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Meeting Recap | DC Collaborative's Spring Membership Meeting: Celebration Edition

On Tuesday, May 3, members and collaborators joined together for DC Collaborative's Spring Membership Meeting: Celebration Edition. The Spring Edition of the Member Meeting focused on Executive Director Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe’s new career opportunity, the contributions and progress of our staff members, and the bright and promising future of the DC Collaborative.

Meeting Next Steps and Resources

Register on DC Co-lab Community Portal

Complete the Collective Impact Survey

Sign up for DC Co-lab Committees

Contact Elizabeth for any questions you may have regarding DC Co-Lab!

Meeting Detail

The meeting began with a DC Collaborative welcome and agenda review from DC Collaborative Executive Director Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe. The agenda moved on to a reflection on Lissa’s work and impact by Barbara Stauffer and an announcement of Lissa’s farewell present. Barbara and Anita Doutt then outlined the next steps in the transition and executive search, stating they would be selecting the firm who would help them conduct the search and move forward from there.

In addition, the following staff members have received promotions:

Ashlee has been promoted to Director of Education Programs

Wendy has been promoted to Director of Community Engagement

Elizabeth’s title has been changed to Impact Strategy Associate

Education Programs

Ashlee McKinnon provided an overview of our education programs. This year, DC Collaborative offered 29 synchronous programs, 83 distance learning programs and five professional development programs from our Program Catalogue. This resulted in a very impactful year, allowing the Collaborative to provide 116 programs offered by 43 organizations, serving 60 schools in all 8 Wards.

Hannah Slattery, education programs consultant, then outlined the progress of our Teaching Artist Fellowship. This year we have three cohorts of fellows, all participating in four workshops over the course of approximately six weeks. The theme this year is Social and Emotional Learning in the context of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Education Programs Assistant Lauren Walker then outlined our assessment activities, stating teachers will receive a $5 gift card for assessments, with a maximum of $15 per teacher (assessments for 3 education programs) for each assessment that 50% (or more) of their students complete. The last day to complete assessments will be Friday, May 20.  Therefore, members who requested assessment reports will receive it by June 10th.

Membership and Communications

Our new expanded and clarified member benefits package was introduced by Penelope Musto.

Our new membership packages features:

Maximized Reach to DC Public Educators and Students

Robust Communications Package

Enhanced Networking Opportunities

To further outline our communications efforts, Social Media & Communications Consultant Jamila Johnson encouraged members to participate in Member Takeover and exposure opportunities, highlighting DC Collaborative’s expansive social media networks.

DC Co-Lab: DC Collaborative's Community Collaboration and Data Initiatives, DCColab.org

Director of Community Engagement Wendy Wang Pisa and Impact Strategy Associate Elizabeth Winkelhoff then went on to address challenges Co-Lab was facing and how they’re responding to feedback. They also unveiled the purposes of the committees and their new structure. 

Updates for this year based on your recommendations:

The Collective Impact Survey deadline has been extended to May 31st!

We hope to hear more from Teaching Artists, Cultural Institutions, Dance Groups, and Literature Groups.

$20 rewards are being given out to participants of the survey who complete all four sections ($5 for each individual section)

Elizabeth is available to meet and chat with anyone who has questions or may need assistance here!

After the data collection period is over, the data team will work on organizing the data for redistribution to the community over the summer, and then our committees will meet at the start of the school year to analyze the data and provide context through the Equity and Justice lens.

Meeting participants were then asked, "What would you like to see the Collaborative do for the next 25 years?"

Below are the five responses with the highest upvotes.

[Have a] dedicated line item in DC Government Budget for an Arts and Humanities Transportation Fund. - Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe

[Have] student representatives on Board. - Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe

[Host] district-wide conferences on the state of the arts and humanities in education. - Ashlee McKinnon

Build a strong community of Teaching Artists and effective links between TA and organization/schools. - Sylvia Z

Illustrate the impact of arts and humanities on student success and happiness in schools! - Elizabeth Winkelhoff

DC Collaborative Ended the Meeting With Gratitude to Lissa!

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Meeting Recap | DC Collaborative Annual Membership Meeting: Launching DC Co-lab

Submitted by: Conrad Shartel, DC Collaborative Education Programs Intern Date: 11/16/2021

Meeting Summary

On Wednesday, November 10, 50 members and collaborators attended the DC Collaborative's Annual Membership Meeting: Launching DC Co-lab. DC Co-lab, the DC Collaborative’s Community Collaboration and Data Initiatives platform, uses data as a tool to garner feedback about programs, create conversations between community stakeholders, and monitor and demonstrate the impact of our programs in the DC area.

The meeting began with an DC Collaborative welcome and agenda review from DC Collaborative Executive Director Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe. The agenda moved to the Board of Directors Governance segment where Barbara Stauffer, President of the Board of Directors, led participants through voting on new Board members and officers. This portion of the meeting concluded with a special thank you to a Linda Harper (previous president), Greg McGruder (previous Vice President) and Terry Thomas (previous secretary) who are stepping off the Board at the end of their terms.

A financial and programmatic highlight was shared and then Tracey Wyton detailed the evolution of the DC Collaborative's Community Collaboration & Data Initiatives. Wendy Wang Pisa, DC Collaborative's Community Engagement Manager then led participants through a live registration and led a virtual tour of the DC Co-lab. Participants got to hear from Dr. Danielle Boyce, DC Collaborative's Data Science Advisor, about her work with the DC Collaborative and the data webinar series presented by DC Collaborative's Assessment and Evaluation Subcommittee.

Mary Lambert of DCPS Arts presented findings from DCPS arts' recent data analytics, completed in partnership with the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation and presented on how best to partner with DCPS Arts.

The meeting concluded Anita Doutt, DC Collaborative Board of Directors Vice President reviewing meeting next steps and resources (below) and adjourning the meeting.

Meeting Next Steps and Resources

Register on DC Co-lab

Complete the Surveys and Peruse the Platform

Register for the Webinar: How to be a Data-Driven Leader with Dr. Data Diva Danielle!

Sign up for DC Co-lab Committees

View Meeting Handouts/ Resources

Meeting Detail

Board of Directors Updates

The board welcomed 2 new members to the team during this meeting: Laure Sprinkle Byerly of KPMG and Kathryn Keane of National Geographic. The vote was passed during the meeting, making the pair officially on the board for the DC Collaborative. The slate of officers was also renewed by vote, and is now made up of: Barbara Stauffer (National Museum of National History- Smithsonian Institution) as President, Anita Doutt (Finance and Audit Professional) as Vice President, Kent Withycombe (The Washington Lawyers' Committee) as Secretary, and Laure Sprinkle Byerly (KPMG) as Treasurer. DC Collaborative is excited to welcome these new members to the Board, and the Slate of Officers. Linda Harper, Greg McGruder, and Terry Thomas have been pillars of our community and of DC Collaborative, and while we are sad to see them go, we are glad to have had the opportunity to work with them for 9+ years.

Financial and Programmatic Updates

This section summarizes some statistics regarding our interactions with schools in the DC area. View the Report.

DC Co-Lab: DC Collaborative's Community Collaboration and Data Initiatives, DCColab.org

Tracey Alperstein Wyton, Deputy Director, introduced DC Co-lab by sharing that Community Collaboration is and always has been the core of the DC Collaborative's mission. The DC Collaborative was formed out of the community's need- equitable access and high quality arts/ humanities education for students in the public education system. Tracey emphasized that students are at the center of are work and we serve the community by providing them high quality resources with equity. She also shared that the DC Co-lab was formed out of feedback from members, educators, other community stakeholders regarding the need to frame our work better and provide more ease when collecting data and garnering feedback.

Community Engagement Manager, Wendy Wang Pisa then showcased DC Co-lab and defined its purpose:

providing a platform for our community to garner feedback

initiating meaningful conversations

measuring reach, engagement, and impact of our community's learning opportunities

enhancing strategic planning with data

bridging further collaboration and partnerships based on our shared mission

Participants registered live on the platform as she walked them platform's features. Wendy described in detail the "Community Collaboration Portal", where community members can submit data, view upcoming events, take part in DC Co-lab Committee work, and communicate their ideas through platform proposals.

