Near the end of last week, I began collecting the results of my Artist in the Schools survey. Results are astounding! Nearly every participant opted to add additional comments at the end of the survey. These may prove to be the most valuable information collected. Many teachers who were surveyed wanted to share their own personal experience with an artist coming to their classrooms. Most believed that the program was an invaluable experience for students. One teacher even shared how she and other teachers had worked to raise matching funds to bring artists to her school when the district did not provide the money. Getting feedback from teachers is crucial to coming up with credible information. The teachers who are involved with the program are not usually involved with bringing the program to the school and must give up valuable class time for the artist’s presentations.
The results from my survey to the artists involved with the program produced similar results. Nearly everyone chose to add additional comments about their personal experience with the program and their beliefs about arts in the schools. Results are still coming in! Each additional survey comment is exciting and interesting to me. I can’t wait until they are all in.
