The most interesting argument I heard (at the Access, Equity, Quality conference I attended in Seattle June 18-20 at Americans for the Arts) was about race, an issue so hard to discuss that it is, unfortunately, often ignored.

What a gift it was to hear the wise words of Dr. Mary Stone Hanley of George Mason University, who presented a new paper she recently co-authored with Dr. George Noblit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kudos to The Heinz Endowments for funding this brave and important work.

This work landed on 9 key themes for what, in edu-speak, is called "cultural responsive pedagogy" and what we can think of as teaching every child as though who he or she is really matters. Among the important but not surprising recommendations to "use culture to promote racial identity" and "assume success", I found "educate about racism and racial uplift" a welcome addition.

But it was the #4 recommendation that really grabbed me -- Employ the Arts. Listen up all those out there dedicated to learning in and through the arts - studies from the halls of academe confirm what you know to be true. In their words, "the literature indicates that arts programs that engage a student's culture and racial identity will likely result in the learning of a wide range of competencies."

After years of cringing every time I hear the term "achievement gap," I was enthralled to hear an expert talk about the race and culture of African, Latin, Asian and Native American (ALANA) children as assets. Their literature review revealed data that demonstrate how "many children use their culture and racial identity every day in striving for success in school and life, only to have their race, language and culture disparaged in the process."

So, in other words, if we want ALL our children to become well-rounded, successful students and people, keep arts in schools!

-Jennifer Hahn, Principal
Douglas Gould and Company