Other features of the platform include:

"Who We Are" segment of the site describing the DC Collaborative as an organization and its role in the community and a glossary of terms.

"House of Data" showcasing data vizzes, examples of data collected, and other data infographics and analytics.

"Connect with Us" page wherein community members can sign up for committees and to receive communications

Webinar: How to be a Data-Driven Leader with Dr. Data Diva Danielle

Wendy Wang Pisa introduce Dr. Danielle Boyce as the DC Collaborative's new Data Science Advisor. Dr, Boyce is a researcher, public speaker, and patient advocate. Her work is featured in multiple scientific journals, and her kids book is used in children’s hospitals across the country.

Please join us!

Dr. Data Diva Danielle is hosting a webinar series presented by the DC Collaborative's Assessment/ Evaluation Subcommittee. The first webinar taking place December 4, at 1 PM, is entitled "How to be a Data-Driven Leader with Dr. Data Diva Danielle". The webinar will entail how to people are already utilizing data to problem solve and how organizations can utilize data in storytelling. Anyone who wants to become data-driven in their work or to understand data better should attend! RSVP Today

The second program in the series is a BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Data) Workshop, where participants can get feedback and help understanding their data from actual case studies. This will take place on February 2, 2022 and registration will be announced soon!

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Equity and Access in the Arts: How Arts Organizations Can Learn from the Pandemic

Submitted by: Penelope Musto, DC Collaborative School Partnerships Intern July 14, 2021

As an advocate for accessibility in the arts, I have thought a lot about the role of equity and what it truly means for an organization to be equitable. That begins with recognizing that the term “Equity” is defined differently than the term “Equality”. While it may seem like a mere semantic difference, these concepts and their applications are critically different.

Equality attempts to overcome barriers by treating everyone the same; it tries to promote fairness and often is utilized with the best intentions, but relies on the assumption that everyone is coming from the same place and needs the same support to be successful. Equity, on the other hand, acknowledges the existing baseline inequalities, and recognizes that different types of support will be more beneficial for different people or groups. It recognizes that success for everyone is contingent on leveling the playing field rather than simply treating everyone the same. Using the graphic below as an example, an equality driven approach to resolving the accessibility barrier of the tall tree was to give both people ladders of the same height. While a good intentioned idea, this solution failed to recognize the shape of the tree, and one person is still left behind. However, the equity driven solution acknowledges the bend in the tree and provides both people with ladders the exact height they need to reach the branches.

Image Source: Tony Ruth’s Giving Tree art of justice/equality/equity

While both strategies are important, we can see that equality without equity will always leave some people out. Most importantly, though equity works well to bring people to the same level, it is still not the ideal solution to overcoming systemic barriers. In fact, dissolving barriers is not the goal at all. Ideally, the end goal of equity work is justice: the removal of systemic barriers, leaving a world with equal access where all people can engage. The last panel shows this ideal solution. The tree is propped up from both sides, so that both people can succeed without the need for accommodations.

I believe that equity in the arts is of the utmost importance. Throughout all of my educational and professional arts experiences, it has been proven to me that the arts are an immensely important and powerful tool. As a music student at a college truly immersed in the arts, I witnessed the ways that participation and consumption of the arts can be pricelessly beneficial. And yet, it is clear to me that the right people need to be in the room to achieve that full potential, and that a lack of accessibility is a major roadblock holding back the worlds of good that the arts can provide. Unlike the tall tree example that had clear and simple solutions, accessibility barriers in the real world take many forms, making it even more challenging for the arts to be truly equitable and accessible to all people. While equity and accessibility in the arts were of critical importance before the COVID-19 pandemic, it is nothing to their importance now. In many ways, the pandemic has been the biggest accessibility challenge of them all: How can the arts be accessible for everyone, when no one can leave their house? After well over a year of online programming, arts organizations have been forced to pivot and reach their audiences in new and innovative ways. Now that everyone was unable to attend events in the traditional sense, accessibility became the one and only concern. This pivoting process, though obviously not ideal, forced many organizations to grapple with the accessibility challenges they had not been addressing. Many organizations found creative ways to bring their programming to audiences from home, and the show went on through the pandemic. At my last internship with Washington Performing Arts, we spent the summer pivoting all of their programming to be virtual, including their education programming. The Collaborative moved their resources online, and formed the Distance Learning Resource Database, an incredible tool that allowed educators to engage with the arts and humanities through remote learning. But like so many other areas of life in this past year, the issue of accessing the arts from home laid bare another truth; unfortunately for some people, these barriers are their everyday reality, and will continue to be so after the pandemic subsides. While people begin to return to concert halls, theaters, and stages around the world, some people still do not have that luxury. Only when that was everyone’s reality was that barrier truly exposed. And so the essential question remains: How much of what we have built this past year around equity and accessibility will remain? For many people, the accessibility measures and creative presentation methods during the pandemic allowed them to access arts events in ways they normally could not. Online programming, though a necessary evil for some, is a priceless opportunity for people facing a wide variety of equity and accessibility barriers. How can we as arts professionals reopen our spaces, and continue to serve those people for whom the arts have only recently been made accessible?

Unfortunately, I do not have the solution, but as both an artist and an arts professional, I am certain that everyone deserves equitable access to the arts, and we are still far from that reality. It is clear that we cannot return to the way things were before the pandemic, but it is equally as hard to predict how best to move forward during this time of rebuilding. Using an equity and justice framework moving forward will be a critical rst step. Intentional efforts to distribute resources equitably and make the arts accessible are critical steps in the right direction. Quieted voices need to be heard and people left at the door need to be let in. Art holds the power to do that, but only if all people can experience it first hand.

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Recap: Creative Spark! Orientation

Submitted by: Karin Nilo, DC Collaborative Evaluation and Teaching Artist Initiatives Intern July 1, 2021

Meeting Resources Orientation PowerPoint MoU Background Check Info

Meeting Summary On Wednesday June 24, the DC Collaborative held an orientation for teaching artists participating in Celebrate the Creative Spark!, which is now entering its sixth year. Creative Spark! is designed to meet the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ (CAH) goal of developing the creative capacity of children and youth in the city. This year, the DC Collaborative will act as the liaison between teachers and Creative Spark! teaching artist awardees. It will be particularly important this year for the communities of practice involved to stay in touch throughout the summer and build connections.

To support the program, the DC Collaborative will manage outreach to schools and other youth development organizations, along with coordinating registration for participants. The Collaborative has already been advertising the program to educators and the DCPS community. Once those interested schools and organizations have registered, the Collaborative will share registration information with the teaching artists who have received Creative Spark! grants. In addition to this facilitation, the Collaborative will manage assessment, crafting post-program surveys for the teaching artists.

Working in conjunction with the Collaborative, the participating teaching artists will be responsible for scheduling and coordinating programming and logistics directly with the educators you’ve been matched with. Should there be a workshop cancellation, teaching artists will be responsible for rescheduling. In addition to the coordination, teaching artists should plan to respond to all Creative Spark! communications within 48 hours. Finally, the Collaborative requires that all teaching artists share out the assessment surveys to students prior to the end of your program. We recommend that teaching artists build time into the end of your programs to fill out the assessment surveys with students. This is especially important for younger students who may have difficulty completing the surveys on their own time. This data will be sent to you in real time and will help you improve your practice, while also providing valuable feedback to the Collaborative and DC Commission.

It’s also important to note that should teachers have specific accessibility requirements, teaching artists are expected to make appropriate accommodations. We recommend beginning these conversations with your matched teachers as soon as possible to ensure that you can make appropriate preparations to meet each students’ needs and provide high quality programming. Should you need assistance in securing accessibility accommodations, please contact the Collaborative and we’ll be happy to assist.

Finally, each teaching artist will receive an MoU from the Collaborative to ensure that all responsibilities are understood and that teaching artists understand the expectations for making sure that the (virtual) classroom is a safe space for all involved. Additionally, anyone who conducts two or more synchronous sessions with DCPS students must complete a background check. The resources for completing the background check can be found here.

The DC Collaborative is excited to facilitate connections between you and the educators you are paired with this summer! Should you have any questions about Creative Spark! or information covered during orientation, please contact our Special Projects Consultant Kai Alexis at Kai@dccollaborative.org.

