Creating and working a profitable artwork program takes time, power, and creativity. It additionally takes advocacy. One vital space to give attention to when rising a program is information. Utilizing information to inform a compelling story is a surefire option to get the eye of decision-makers in your district. Studying find out how to ship a assured, data-driven pitch will assist garner respect on your artwork program and advocate on your budding artists.

Check out how you should utilize information to advocate on your program by sharing the most important findings from the 2024 State of Artwork Schooling survey. Let’s dig into the info!

What’s information?

Earlier than we get began, let’s focus on what information is and the differing types. Understanding it will allow you to decide what information will greatest assist your request. Information is factual data used as a basis for making choices or having a dialogue. There are two fundamental kinds of information: quantitative and qualitative.

Listed below are the two fundamental varieties of information:

1. Quantitative
   Quantitative information is represented numerically and solutions questions similar to, “what number of,” “how a lot,” and “how usually.” Examples embody attendance, course enrollment numbers, art work portions, and the way many individuals attended your enormous end-of-year artwork present.
2. Qualitative
   Qualitative information is represented in phrases and pictures. Examples embody written scholar reflections, video clips of scholars actively engaged in artmaking, and a scholar portfolio of a deeply conceptual physique of labor.

One fabulous option to discover quantitative information is the State of Artwork Schooling Survey! Annually, we ask hundreds of artwork academics to reply questions on quite a lot of matters in artwork training. We compile the outcomes right into a useful useful resource with easy-to-read colourful graphics. Obtain and browse the outcomes to see how the info from the survey could allow you to advocate on your wants.

Obtain Now!

For a deeper dive into the info, seize the outcomes from earlier years right here:

Let’s take a look at 4 examples of how an artwork trainer could use the State of Artwork Schooling survey information as an advocacy device. 

Use the eventualities beneath as inspiration to craft your individual pitch. Navigate the method step-by-step and begin by figuring out a necessity, your particular ask, and the viewers. Then, see if you should utilize the survey information that will help you inform a compelling story!

1. Request art-specific skilled improvement.

In response to the State of Artwork Schooling survey information, over the previous a number of years, greater than 60% of artwork academics shared that they really feel supported by their directors. Nonetheless, the info confirmed that artwork academics want they’d entry to higher skilled improvement (PD) choices. Half of artwork academics say their skilled improvement wants enchancment and it’s not customized or related. Directors are very busy and will not have the time to hunt out subject-specific PD for all academics within the constructing. Once you advocate on your wants and supply particular options, it makes it simpler for an administrator to say “sure” to your request. They want your assist!

Let’s say you wish to advocate for higher skilled improvement to your district artwork supervisor. Schedule 5-10 minutes to cease by their workplace and convey a number of handouts to complement your dialogue. Attempt a pitch just like the one beneath and don’t overlook to comply with up with a thanks be aware!

Hello! I’m Lindsey McGinnis, the highschool artwork trainer at Laurel. As a trainer, I try to have a development mindset as a result of I do know there may be all the time one thing new to be taught to convey to my college students! I want art-specific skilled improvement so I can totally take part in PD workouts and stroll away with tangible methods and concepts that can work in my artwork room. The Artwork of Schooling College gives two on-line skilled improvement alternatives for districts like ours. PRO Studying is an on-demand PD platform designed for Okay-12 artwork academics with hands-on tutorial movies and teacher-facing assets. It will likely be actually useful to have for our six PD days which might be already on the calendar! The NOW Convention is the most important on-line convention held twice a 12 months for Okay-12 artwork academics. They’ve wonderful audio system similar to Devon Rodriguez, probably the most adopted visible artist on the planet! This week, will you check out what they provide and see if it’ll match into the funds for subsequent college 12 months? 

2. Promote digital artwork.

Drawing and portray are our forte as artwork academics. Sadly, within the State of Artwork Schooling survey information, solely 24% of artwork academics listed digital artwork because the medium they’re most comfy with and greater than half of artwork academics wish to be taught extra about it. That is one thing we have to tackle since we’re instructing Twenty first-century abilities in a digital world! A terrific place to begin is to enroll within the Studio: Graphic Design course to be taught foundational design abilities and find out how to train digital artwork by way of real-world issues. Ask for this course utilizing a course of just like the instance above. When you’re feeling extra assured together with your digital artwork abilities, it’s time to convey the expertise to your college students!

Your college students are inquisitive about exploring digital artwork, so that you want a category set of iPads. You began a fundraiser however would really like the PTA’s assist. Ask to talk on the subsequent assembly and ship a pitch just like the one beneath. Present your appreciation by having your college students create thanks playing cards on the brand new iPads!

