Giving Compass' Take:

• Education Dive reports on a recent conference of elementary school principals, where a document on how to promote more arts education made the rounds.

• Money and willpower will be two key elements in this effort, with schools needing to access more funds to support teachers, classes and programs; parents have a role to play by encouraging their kids' creative spirit.

• Here's how we can build up communities and make connections through arts education.

School leaders are an integral part of creating an “arts-rich” school environment in which students have daily access to arts instruction and resources are used creatively to support learning in the arts, according to a document released recently on at the National Association of Elementary School Principals' annual conference in Orlando, Florida.

Jointly prepared by the Arts Education Partnership, “What School Leaders Can Do to Increase Arts Education,” provides specific steps for how to incorporate the arts into what the Every Student Succeeds Act refers to as a “well-rounded” education. These include tapping into Title I and Title II federal funds, allowing arts teachers time to collaborate with core content teachers and incorporating the arts into after-school programs.

Setting a “school-wide commitment” also includes identifying the arts in school budgets and giving parents multiple ways to participate in supporting their children’s learning in the arts. The brief report also cites examples, such as Corinth Elementary School in Mississippi, where Principal Brian Knippers has even integrated the arts into teacher evaluations, expecting them to include the arts into lesson plans.

And at Coleraine, Minnesota’s Vandyke Elementary School, teachers work with artists at a local studio to blend the arts into science and social studies lessons. “Arts integration can happen across all content areas and enhances instruction for our students,” Principal Susan Hoeft says in the report.

Read the full article about creating "arts-rich" schools by Linda Jacobson at Education Dive.