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Recap of Membership Meeting: Gratitude Edition

Submitted by Chin Wai (Rosie) Wong, DC Collaborative Membership & Social Media Communications Intern

June 30, 2021

Meeting Resources:

Meeting Notes 

Meeting Recording - In case you missed it! 

Meeting Powerpoint

DCPS Arts Website

GENESIS Virtual Campus 

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Website

American Alliance for Theatre Education Website 

DC Collaborative Community Glossary

Creative Spark Registration

July Membership Newsletter Submission

August Membership Newsletter Submission

Meeting Summary:

On Tuesday, June 22, the DC Collaborative held a virtual Gratitude Meeting for members, staff, board members, and the committees to share updates and gratitude for the collaboration. The meeting began with an opening message from DC Collaborative Executive Director Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe. Participants received updates from DCPS Arts, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Education Programming, Steering Committee, Equity & Justice Subcommittee, Assessment & Evaluation Subcommittee, and the DC Co-Lab. Subsequently, the updates were followed by a meeting adjournment in which Lissa expressed her gratitude for all the effort of the board, committees, staff, and members, and shared her vision of a better-informed arts and humanities education of practice in the following year. Before the meeting came to an end, participants engaged in a networking session where they shared the highlights of their work this year.

DCPS Arts Updates:

DCPS Arts Director Mary Lambert expressed her gratitude for collaborative members who have helped make arts activities possible for students in the 2020-2021 academic year. One highlight that reflects the success of arts and humanities is the virtual reality GENESIS x Hirshhorn Museum, which showcases over 1,000 pieces of art submitted by students. The design of the museum is inspired by the nature and urban scenes in DC, and participants are able to enjoy their visit through an immersive 3D experience. This project has brought together students’ diverse voices as well as the unique views of DC. Mary also shared their 2021-22 plan, which includes in-person and virtual learning, before- and after-school programs, ESSER funds to support school reopening, current guidelines for the fall, students in grades 3-12 having 1:1 devices, class schedules back to normal, and new clearance requirements. External field trips will be planned accordingly after more research of covid exposure, vaccination, and transportation is conducted throughout the summer and when teachers feel more comfortable in physical space. Moving forward, DCPS Arts stands by CDC guidelines and continues to strive for providing safe and rewarding learning experiences for students. 

As a part of the District of Columbia Public Schools, Office of Teaching and Learning, DCPS Arts works closely with all teachers, staff, and principals in the area of visual art, music, and performing art programs within the DC Public Schools. 

For more information, please contact Mary Lambert at mary.lambert@k12.dc.gov or visit their website at https://www.artsdcps.com. 

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Updates: 

Experienced in arts administration with a passion for education, Alorie Clark has served the nonprofit arts sector for more than ten years. In today’s Membership Meeting: Gratitude Edition at DC Collaborative, she noted grant applications designed to support organizations and individual practitioners in arts and humanities education, and the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) National Conference. 

For more detailed information, please contact Alorie Clark at alorie.clark@dc.gov.

For DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities upcoming events, please visit: https://dcarts.dc.gov. 

For 2021 AATE National Conference registration and more about AATE, please visit: https://www.aate.com/2021.

Education Programming Updates:

The Education Programming team at DC Collaborative shared their achievement in the past academic year. First, the School Partnerships Manager Ashlee McKinnon thanked students, schools, and teachers for collaborating with DC Collaborative, supporting our programs, and sharing the same value as arts education providers by prioritizing students’ development and keeping arts and humanities education alive.

The Education Programs Manager at DC Collaborative Tres McMichael summarized the statistics of AHFES and celebrated the successful collaboration with consistent providers who made innovative programs and workshops possible for our students all over the District. AHFES recognizes the importance of working collaboratively and will continue to do so in the pursuit of reaching a national and international level. 

The Evaluation and Engagement Manager BoBeen Chung and School Partnerships Manager Ashlee McKinnon presented AHFES achievement through its assessment survey from teachers and students. The testimonials are valuable in strengthening the relationship among the DC Collaborative, teachers, and students, and supporting our strategic planning for future collaborations. 

For more information, please contact:

Ashlee McKinnon at Ashlee@DCCollaborative.org

Tres McMichael at Tres@DCCollaborative.org

BoBeen Chung at Bobeen@dccollaborative.org

Steering Committee Updates: 

Deputy Director Tracey Wyton introduced the goals in the 2021 fiscal year at DC Collaborative. First, defining the community is crucial for working collectively, so we are developing this Glossary designed to have our staff, members, and committees on the same page. Moreover, we aim to articulate overarching questions to help reflect on our effort and share our best practices with other organizations. In addition, The DC Co-Lab is designed to put our data together and we are excited to invite you to participate in this strategic planning process. 

For more information, please contact Tracey Wyton at Tracey@dccollaborative.org

Equity & Justice Subcommittee Updates:

Co-chair Michelle Hoffmann and Jeanette McCune noted the prioritization of students’ and organizations’ needs by refreshing and reframing our work in accordance with social justice events. Our next step is to recognize how the pandemic has impacted people’s life experiences, to continue creating conversations in the community, and to create a new norm in this recovery stage while practicing JDEIA -- justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

If you are interested in joining the Equity & Justice Subcommittee, please contact:

Michelle Hoffmann at MHoffmann@washingtonperformingarts.org 

Jeanette McCune at JSMcCune@Kennedy-Center.org

Assessment & Evaluation Subcommittee Updates:

Assessment & Evaluation Subcommittee Co-Chair Addie Gayoso, James Mitaritonna, and Wendy Wang Pisa emphasized fostering a collaborative environment by introducing meeting agreements, establishing a collective vision shared by the committee, gathering and sharing ideas to assist in our assessment, as well as taking advantage of DC Co-Lab to enhance community engagement, data collection, and analysis.

If you are interested in the Assessment & Evaluation Subcommittee, please contact:

Wendy Wong Pisa at Wendy@dccollaborative.org 

Adrienne (Addie) Gayoso at AGayoso@nmwa.org

James Mitaritonna at James.Mitaritonna@k12.dc.gov

DC Co-Lab Introduction:

Community Partnerships Manager Wendy Wang Pisa introduced the DC Co-Lab platform designed to enhance engagement plans for DC Collaborative. It allows for data collection, data visualization, as well as better strategic planning for collaborative work. An example of the data visualization of the year 2019-20 is presented as follows. 

If you have any questions, please contact Wendy Wang Pisa at Wendy@dccollaborative.org

Networking Highlights:

When asked about the highlights of their work this year, participants shared the best practices in their organizations, which we can all reflect on and practice as we move forward. The strategies include conducting surveys of program participants, practicing flexibility and creativity in our work, being open-minded in trying new things, seeking silver linings, and bringing the genuine and honest self into work. 

You Are Invited!

Celebrate the Creative Spark to help develop the creative capacity of children and youth in the district. The registration period for educators was June 14 - June 25, but the deadline has been extended. Matched programs will be scheduled between July 12 - August 6. Link to registration:  https://dccollaborative.org/content/creative-spark

Please contact our Special Projects Consultant Kai Alexis at Kai@dccollaborative.org for questions.

Stay Connected

In spite of the off-season for school, DC Collaborative communication continues throughout the summer. Please stay in touch with us and submit the content and news that you would like to share with the community in the upcoming newsletters.

For July membership newsletter submission: https://forms.gle/Yg7VPtdi8JjXB4B58

For August membership newsletter submission: https://forms.gle/ZkQ3avBhbfmHxWmC9

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Welcome DC Collaborative Teaching Artist Fellows

The DC Collaborative is pleased to announce the 15 fellows that will participate in the inaugural Teaching Artist Fellowship Institute 2021. 

Art Brown

Chinedu Felix Osuchukwu

Eric Hilliard

Ines Dominguez Del Corral

Jeffrey Banks

Karen Morales-Chacana

Katie Macyshyn

Kevin Brown

Lauren Ellis Scott

Lionel Daniels

Magdalena 

Melissa Strova Valencia

Michael Merritt

Morgan Charéce Hall

ReChell Crowell

Funded in part by the Commission on the Arts and Humanities ‘Arts and Humanities Education Projects’ grant, the Fellowship Institute welcomes teaching artists of all levels - emerging and experienced - and selected fellows are committed to providing educational services to students in the District of Columbia. 

