matter how a school structures its program, ultimately it’s all about helping students learn.
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