Hello! I’m Lindsey McGinnis and I’ve been instructing artwork right here for the previous 12 years. I’m excited to be part of the PTA and the entire fantastic stuff you do for our college! I simply accomplished a digital artwork graduate course and would like to convey the talents and expertise to our college students. In response to the Pew Analysis Heart, almost all US teenagers use the web each day (96%). The quantity of teenagers who’re on-line “virtually consistently” has doubled up to now virtually decade. To fulfill our college students the place they’re and put together them for all times past the classroom, we have to hone their digital communication abilities. In artwork, college students can discover digital citizenship and visible communication with digital artwork! I have already got a web based fundraiser to get a category set of iPads. Will you share the hyperlink through your social platforms and month-to-month publication? Will you see if in case you have additional funds to satisfy this want? 

3. Champion for extra images alternatives.

No matter stage you train, each conventional darkroom and digital images may be daunting. Identical to with digital artwork, solely 25% of artwork academics within the State of Artwork Schooling survey information really feel assured instructing this artform. The excellent news is, there are methods to convey images rules into any grade stage and classroom state of affairs. The most effective locations to begin are to enroll within the Studio: Images course or watch the Packs Digital Images Fundamentals or Artistic Approaches to Starting Images in PRO Studying. Then, choose a number of concepts to seize your college students’ consideration!

One non-darkroom images course of is cyanotypes. You wish to ask your native craft retailer to offer sufficient solar printing paper for your whole college students. Swing by the shop to talk to the supervisor with a pitch just like the one beneath and convey a printout of the solar paper you’d like with the precise amount and complete price of your ask. 

Hello! I’m Lindsey McGinnis and I’m the highschool artwork trainer at Laurel. Our college doesn’t have a darkroom however I’d like to convey some hands-on, screen-free images processes to our college students. I see you carry solar printing paper; would you be keen to donate sufficient for 200 college students? Our funds is $5 per scholar for the 12 months, making this particular paper very costly. Our college bookkeeper can give you a donation receipt or letter, if wanted. We’d like to show the ultimate cyanotypes on the empty bulletin board by the entrance door to assist draw college students and their households into your retailer.

4. Ask for prepared student-facing assets.

We regularly suppose, “If solely there have been extra hours within the day, I may…” Though artwork academics are getting extra planning time (greater than half of artwork academics have 45 minutes or extra per day), lack of time continues to be a problem. The place does the time go? We all know artwork academics have many duties and roles, however in response to the State of Artwork Schooling survey information, 81% spend the time creating their very own assets. Think about should you may have classroom-ready assets on your college students! In truth, 73% of you believed having classroom-ready assets would assist you to be a greater artwork trainer. Let’s present you find out how to get entry to an enormous archive of student-facing assets!

You’d love FLEX Curriculum and plan to ask your principal for it. Cease by your principal’s workplace and supply samples of FLEX for them to flip by way of when you give a pitch just like the one beneath. Obtain the Components and Rules guides and a complimentary artist bio. Share the What’s Collage? preview video and the way you already use this stuff in your classroom!

Hello! I’d love to talk with you about my current commentary and the way I exploit student-facing assets in my artwork room. I acquired a excessive rating for the planning and preparation I put into my classes. It took me two hours to create the assets for this one lesson/commentary and it took me eight hours complete to create the entire assets I wanted for all of my lessons for that week. That is 4 extra hours than my planning time. I’m pleased with the handouts and shows I create; nonetheless, spending this a lot time on them is unsustainable. I might love entry to a financial institution of high-quality student-facing assets I can pull from to permit extra time to speak with mother and father, assist with different college initiatives, and grade assignments. FLEX Curriculum is a standards-aligned Okay-12 artwork curriculum with step-by-step lesson plans, customizable rubrics and assessments, artist bios, undertaking photographs, movies, and extra. This week, will you are taking a couple of minutes to have a look at FLEX and examine to see if the college has the funds to offer these assets for our college students?

Chances are you’ll love making artwork with college students in your cozy artwork room. Nonetheless, if you wish to develop your artwork program and supply extra alternatives for you and your college students, you will want to step exterior of your consolation zone—and your cozy artwork room. This step could appear like diving into information and studying find out how to make and provides a assured pitch to get a necessity fulfilled. We did the laborious work and outlined six steps so that you can take, compiled information from 1,700+ artwork academics to make use of in your request, and gave 4 examples you may simply customise. Now that you simply’re set to resolve any drawback that will come your manner, prepare on your confidence and artwork program to soar! 

Are you an information lover or hater? 

What’s one thing you or your program have to develop?