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They Look At by Noel Fignier

NJ Arts After School
ArtPRIDE NJ Foundation Online Survey
Results & Analysis
April 5, 2006
The ArtPRIDE NJ Foundation, in partnership with the NJ State Council on the Arts, circulated an online survey in March 2006 to arts groups throughout the state to better understand the extent of arts involvement in after school programs. A total of 111 arts groups, of varying sizes and representing all 21 counties, responded to the survey. Of these responses, 67% said they were involved in after school programs and reported a total of 1,260 programs serving 35,769 children.

Program Type:
A total of 51.1% of survey respondents provided Visual Arts programs, with 50% indicating programs in Drama. Music and Dance followed (46.7% and 41.3%, respectively). 29.3% offered programs in Creative Writing and 15.2% in Computer Arts. 18.5% indicated “Other” types of after school programs including culinary arts, musical theatre and opera, woodworking, and socially oriented programs that provide a safe haven or drop-in center for students.
Type of Involvement:
Of 90 respondents, the majority (74.4%) ran the course/class/program and 43.3% collaborated with other arts groups or agencies. 25.6% indicated “Other Services” that range from designing and booking programs to partial funding (by local arts councils or cultural & heritage commissions). 21.1% send performances to another organization’s program, 18.9% staff another organization’s program, and 13.3% permit the use of their facilities for after school programs.

Curriculum Based Programs:
Of the total respondents, 47.2% indicated that the school programs/services they provide are NOT curriculum based or tied to in-school programs, 41.6% were tied to curriculum, and 11.2% were not sure. Several groups indicated that planning sessions precede events to correlate the program with current curriculum. Two groups (Center for Community Arts in Cape May and American Repertory Ballet Company in New Brunswick) collaborate with schools through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant.

Descriptive comments from respondents indicate some working knowledge of New Jersey’s Core Curriculum Content Standards in a variety of subject areas including visual arts, literature/language arts, history, and social studies. Comments indicate an attempt to design programs that meet those standards. Two theaters indicate that play choices are based upon school reading lists.

Grade Level Served:
Of total respondents, 93% of the arts groups reported working with students in grades 6-8. 80.2% work with grades K-5 and 76.7% work with students in grades K-5. 40.7% of the survey respondents work with Pre-Kindergarten students.

Where Programs Take Place:
Of total responses, nearly 65% indicated that programs and services take place at school, 49.4% indicated that services take place in other community venues (YM/YWCA, library, etc.), 48.1% indicated that programs are offered at the arts group’s facility/venue. 19.5% indicated “Other” venues like social service agencies, homeless shelters, local colleges, and centers for at-risk youth.

Funding:
Sources of funding for after school programs are diverse, with the majority of support from corporate/foundation sponsorship (60%), fee for service (55%) and state funding through the NJ State Council on the Arts (53.8%). Other sources include school budget/PTO, other non-profit organizations, and local government (all at 20%). Fewer groups indicated receiving support for after school programs from federal government (12.5%), other state funding (10%) and faith-based programs (2.5%). Other sources of support include earned income from sale of art/products, individual support, and general organizational revenue.

Anecdotal Comments:
“Some of our programs are designed to achieve specific core curriculum standards, but they are not tied directly to a concurrent academic program.”

“Wildwood public schools offer no in-school visual arts instruction for grades 6-8. As part of Wildwood After Hours, an after school program funded by a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, Center for Community Arts offers arts activities that seek to fill this gap.

“The Rhythm and Rhyme Program developed by high school teacher Johnathan Kalafer and poets from NJSLAM, expands the middle school and high school curriculum in the areas of creative writing, music composition, computer skills and multimedia presentations.”

In many instances, MCA's programs are supportive of NJ Core Curriculum standards, augmenting and complementing in-school programs and curriculum in the performing arts. Studio class instructions in acting, dance and voice, for example, are similar to and expand upon school-based instruction. MCA also offers occasional workshops and master classes.

Outreach coordinator consults with educator at each school to discuss curriculum prior to recommending program. Program is designed to tie in directly with curriculum. For example, programs implemented include understanding and interpreting English literature and poetry, including Shakespeare. Works are presented by the students based on their interpretations and relevance to the students' own life experiences.

Type of Programs Offered: 1)Creative Alternatives for Youth at Risk (CAYR): Arts Horizons’ 11-year old safe haven program that employs teaching artists and arts therapists to work with students who have social, behavioral and family problems. 2)Project TALK (Teaching Alternative Lifestyles to Kids): a program for children of drug/alcohol addicted parents, run through St. Barnabas Healthcare System.

We operate The Cave, a free after-school drop-in center in Highland Park for students in 6th - 10th grade, open to all: they can attend public, private or home school. Mon-Fri Sept through May. Free snack served daily. We offer recreation, socializing, and homework help (optional). Monthly awareness presentations for drug/alcohol/ tobacco/gang/violence prevention.

Our Touring Educational Theatre Company specifies which core-curriculum standards are addressed in each of the 4 shows we are touring. Not many of the performances are after school, but usually about a dozen of the performances are after school.

Click here to see a list of " survey respondents.