The guidebook was co-authored by California Alliance for Arts Education (CAAE) and the California State PTA to serve as a resource for school districts to improve arts education.
Technical assistance was provided by CAAE through a partnership with the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
CAAE provided selected school districts with 60 hours of technical assistance with an experienced arts education planning coach.
The coach worked with the districts to form Community Arts Teams (CAT), provided professional development in visual and performing arts content standards, guided the facilitation of team meetings, and helped districts complete the tasks outlined in the CAEP guidebook.
The CAEP process assisted school districts in conducting a needs assessment of their current arts learning programs and funding allocations, identifying gaps in delivery, and creating long range plans that will ensure equitable access for all students in each of the four arts disciplines.
WestEd was contracted by CAAE to conduct an evaluation of the CAEP process and outcomes.
The research questions guiding the evaluation included:
- What have the participating school districts accomplished and how do they measure their progress
- How have districts benefited from the CAEP process?
- How are districts implementing the policies and plans developed by the community arts team?
- How effective are the community team meetings?
The evaluation included interviews with the arts education coaches and a web-based survey of community arts team members.