The fellows are divided in three cohorts led by three lead teaching artist mentors, Sylvia Zwi, Karen O. Brown, and Regie Cabico, who have been part of the fellowship planning and dedicated to developing mentorship workshops for the fellows. This year, the overarching theme of the Fellowship is increasing Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies and unpacking inherent biases present in SEL, as our recent data work found this to be the largest need for DCPS classroom teachers. 

On May 24th, the kick-off orientation took place where fellows were invited for greetings and introductions. Mary Lambert from DCPS Arts presented on the importance of Social and Emotional Learning in the classroom and provided DCPS resources on Equity Strategy and Programming.

During the first three workshops in June and July, fellows will be introduced to utilizing the Arts to advance SEL, learn techniques in SEL, and develop their own techniques and activities utilizing SEL competencies learned. The fourth workshop will take place in collaboration with DCPS teachers and educators who will provide their own experience and feedback to fellows in improving their teaching strategies and techniques for students in class. The Fellowship Institute will conclude with the award certificate ceremony and celebration on July 19th. 

Click here to learn more about this year’s lead teaching artist mentors and our fellows!

Welcome, DC Collaborative Teaching Artist Fellows!

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DC Collaborative Internship Recap

Submitted by Lauren Walker

May 27, 2021

My name is Lauren Walker (she/her/hers), the Spring 2021 Membership & Collective Impact Intern with the DC Collaborative. I graduated from the University of Richmond (Richmond, VA) in May 2019 with my B.A. in International Studies. I come from a performing arts background; I started out playing piano, and eventually switched to flute, which I continue to play. As a result of my musical training, instrumental instruction is an arts discipline that is very near and dear to me. I am based in Germantown, MD, about 25 miles outside of Washington, DC.

As the Membership & Collective Impact Intern, most of my work was split between assisting with membership services, and with the Collective Impact initiative Any Given Child DC. Within my work with membership tasks, I was able to sit in on meetings with potential members, teaching artists/practitioners, and assist with the preparation and note-taking for the ‘advocacy edition’ of the annual membership meeting in April. My work with membership services also involved drafting messaging that was sent out to member organizations.

Aside from tasks involving DC Collaborative’s membership, I spent a large amount of time providing support for Any Given Child DC (AGC DC). DC Collaborative serves as the “backbone organization” for AGC DC, and serves a unique role in providing support and guiding the strategy of the initiative. One of my first projects as an intern was helping put together the first edition of the Collective Impact newsletter. Additionally, I regularly attended meetings for the AGC DC Steering Committee, and also had the opportunity to attend subcommittee meetings. One of the projects that I found the most interesting was working on the AGC DC glossary. Aside from attending meetings, I also had the opportunity to do research on collective impact resources, and resources related to justice, equity, and anti-racism, the latter of which were included in the AGC DC glossary site. 

Throughout my internship, I was able to relearn the importance of communication. Given that all staff members worked from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this importance became even more prominent. I was also able to learn about new aspects of governance. Being part of a smaller team enabled me to get a closer look at the elements that go into managing both arts organizations and nonprofits. The aspect of governance was also present throughout collective impact. Making sure that all of the stakeholders in collective impact are on the same page is an integral task, which was evident through learning more about AGC DC. Lastly, I was able to learn more about the current arts/humanities landscape in Washington, DC. Despite having lived in the D.C. metropolitan area for most of my life, I was unaware of the amount of community-based organizations that work to provide artistic and cultural opportunities to both students and the general public.

Starting Fall 2021, I will be pursuing my Masters in Arts Management at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. In the future, I hope to do work that involves some type of artistic/cultural diplomacy, or something that involves arts and community/economic development. I believe that my experience interning at the DC Collaborative will be very valuable, especially in regards to making sure that equity and community voices are always centralized.

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Collective Impact Resource Feature: Impacts of Arts Education

Submitted by Lauren Walker, Membership and Collective Impact Intern, Spring 2021

May 26, 2021

(Source: EdVestors, 2021)

A recently published study titled “The Arts Advantage: Impacts of Arts Education on Boston Students” examines how access to arts education can influence various “student social-emotional and academic outcomes, as well as parent and teacher perspectives”  (1). This study was launched by BPS Arts Expansion, a partnership led by the Boston Public Schools Visual and Performing Arts Department and EdVestors, a non-profit organization based in Boston. As part of their Collective Impact initiative, these two entities brought in “local foundations, the [Boston] school district, arts organizations, higher education institutions, and the Mayor’s Office” in their work of creating a sustainable arts education strategy (1). 

The authors of the study emphasize that, in general, there is a lack of data-based research that adequately demonstrates the importance of access to arts education; they state that “in the absence of of robust evidence demonstrating the value of arts education, it is often the first subject to be cut when education policymakers are faced with difficult decisions regarding how they allocate educational resources” (1). However, there is increasing research that demonstrates how “arts learning opportunities” can improve both the overall academic abilities of students, in addition to social-emotional skills, which the authors describe as “policy-relevant educational outcomes” (2). 

The study took place over 11 school years (2008-2019), and included over 600,000 K-12 students in the Boston Public School system. The researchers used the school-level data “to examine the effects of variations in students’ arts resources and learning opportunities” (2). Rather than comparing students who engaged in arts courses with students who did not, students were compared to themselves: “the main analytical strategy employed...is estimating changes within, rather than across...relative to their own changes in arts education participation” (2). 

The differences in “students’ arts resources and learning opportunities” enabled the researchers to correlate “social-emotional and academic outcomes” with the presence of arts education (3). There were three main findings from the study:

The researchers found that when students were enrolled in arts classes, there were “positive effects on student attendance”, and had a strong impact on students who had “a history of chronic absenteeism” (3).

When students were enrolled in arts classes, school engagement amongst both parents and teachers increased. There was a higher incidence of teacher reports of increased effort in schoolwork by their students, and parents were more involved in their children’s schools.

Increased arts exposure had “mixed effects on test scores” (3). The trend showed an upwards shift in test scores for mathematics and language arts. This trend was more present in middle school students than elementary school students.

(Source: EdVestors, 2021)

The findings enabled the researchers to come to the conclusion that “students receiving the arts in school attend more, are more engaged with learning...and their parents are more likely to participate in school activities” (3). As a result, increased opportunities for arts learning can be helpful in creating healthier school environments. While there is more research to be done on this subject, the researchers state that this evidence can “help inform decision-making for administrators and policy-makers when it comes to the...allocation of resources for arts educational opportunities” (4). 

(Source: EdVestors, 2021)

Much of collective impact includes measuring the effect of the work on our intended audiences. Within Any Given Child DC, our audience consists of students and communities linked to DC Public schools and public charter schools. Data collection and analysis is essential to the work of collective impact, and the study that was carried out by BPS Arts Expansion demonstrates how data is useful in understanding the impacts that access to arts education/arts learning experiences can have on students, teachers, and the overall school community. The DC Collaborative looks to Boston Public Schools as a resource for demonstrating successful, tangible outcomes from an 11 year Collective Impact model. 

Resources:

Collective Impact Resources

The Arts Advantage: Impacts of Arts Education on Boston Students (Complete Report)

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Establishing Governance in Collective Impact

Submitted by Lauren Walker, Membership & Collective Impact Intern

May 4, 2021

On March 31, FSG and the Collective Impact Forum held a webinar titled “How to Embed Clear Roles and Responsibilities across Your Collective Impact Governance”. The hosts of the webinar, Ebele Anidi and Jennifer Splansky Juster, explained in detail some of the roles that are common in collective impact initiatives, some of the challenges that come along with establishing governance, misconceptions surrounding the role of the backbone organization, and suggested ways for “enhancing coordination” and effectively undertaking the work of the given initiative.

The graphic above demonstrates the relationship between an initiative’s Steering Committee, Backbone Organization, and additional Working Groups. Working Groups are described as a tool that enables people to “come together in smaller subsets” and “work on specific priority topics”. These smaller groups enable more people to participate and engage in the collective impact work. Backbone organizations guide and facilitate both the Steering Committee and the different working groups. All three entities are essential to “moving the work forward”. The arrows in this graphic represent how communication flows across the infrastructure of the collective.

