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A Plus Schools Network  Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. For more information or questions regarding this web site send inquiries to webmaster@aplusnetwork.org
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Marie Parker, Director
College of Education
& Health Professions
311 West Avenue Annex University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR  72701
Phone: (479) 575-5404
Fax: (479) 575-8776

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A+ is a comprehensive school ref

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special thanks to the North Carolina A+ Schools Network, housed at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro for providing support and guidance to the Arkansas A+ Schools Network.
Major funding for the Arkansas A+ Schools Network is provided by The Windgate Charitable Foundation, with additional support provided by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.  The University of Arkansas of Fayetteville provides housing and staff support.
Acknowledgements
In April 2003, five Arkansas schools in four districts applied and were selected to begin the A+ school reform process and to participate in a four-year evaluation conducted by outside researchers and evaluators.  Five schools joined the reform effort in 2004-2005, and four additional schools joined the network in 2005-2006, bringing the total number of Arkansas A+ Schools to 14.  Additional schools are encouraged to apply for the 2006-2007 school year.
Arkansas began to explore A+ in 2000 and adopted it in January of 2002.  Arkansas A+ is committed to the “Four Beliefs” and “Eight Essentials” established by North Carolina as the guiding philosophy for the program.  Arkansas works from a scope of work that was developed from North Carolina’s four-year implementation plan. Included in this scope of work is professional development for the Arkansas A+ Faculty, who assist with program implementation.  In addition to the original scope of work outlined by North Carolina, Arkansas created a statewide A+ Advisory Council with six sub-committees.

History of the Arkansas A+ Schools Network

The A+ approach to learning was initiated in North Carolina in 1993 by the Kenan Institute for the Arts.  The A+ Schools Program is an approach to teaching and learning grounded in the belief that the arts can play a central role in how children learn.  It represents a viable option for schools seeking a focus based on similar beliefs.  In North Carolina, A+ schools cover the North Carolina Standard Course of Study through interdisciplinary thematic units combined with arts integration and hands-on, experiential learning that includes daily arts instruction by arts teachers.  A+ schools also develop strong partnerships with parents, area cultural resources, local colleges and universities, and the media.
Origin of the A+ Approach to Learning

A+ fosters four beliefs:

  1. A+ Schools work for everyone.
  2. Arts are essential to learning.
  3. Collaboration improves education.
  4. All children can learn.
The A+ Schools program was initiated and managed by the Keenan Institute for the Arts from 1995-2003, which is when it moved to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (http://aplus-schools.uncg.edu). A+ is a whole school reform approach that views the arts as fundamental to how teachers teach and how students learn in all subjects. The program is based on the philosophy; that using two way arts integration( i.e.,arts integration into the standard curriculum and the standard curriculum integrated into the arts) engages students and makes the curriculum more memorable. A+ strives to reorganize and revitalize the school in virtually all aspects of its operations, from curriculum and instruction to assessment, professional development, parental involvement, and classroom management. A+ schools combine interdisciplinary teaching and daily arts instruction, offering children opportunities to learn through all the ways in which they are able.  The arts are taught daily to every child: drama, dance, music and visual arts are taught at least once each week. 

A+ is a comprehensive school reform that views the arts as fundamental to how teachers teach and how students learn in all subjects.
A+ begins with a vision of arts integrated instruction creating enhanced learning opportunities for all students.  Rather than viewing the arts and the creative thinking they foster as necessarily distinct from core academic subjects, the A+ premise is that the arts (dance, drama, poetry, storytelling, visual arts) can open up deeper understandings of the curriculum precisely because their creativity taps into the multiple ways that students learn.  The A+ approach to learning draws on Howard Gardner’s extensive research on multiple intelligences (1983, 1991), and other recent research on the brain, and on learning.
Comprehensive school reform takes into account every aspect of the school community.  Comprehensive models for school-wide change focus on reorganizing and revitalizing the entire school and cover virtually all aspects of school operations. Comprehensive school reform addresses all components of effective schooling: curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, parental involvement, and school and classroom management.