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PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

ArtsConnection’s work on talent identification began in 1990 with the development of a comprehensive model for talent identification and development aimed at helping students excel both artistically and academically. ArtsConnection’s Young Talent Program served as the basis for these initiatives and were studied in Talent Beyond Words (1990-1992), New Horizons (1994-1996)¹ and featured in the seminal publication Champions of Change.¹ These projects focused on the development of artistic talent in economically and socially at-risk, inner city youth ­ looking at the effects of the program on students’ lives, examining the factors that allowed children to overcome the obstacles they faced, and using the findings to suggest a model for talent development.

• Talent Beyond Words identified over 200 third-grade students as musically talented who, for three years, participated in a rigorous program of arts instruction. Teachers and parents learned to identify and support areas of strength exhibited by the students -- whether creative, emotional, behavioral, or intellectual. Students discovered a model for achievement based on hard work and discipline and found a positive identity within a supportive group. All of the students showed marked improvement in their academic standing and social development during the program.

• New Horizons provided 10 schools with outstanding professional arts instruction in dance, theater, or music and support services for students and teachers. During this time, ArtsConnection was able to:
• Complete the development and testing of the talent identification processes for dance, music, and theater
• Develop challenging, non-traditional curricula for intensive instruction in dance, music, and theater
• Develop a unique program of academic tutoring to help students transfer effective, arts-based learning strategies to their academic work
• Create professional development programs to help teachers learn to identify and support their students' artistic abilities
• Guide students in using artistic abilities to improve classroom performance, and to use arts processes and instructional methods in the classroom
• Expand our school partnerships through programs that brought a deeper involvement of teachers, artists, school administrators, and parents into their children's art education
• Develop ways to help economically disadvantaged families take advantage of the vast educational and cultural resources found in New York City.

• Artistic Talent Development for Urban Youth: The Promise and the Challenge followed 23 students, ages 10-26, from their initial dance or music instruction in ArtsConnection’s Young Talent Program, through college and professional or semi-professional careers. A high percentage of the students were economically disadvantaged and attended schools with no arts specialists. Over half of them had been labeled at-risk for school failure. The study looked at:
• The relationships among the obstacles students face in pursuing the arts,
• Factors which helped students to overcome those obstacles, and
• The overall impact of long-term involvement in the arts on the student's lives.

Findings
Data collected for these studies demonstrated that the existence of school-based arts programs which identify and develop students’ talents coupled with programs that support the arts instruction — particularly in schools and communities with little or no resources for the arts — were critical factors in determining a student's success and ability to pursue their artistic interests over time.

The findings from New Horizons were presented and discussed at ArtsConnection’s first national symposium ­ Learning and the Arts: New Strategies for Promoting Student Success (February 22-23, 1997). Plenary and participatory breakout sessions covered a variety of topics including: the impact of the arts on student achievement; integrating the arts with the academic curriculum; creative curricula in dance, music, and theater; public and private partnerships to provide arts education for schools; and strategies for family involvement.

Artistic Talent Development for Urban Youth: The Promise and the Challenge was published in the Arts Education Partnership/Presiden't Committee on the Arts and Humanities' Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning.


¹Talent Beyond Words and New Horizons were supported by the United States Department of Education's Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Discretionary Grant Program
²Oreck, B., Baum, S., McCartney, H. Artistic Talent Development for Urban Youth: the promise and the challenge. Champions of Change. President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.