The hosts provide the following tips for “effectively managing” the initiative and it’s infrastructure:

Establishing “clear, collectively established expectations of roles held by different organizations and individuals”

Establishing working norms

Paying attention to effective communication (ie. what are the best practices for communication?)

Recurring engagement in group reflection as a way to nurture trust and build respect (ie. are we living up to the expectations that were initially established?)

There are also common misconceptions regarding the role of the backbone organization that the hosts address:

The backbone organization sets the agenda. The host uses the analogy of a quarterback on a football team in describing how the backbone organization should function. The role of the quarterback is integral to the success of the team, but they are not the one designing the plays. Rather, it is the quarterback’s job to understand the playbook and make sure that the team “advances down the field”.

The backbone organization is the only entity that is responsible for driving the solutions. In reality, the backbone organization should be in a position that provides support to all other aspects of the collective.

The backbone organization receives all the funding. The host makes the point that “transparency regarding funding is critical”, and that the backbone organization Should function to mobilize resources and help other partners understand how funding should be allocated and managed.

The backbone organization is self-appointed rather than selected by the community. The backbone organization is chosen through a specific process that can differ based on the community/initiative. The DC Collaborative was identified by DCPS Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities,  received a multitude of Support Letters from members of the community of practice, and went through a screening process for the Kennedy Center’s Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child initiative.

The hosts continue the webinar by listing “8 principles of practice”, which are shown in the image above. Among the 8 principles that are listed, they explain the following principles in more depth:

Priority placed on equity. This approach to equity should be put into practice both internally and externally.

Inclusion of community members and centering of community voices. This is a necessary step in making sure that it is truly the ‘community’ that makes up the collective initiative. The hosts describe this process as “embedding community ownership in the fabric of your initiative.”

Building a culture that fosters relationships, trust, and respect. This requires the redefinition of power dynamics, and establishing new trust that might not have existed before.

Customization for local context. This involves understanding that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach or solution.

Along with going over governance strategies for our work with AGC DC, we would like to take this opportunity/time to conduct a pulse check. Are we living up to our stated values? What are some accountability measures that could be utilized to make sure that we are staying on track with our work? What are some aspects from this webinar that can be applied to our present and future work? What are some terms/roles that could benefit from clarity?

As a part of additional resources, FSG provides a graphic describing 21 ways of facilitating group reflection. The second resource comes from TRG (Training Resources Group), and their decision-making gradient. Another decision-making protocol is the ‘Stoplight Approach’. The steps of decision-making are correlated to the color of stoplights: 

Green means that everyone is on the same page regarding a decision

Yellow means that we can move forward while still refining certain aspects

Red means that not everyone is on board, and that the decision should be returned to a full group discussion.

Resources:

Webinar Link

Webinar PPT Slides

Team Decision Making: The Gradients of Agreement

Facilitating Intentional Group Learning

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Recap of Membership Meeting: Advocacy Edition

Submitted by Lauren Walker, DC Collaborative Membership & Collective Impact Intern

April 23, 2021

Meeting Resources:

Meeting Notes

DC Collaborative Testimony Tips

DCPS Arts PPT

dcpsbudget.com

OST Coalition Resources- more coming soon!

Teaching Artist Resources

Public Speaking Resources

Testimony Samples

FY2021 Performance Oversight

Arts Education Roundtable: October 30, 2019: DC Collaborative Team

FY2021 Budget Hearing

Post-event survey

E-list topic survey

RSVP for Advocacy Workshop II

On Thursday, April 15, the DC Collaborative held a virtual Advocacy Meeting. The meeting began with an opening message from DC Collaborative Board Member Linda Harper. Participants received updates from DCPS Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Afterwards, attendees were invited to participate in breakout groups in order to draft talking points that would facilitate the preparation of testimonies for the upcoming FY22 DC Council Budget Hearings.

Updates from DCPS Arts:

Katy Weatherly of DCPS Arts delivered updates on programming for the Spring and Summer, as well the steps that DCPS is taking to return to in-person instruction. DCPS plans for all students to return to in-person instruction for Fall 2021. Currently, students are required to maintain at least 3 feet of social distance; students who participate in band, theatre, and/or choir are required to maintain at 10 feet of distance. 

DCPS Budget

Katy also discussed DCPS’ FY22 budget in detail (available at dcpsbudget.com). $33 million will be allocated towards prioritizing student learning acceleration and social-emotional support; $27 million will be dedicated to technology for both students and teachers; $10 million will be allocated towards support for students, families, and schools; $9 million will be going towards in-person learning innovations. Several allocation line items changed in the budget, including budgeting for arts education. Funds for arts education (arts supplies, music supplies, PE supplies, science supplies) will be determined at the discretion of principals at each individual school. In the past these arts education funds were mandatory (L2 Flexible with Petition); however, in the FY22 budget, this has been changed to L3 Fully Flexible. The DCPS Arts team is not completely sure what this means for arts education funding at the school level. 

The team is also preparing for the DCPS’ district-wide arts showcase, which will take place this Summer (more information available at artsdcps.com/2021-dcps-arts-experience). For the summer, DCPS Arts is in the process of developing a modern visual art/music list that is diverse and representative of all students. They will also be holding Teacher Advisory groups and Summer workshops for teachers. Lastly, they are developing resources on social-emotional learning (SEL) for students, and working with partners to coordinate both in-person and virtual experiences.

Updates from the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities:

Alorie Clark of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities provided updates on preliminary planning for FY22. Most of the standard grant programs for FY22 will be launched in May; this includes the Arts/Humanities Fellowship. The Commission also hopes to bring back the DAHI Field Trip Initiative this year. The potential of having a town hall meeting between the Commission and DCPS was also briefly discussed. The Commission will also be partnering with DC Collaborative for the Celebrating Creative Spark Initiative this summer. This initiative will connect teaching artists with schools. DC public schools and public charter schools will be able to indicate which teaching artists they would like to have in their schools.

Breakout Group Report:

Out-of-school time/Community Based Arts Organizations

Participants in the Out-of-school time breakout group mainly discussed the financial challenges in serving teachers and students in the DC public education system. There is a need for both one-time funding and multi-year funding, in addition to transparency in funding. They also discussed the challenges of budgeting when the amount of money you will have is unknown.

View Out-of-school Time Jamboard

Teaching Artists/Practitioners

Participants in the Teaching Artists/Practitioners breakout room discussed the importance of their roles in the classroom, the industry as a whole, and the economic vitality of the city. They also discussed the possibility of training on how to become a teaching artist. One challenge that they mentioned was making sure that teaching artists are paid in a timely manner.

View Teaching Artist/Practitioner Notes

Arts Organizations/Cultural Institutions

The Arts Organizations/Cultural institutions breakout room discussed the support that they would like to receive from DCPS, and in general. The participants agreed that their dream would be to have $1 million every organization. They would like to receive support for professional development, technology, and potentially having a theatre/performance representative on the DCPS Arts team. It would also be helpful to receive funding for general operations and virtual programs, in addition to assistance in communicating the value of arts/humanities to school leaders.

View Arts/Cultural Orgs. Jamboard

Preparing for Testimonies:

As the Mayor’s Office will not release the budget for FY2022 until May 27, the hearing schedule has been pushed back. Despite this setback, it will allow more time for testimony preparation. Please view the following resources on testimony preparation, public speaking, past testimony examples, and the FY2022 Budget Oversight Hearing Schedule.

Future Meeting Date

We will be holding a meeting on Wednesday, May 12, 3:00-4:15 p.m., in order to further develop testimony talking points. RSVP today!

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Recap: Creating Connections in Arts Education

Submitted by: BoBeen Chung, DC Collaborative, Cynthia Gertsen, Ford’s Theatre; James Mitaritonna, DCPS; Krystle Seit, Commission on the Arts and Humanities; Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe, DC Collaborative; Tracey Wyton, DC Collaborative  3/19/2021

Meeting Resources:

Directory

Upcoming Events, Programs and Funding Opportunities (view below)

Post-event Survey

Gratitude to those who attended the event and for all educators who are making such a big difference in the lives of DC students in a time of global crisis. We applaud your efforts and strive to make it easier for you to do what you do, inspire, engage, and educate children. Please see some event takeaways and resources below.

Ideas and Takeaways

Topic: Community Partnerships

It’s important to remember that community partnerships should be collaborative, between the teaching artists/arts organization and the partner. Try to give both sides a voice in the planning and implementation. The pandemic has shifted things dramatically. Currently, schools mostly want resources from partners due to time limitations. It might be helpful to do a survey of teachers/schools interested and ready to partner, so that community partners don’t expend too much time and energy researching that. It’s difficult to get into schools even in normal times, so knowing what schools are likely to respond positively would be great. Funding is always a challenge!

Topic: Virtual Program Development

Participants discussed how virtual learning has it’s challenges but also has presented creative solutions to engaging learning

The walls of the school are no longer limited to your neighborhood. Students, artists, and educators are able to connect with others easily across the country and around the world.

There are many different ways that you can “animate your box” with creative activities

At home, students as well as educators may be more vulnerable and comfortable.  This can help engage in art in new and exciting ways

Some students have had their lights dimmed being at home this long.

Equity in classroom practices is required. There are still barriers to access.

Topic: Distance Learning for Students with Disabilities

Hidden disabilities are significant during these times. Students and educators need more emotional supports for learning and living and adapting physical work to more visual and audible learning. 

Several artists new to teaching, suggested looking at DC Collaborative Teaching Artists Fellowship and the Commission on the Arts and Humanities Creative Spark!

One on one learning in digital space is important for students with various learning disabilities

Disabilities vary greatly. Approaches are unique. Important to have communication with teachers and parents.

Participants noted that most work has shifted to more social emotional learning and for writing - reflective writing.

Students and educators are zoomed out. Engage with statements rather than questions.

Great free resource:

Smithsonian Access: Access@si.edu, 202-633-2921

Topic: Social Emotional Learning

When your work or artform involves drawing on personal information and/or stories, how do we establish the trust needed in this virtual setting? While some folks can make themselves available to listen and chat, it is also important to set clear boundaries.

Focusing on building resiliency, confidence, ingenuity, and creativity can be just as important, if not moreso, than teaching and building technical skills of the art form. They are still skills nonetheless.

We sometimes forget, it can be hard to be a kid, and right now it is even harder.

Seeing students at-home, in their space gives us a fuller sense of what they may be going through and what they need from their teachers.

Topic: Measuring the Success/ Impact of your Virtual Program

Participants highlighted the need for flexibility within virtual programs, and ensuring that they are keeping the student/participant first.

On format and structure, many participants mentioned the value of online platforms such as Zoom, Padlet, Windows Movie Maker, and Slides. They also referenced the importance of length of programming– shorter for younger learners, etc.

Participants found student-led programs to be really successful and often aided in sustained engagement.

The silver lining that COVID-19 brought was referenced. Participants shared that the circumstances afforded them the ability to take a deeper dive into their art form and gave them the unforeseen opportunity to learn more about virtual programming and spend time delving into a new technique.

Upcoming Events, Programs, and Funding Opportunities

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

May 3: Arts and Humanities Education and Fellowship Programs

March 29: Creative Spark Initiative for Individual Artists

April 29: The Joys, Challenges, and Opportunities of Virtual Learning

Spring 2021: Teaching Artist Workshop on Students with Disabilities

More information can be found at https://dcarts.dc.gov/.

DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative

School-based educators: March 22: DC Collaborative Spring AHFES Teacher Registration Launch

The Spring Arts and Humanities for Every Student Program Catalogue is here! With over 100+ programs from over 50 cultural institutions, there is something suitable for Early Childhood students through Adult learning. All programs are virtual and asynchronous. Registration for Spring 2021 AHFES Programming will occur in 3 Cycles. Educators will have 2 weeks of open registration to complete the Spring 2021 School Access Form. The dates of each registration cycle are:

Cycle 1: Monday March 22- Sunday, April 4 (for programs to use in April)

Cycle 2: Monday, April 19- Sunday, May 2 (for programs to use in May)

Cycle 3: Monday, May 17- Monday, May 31 (for programs to use in June)

Each registration cycle allows you to choose up to 3 programs per week of the following month. After the closing date of each cycle, teachers should expect to receive all requested programs approximately 2 days prior to the week selected on the form.  Please watch our tutorial video for a step by step guide. You can also download our AHFES Cheat Sheet for future reference.  Please email Schools@dccollaborative.org if you have any questions. 

Organization Administrators: March 30: DC Collaborative AHFES Feedback Session

The DC Collaborative Programming Committee would like to invite all Fall and Winter AHFES practitioners to join us for a feedback session on March 30th at 10:00 am, to explore needs and solutions for the future.

The hour-long discussion will center our primary question: Moving forward, what would you need from the collaborative to help support your virtual AHFES programming?

Meeting Agenda:

Review of current thinking regarding AHFES for fall 2021

Brainstorming suggestions and improvements in small groups

Synthesizing major themes and outcomes

If you would like to attend, please complete the following registration form. Once completed you will receive the Zoom link, prior to the meeting. For additional questions or concerns, email Tres at tres@dccollaboarative.org.

Teaching Artists/ Practitioners: April 2: DC Collaborative Teaching Artist Fellowship Institute Application Deadline

We are happy to announce an exciting opportunity - the DC Collaborative Teaching Artist Fellowship to foster a community of teaching artists/ practitioners encouraging collaboration, support, and feedback. Under the leadership of the three of DC’s Lead Arts Educators serving as mentors in three cohorts of 8-10 emerging teaching artists/ practitioners, a series of four workshops will provide fellows with concrete methods to make their programming more relevant to the DCPS classroom. Upon successful completion of the fellowship program, fellows will be awarded a $160 fellowship stipend. 

Find more information on this fellowship here and apply today!

Applications due: April 2nd, 2021 at 11:59 PM EST

Gratitude

Commissioners

Thank you to the Commissioners in attendance! Reach out to alorie.clark@dc.gov for more information about connecting with them!

Alma Gates

Gretchen Wharton

Maria Rooney

Quanice Floyd

Rhona Wolfe Friedman

Facilitators 

Thank you to our fearless facilitators! 

Alorie Clark- Virtual Program Development 

David Markey- Distance Learning for Students with Disabilities 

Lauren Wilson-  Community Partnerships 

Jeanne Heisel- Measuring virtual impact 

Krystle Seit- Social Emotional Learning 

Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe- Distance Learning for Students with Disabilities

Cynthia Gertsen- Community Partnerships

Trés McMichael- Virtual Program Development

James Mitaritonna- Measuring virtual impact

Anysa Saleh- Social Emotional Learning 

BoBeen Chung- Event Manager

Tracey Wyton- Event Manager

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The Backbone Organization: The DC Collaborative’s Role in Collective Impact

Submitted by: Lauren Walker, DC Collaborative Membership and Collective Impact Intern  March 24, 2021

The DC Collaborative serves as the backbone organization for the Washington, D.C. community for Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child. Despite being one of the fundamental pieces of collective impact initiatives, the role and duties of the “backbone organization” are often confusing, misunderstood, or not communicated clearly.

In the article, “Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact”--published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review--the roles, common duties, and impact that backbone organizations have on collective impact initiatives are studied and explained in detail by FSG and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF). GCF served as a backbone organization for collective impact initiatives in Cincinnati, OH, and later “chose to invest in evaluating the work of a cohort of backbone organizations” in order to assess the work of backbone organizations, how they contribute to the overall success of various collective impact initiatives, and the factors that can impact their success (2). This project was developed out of a need to communicate the value of backbone organizations to community stakeholders, and why the strategy was worth pursuing (3).

The study found that there were six common activities of backbone organizations. These organizations often worked to “guide vision and strategy; support aligned activities; establish shared measurement practices; build public will; advance policy; [and] mobilize funding” (3). Depending on the phase of the collective impact initiative, a backbone organization would often focus on different activities. For example, in the initial phases, it was common for a backbone organization to “guide vision and strategy” and “support aligned activities” (3). As an organization moved further along in their collective impact work, it was common that they shifted their focus to “establish[ing] shared measurement practices,” and eventually expanding their external practices, such as seeking funding, engaging with other community members, and educating “policymakers” and “elected officials” (4).

After finishing their study, FSG and GCF came to the conclusion that the work of backbone support organizations is very distinctive, and that “individual organizations could not do the work of collective impact without backbone support” (6). The roles of backbone organizations also evolve over time to match the needs of their stakeholders, including partner organizations and the larger community. Some of the common challenges of backbone organizations and their partners include adequate evaluation and use of data, building public will, maintaining external communications, and advancing policy (6). There are also particular nuances that can affect the effectiveness of backbone organizations, such as structural opportunities, the phase of the collective impact initiative, and the capacity of the organization (7).  Lastly, FSG and GCF found that there are common attributes that are present in backbone organizations that influenced their effectiveness as leaders: “visionary; results-oriented; collaborative, relationship builder; focused, but adaptive; charismatic and influential communicator; politic; [and] humble” (7). In a similar vein, there is also the presence of “intangibles,” meaning that there is some indiscernible quality that enables backbone organizations to lead collective impact initiatives successfully (7).

To say that the needs of the community have changed post-pandemic is an understatement. In the midst of the ongoing changes and challenges, the major work of the DC Arts and Humanities Collaborative has been to clearly communicate its role as the backbone organization of Any Given Child DC, and to enhance both internal and external communications. In order to provide vision and strategy, the DC Collaborative is also working with its Steering, Equity/Justice, and Assessment/Evaluation Committees to determine community need and the relevance of community-based programming. The Equity/Justice Committee is working to determine the most pressing needs and ensure that all voices are represented in essential discussions. Simultaneously, the Assessment/Evaluation Committee is mapping who the Arts and Humanities Education Community of Practice is serving, the type of programming/services that we are collectively delivering, and identifying barriers to accessing these programs.

Quick Links:

Collective Impact Resources

Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact

DC Collaborative Website 

Stanford Social Innovation Review

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DCPS Summer School Planning Recap

Submitted by: Ashlee McKinnon, School Partnerships Manager, DC Collaborative March 9, 2021

Quick Reference Links

https://dcps.dc.gov/summer

Provider Application- Due March 22, https://dcps.dc.gov/page/school-program-provider-application

Copy of the slide deck

Recording of the presentation

vaccinate.dc.gov

Mayor’s Situational Update- March 4

Calling All Program Providers: Submit Possible Summer School Programming by March 22.

DC Public Schools is calling all program providers to participate in 2021 Summer School! Review what was covered in the Summer Learning Update general overview meeting that took place on March 8, 2021 at 3 PM.

The Provider Application is due March 22: https://dcps.dc.gov/page/school-program-provider-application

*If you do not have grant funding for this already, be sure to indicate if you need funding in the form.

Summer School Programming

Every school is required to have a plan for all grade levels.

It is not mandatory for every student to attend.

Schools can choose topics covered, curriculum, program providers and the schedule.

The main goal is for the programming to take place onsite in the schools however, enrichment programming may be virtual.

Regular Summer School Programming that takes place annually, like ELSAP, ECE Parent, and High School credit recovery will take place. The Summer Acceleration Academy is new.

Summer Acceleration Academy

The Acceleration Academy will have a focus on Social Studies and STEM but there is room for arts integration and/ or arts enrichment programming. The Academy will take place July 12- August 6 and it will be up to each individual school whether or not they schedule full day or half day programming. DCPS Central Office will be sharing resources and curriculum suggestions to all schools but it is up to each school to take that suggestion.

Program Providers can participate in the following ways:

Run programming in the afternoon for schools with half days

Support by supplementing programming in the Acceleration Academy

Note on COVID-19 Vaccination

While COVID-19 vaccination is not required, Partners who regularly come into contact with students may be vaccinated. The normal background check and finger printing process will be in place.

DCPS Meeting Resources

“Good Afternoon DCPS Partners,  

Thank you to those who were able to join DCPS’s Summer Learning Update. This email serves as a follow-up to summarize what was shared and includes a copy of the slide deck presented to the group and a recording of the presentation.

We appreciate your support as we continue to formulate plans to accelerate our students’ success and will continue to share updates as more information becomes available.

Summary DCPS is looking for partners to support our school-based Summer Acceleration Academies.  

ACTION STEP: To help guide our planning process, organizations who can support a Summer Acceleration Academy without funding from DCPS or family fees can indicate their interest in this form by March 22.  

Partners operating in collaboration with an Acceleration Academy will not have to recruit students or pay fees for rent, security or custodial services. PPE and training on DCPS safety protocols will be provided by DCPS.

Please stay tuned for more information, including:

Potential funding opportunities for School Program Providers looking to support Summer Acceleration Academies.

Potential building use opportunities for summer programming operating independently of DCPS.

Beginning this week, all individuals working in schools or licensed child care facilities are eligible to make vaccination appointments via vaccinate.dc.gov.

Please review the Mayor’s Situational Update from March 4th for details.  

More Information To help us plan future engagements and communications, please share your feedback and any additional questions you may have in this brief survey.

Please visit dcps.dc.gov/summer and dcpsreopenstrong.com for more information about DCPS’s summer plans.

Additional questions? Email DCPS.Partnerships@k12.dc.gov”

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Interning at the DC Collaborative

I am Njoud, the Winter 2020-2021 Community Partnerships Intern at the DC Collaborative. I assisted with community memberships and the data work of the Collective Impact project. My experience with interning at the Collaborative has been wonderful because of the staff, my expansion of knowledge in the Arts Education data field, and having the opportunity to speak with the organization’s career coach Simone Blanchard, whose guidance helped me set up new goals.

While working under the Community Partnerships Manager, my tasks were mainly focused on the Any Given Child DC Collective Impact work, a data mapping project focused on illustrating arts and humanities organizations’ programming in the DC public education system, ensuring that our community is operating with equity. I was responsible for data collection, member tracking, focus group administration, and focus group meeting notes. In addition to my contribution towards the Collective Impact project, I helped with updating the Collaborative’s Distance Learning Resource Database, facilitating virtual field trips, and assisting with membership tracking.

As an intern at the Collaborative, I learned that managing data can be time consuming, but the end result can be very rewarding because of the organization’s mission. In my opinion, this experience was one of the best because it is important to me that the staff works collectively as a group and supports each other along the way. I also appreciate the coaching session as it helped me shape my current and future goals working in the Arts.

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Recap of 2020 Annual Member Meeting

Submitted by Wendy Wang Pisa, Manager of Community Partnerships, DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Meeting Resources

Agenda

DC Collaborative PowerPoint

Emergency Bylaws

Anita Doutt Bio (New Board Treasurer)

DCPS PowerPoint

DCPS Updated Clearance Process

National Museum of Women in the Arts PowerPoint

Meeting Recap

On Wednesday, October 21, the DC Collaborative held its Annual Member Meeting with co-host National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) that reached over 70+ members in attendance. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event took place virtually for health and safety reasons. The convening began with an opening message from NMWA’s Deputy Director for Art, Programs, and Public Engagement/ Chief Curator Kathryn Wat providing an overview of the museum as well as their latest exhibition Paper Routes (10/8/2020-1/18/2021). Following Wat’s update, the Co-President of the DC Collaborative Board of Directors, Linda Harper called the meeting to order and introduced a new candidate for the DC Collaborative Board of Directors and Treasurer, Anita Doutt of KPMG. Membership voted and approved Anita’s membership on the Board as well as the DC Collaborative’s Emergency Bylaws, (See the meeting resources for more info.) 

The meeting continued with updates from Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe, the DC Collaborative’s Executive Director, and several staff members, summarizing our recent affairs, some of which include receiving over 16,000 virtual experience requests from the AHFES Fall Lottery, with 69 schools signed up, 29 participating cultural organization members, over 200 experiences, and nearly 8,000 confirmed reservations to date. The DC Collaborative’s AHFES program team will be in touch with updates for the AHFES Winter Lottery within the first couple of weeks of November.

Virtual experience programming and facilitation is a substitute for in-person field trips this school year so that we can continue to provide quality and equitable opportunities for students in the District during these unprecedented times. We sincerely appreciate all of our members’ effort, flexibility, and commitment and we also express our heartfelt thanks to Jeanette McCune of the Kennedy Center for going over our Collective Impact work with our members, James Mitaritonna of DCPS Arts for forecasting DCPS Term 2 happenings which starts on November 9, and David Markey and Alorie Clark of Commission on the Arts and Humanities for their budgeting and goal updates. We ended our Membership Meeting with a splendid feature presentation from members of NMWA’s Education Department: Deborah Gaston, Ashley Harris, and Addie Gayoso spotlighting just a few of their museum collection’s greatest local women artists and their respective artworks: Alma Thomas, Lois Mailou Jones, and Anne Truitt. What a lovely way to end our annual meeting!

Contact the Presenters

DC Collaborative Board and Team

James Mitaritonna, DCPS Music Manager- james.mitaritonna@k12.dc.gov 

Deborah L. Gaston, Director of Education, NMWA- DGaston@nmwa.org

Adrienne (Addie) L. Gayoso, Senior Educator, NMWA- AGayoso@nmwa.org

Ashley W. Harris, Associate Educator, NMWA- AHarris@nmwa.org

David Markey, Deputy Director, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities- david.markey@dc.gov

Alorie Clark, Arts Learning Coordinator, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities- alorie.clark@dc.gov  

Future Events

We hope that you’ll be able to join us as the DC Collaborative celebrates its 23rd birthday with a Collabo Wabo (Cabo Wabo) Birthday Happy/ Lunch Hour on Friday, October 30 at noon. Please register and let us know if you can make it:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/collabo-wabo-birthday-happy-hour-tickets-124306956453

Other Upcoming Events:

DC Collaborative Teaching Artist/Practitioner Reflecting Forward

Monday, November 2 at 11am

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflecting-forwardwe-rise-resist-raise-our-voices-we-vote-tickets-125972927417

AHFES Orientation

Thursday, December 10 at 11am

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dc-collaborative-new-member-ahfes-orientation-tickets-125979627457

Check out our DC Collaborative Distance Learning Resource Database:

https://sites.google.com/dccollaborative.org/distance-learning-database/home

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Recap: AHFES v2.0 School Orientation

Submitted by: BoBeen Chung, Assessment Coordinator,  DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative September 1, 2020

On Tuesday, September 1, the DC Collaborative Team and over 120 teachers of DCPS virtually gathered to learn more about the fall Arts and Humanities for Every Student (AHFES) lottery, offering virtual experiences exclusively through the winter break. 

The DC Collaborative team gave updates regarding the AHFES registration process, updated policies and assessment, and how virtual experiences will take place this fall. In case you missed the orientation, view the meeting recording below for more information.

We want to thank you, our school partners for prioritizing arts and humanities education opportunities for your students in a time when you are balancing virtual learning. We understand the challenges that you are embarking upon this year and hope that our programming can provide other ways for you to engage your students in the curriculum.

A Few Q&As from the Meeting

Q: How is the School Partnership Expectations document shared this year?

A: It will be shared in PDF and will need to be returned to us electronically. Please use Docusign (Google Drive add on) to enable digital signatures.

Q: Are any organizations offering recorded performances, concerts, tours, etc.?

A:Yes, many of our organizations are with a variety of programs. Please take a look at our online AHFES catalogue.

Q: Are AHFES Programs free?

A: Most of our AHFES programs are free. When you go through the lottery, you can find out whether or not there is a cost associated with a specific program (not exceeding $4/student). Members will be responsible for invoicing schools for the program fees. You may also reach out to members to ask for a waiver. For clarity, schools will remit payment directly through the member organization, not through the DC Collaborative.

View our Distance Learning Resource Database for free resources that you can access anytime to complement your distance learning.

Q: What are the penalties for missing a field trip?

A: Please communicate with us well in advance! The DC Collaborative updated its cancellation policy to align with the DCPS policy. The DC Collaborative requires at least 30 days notice to cancel an AHFES experience without penalty. We understand that there are unique challenges with distance learning and hope you feel free to contact us if you have any questions or issues.

Schools who are barred from participating may contribute $100 to the DC Collaborative to participate in future lotteries, provided such contribution follows DC government procurement laws.

Please Note: Cancellation policies are subject to change as we navigate the unique challenges of the 2020-2021 school year.

Q: Do we need to sign up to the lottery through our school key communicator?

A: This year, any individual teacher/educator is allowed to submit the lottery form and the key communicator will be copied in the school schedule. But, the key communicator’s email needs to be in the reservation form.

Q: How do I find out if my school has a Key Communicator?

A: The School Partnership Expectations document that is completed annually indicates who the Key Communicator (main Point of Contact for the school) will be for your school. Email- Schools@DCCollaborative.org to find out if your school has submitted the School Partnership Expectations document or who the key communicator was last year.

Q: Will virtual programs be compatible with Microsoft Teams?

A: Most of them will be. Programs that will be hosted through DC Collaborative’s platform will be through Teams. For some programs that the members are using their own platforms other than Teams, you will have to work with them directly to figure out the logistics. A suggestion is to invite the member to your classroom, for example, your Microsoft Teams classroom.

Q: How are these virtual experiences being assessed?

A: With pivoting ourselves to the virtual setting, assessment is ever more important this year. Please complete teacher and student reflections right after your virtual field trip as assessment is a tool for us to measure our member organizations' programming to ensure quality and inclusivity for our students. Changes and improvements are made to make you and your students’ participation easier and designed to make itself a learning tool for students.

Teacher and Students are shared in Google forms format, although you and your students won’t need a Google account to access and complete them. These are mobile friendly too! It is highly recommended doing it as quickly as you can. It will be best if you can schedule around 5-10 minutes for student reflections right after the virtual field trip (the links to assessment will be shared by the facilitator of the virtual program and emailed to you on the day of). You may also forward the student assessment email that you received to your students and put the assessment link to your school's learning platform, for example, Canvas and Google Classroom as part of their learning.

Please contact BoBeen Chung, DC Collaborative Assessment Coordinator at bobeen@dccollaborative.org with any questions or concerns.

Lastly, Stay tuned for an AHFES v 2.0 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Sheet. Coming soon!

Meeting Resources

Meeting Recording

School Partnership Expectations document

Meeting Handouts

AHFES Online Catalogue- This is where you’ll go for the lottery on 9/7

Distance Learning Resource Database

Distance Learning Needs Assessment Survey

Orientation Attendance

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Recap: Fall Update with DCPS Arts

Submitted by the DC Collaborative Team 8/28/2020

On Thursday, August 27, Mary Lambert of DCPS Arts joined the DC Collaborative Team and 70 members of the arts and humanities education community of practice to give an update on the virtual start of the school year. Mary gave updates regarding: the school environment, logistical priorities to keep in mind with distance learning program design, background check policies and other relevant updates from the DCPS Arts team including Visual Art and Music ACE Fellows, Arts education data collection and art/ music supply distribution. View the meeting recording below for more information.

Background Check Updates

In an effort to ensure the safety and protection of all parties, and in compliance with DC Public School system, providers and/or anyone else directly interacting (i.e. - shared audio, visual and/or chat between providers and participants) with students through their programs for more than a one-time event will be required to complete a background check through DCPS.

Background check clearance is not needed if it is a live-streamed event with no direct student interaction (students hidden from view from presenter) OR a one-time event, fully supervised by a DCPS employee, with student interaction. For members who are part of the DC Collaborative’s Arts and Humanities for Every Student program, the DC Collaborative will not allow any programs to proceed without proper background check and clearances approved and verified by DC Collaborative staff.

Meeting Resources

Meeting Recording

DCPS Arts Website- https://www.artsdcps.com/

DCPS Connected Schools: https://dcps.dc.gov/page/dcps-connected-schools

DCPS Clearance Website

Fieldprint Background Checks Partnership- https://www.fieldprintdc.com/

DC Collaborative Distance Learning Resource Database

AHFES Provider Orientation RSVP Link

Collective Impact Mapping Project Information

Collective Impact Mapping Project Survey Link