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Cross-Sector CollaborationSystemic ChangeELI required states to submit a team of“unusual suspects” representing each state’svaried constituencies. Critical to the success ofELI state teams was that the team memberscame from different backgrounds, with differentwork roles and responsibilities. In general themost successful ELI state teams consisted ofsome combination of representation from statelegislators, governor’s cabinet members, stateschool board members, superintendents, publicsafety officials, district-level school leaders,artists, arts advocates, higher educationadministrators/faculty, philanthropists, andbusiness leaders.State team members stated that providingequitable access to high-quality artseducation to all students—versus pocketsof excellence for some—was their highestpriority. Through their participation in ELI,they came to understand that piecemealapproaches dedicated to a specific need mighthave an isolated impact, valuable to some,for sure. However, ensuring arts educationfor all students is a “wicked problem”—aproblem that is not easily solved becauseof unclear solutions and a complex web ofimpediments, some known and some seeminglyunknowable—and demands a different wayof thinking. While challenging, the ELI stateteams came to understand systemic change,defined as “change that permeates all partsof a system,” at a local, state, and nationallevel was essential to building and sustainingsupport for arts education.“There’s been this whole catalyst-likeenergy that came out of ELI. People wereworking in silos and there wasn’t thisstate-wide effort until ELI.”Because state team members representeddifferent constituencies and had different workroles in their home states, they often came to ELIwith different ideas for supporting arts education.Teams worked through innovative options foraddressing their wicked problems at ELI bydeveloping a common set of objectives. Whenvarious stakeholders within the states’ political,arts, educational, and business systems agreedon common goals for arts education and actedin concert, they had a much greater likelihoodof success in implementing their post-ELI plansand achieving their goals for systemic change.Maintaining the sustained attention of stateteam members could be a challenge. The mostsuccessful state teams had committed memberswho continued to work together effectively aftertheir ELI experience, with a partner coordinatingtheir efforts.“We literally stopped our work and said,‘What are we going to do to actually makethis a sustainable construct in [our] state?’Those continuous conversations had juststarted. We had to make a commitment thatwe were going to meet weekly, and we’vecontinued to do that ever since.”Aligning PrioritiesELI state teams struggled with balancing theneed for expanding access to arts educationwith competing state priorities. ELI helpedeach state to position their arts initiativeswithin the broader movements of educationalreform, economic growth, and innovation. Teammembers were part of a national, multi-stateeffort that coordinated top-to-bottom resourcesacross diverse constituencies to position artseducation as essential to a complete education.“A lot of our challenges are due to policy andlegislation that is already in place. There’s ahuge emphasis on accountability, initiativeslike Race to the Top, and new standards. Wehave to constantly figure out ways to keep[the arts] entwined and moving forward inthe context of all these other initiatives.”Batiste Cultural Arts Academy in New Orleans providing music lessons and introducingstudents to different instruments. Photo by David Aleman, f-stop PhotographyCreative Action works with Austin students. Photo courtesy of Creative ActionArtist-in-residence Monte Yellow Bird at the Holter Museum of Art in Helena,Montana, works with a local student. Photo courtesy of Emily Yellow Bird“It took us four years to get certified teachersin the classroom. It took us three years to getthe School for the Arts. It’s a lifetime of work.It’s not something that you do immediatelyand you’re done. People have to realize we’rein it for the long haul. It took a long time forthe schools to get in the condition they’rein now and it’s going to take a while to getthem back on track.”Building Consensus forSustained Commitment

Cross-Sector CollaborationSystemic ChangeELI required states to submit a team of“unusual suspects” representing each state’svaried constituencies. Critical to the success ofELI state teams was that the team memberscame from different backgrounds, with differentwork roles and responsibilities. In general themost successful ELI state teams consisted ofsome combination of representation from statelegislators, governor’s cabinet members, stateschool board members, superintendents, publicsafety officials, district-level school leaders,artists, arts advocates, higher educationadministrators/faculty, philanthropists, andbusiness leaders.State team members stated that providingequitable access to high-quality artseducation to all students—versus pocketsof excellence for some—was their highestpriority. Through their participation in ELI,they came to understand that piecemealapproaches dedicated to a specific need mighthave an isolated impact, valuable to some,for sure. However, ensuring arts educationfor all students is a “wicked problem”—aproblem that is not easily solved becauseof unclear solutions and a complex web ofimpediments, some known and some seeminglyunknowable—and demands a different wayof thinking. While challenging, the ELI stateteams came to understand systemic change,defined as “change that permeates all partsof a system,” at a local, state, and nationallevel was essential to building and sustainingsupport for arts education.“There’s been this whole catalyst-likeenergy that came out of ELI. People wereworking in silos and there wasn’t thisstate-wide effort until ELI.”Because state team members representeddifferent constituencies and had different workroles in their home states, they often came to ELIwith different ideas for supporting arts education.Teams worked through innovative options foraddressing their wicked problems at ELI bydeveloping a common set of objectives. Whenvarious stakeholders within the states’ political,arts, educational, and business systems agreedon common goals for arts education and actedin concert, they had a much greater likelihoodof success in implementing their post-ELI plansand achieving their goals for systemic change.Maintaining the sustained attention of stateteam members could be a challenge. The mostsuccessful state teams had committed memberswho continued to work together effectively aftertheir ELI experience, with a partner coordinatingtheir efforts.“We literally stopped our work and said,‘What are we going to do to actually makethis a sustainable construct in [our] state?’Those continuous conversations had juststarted. We had to make a commitment thatwe were going to meet weekly, and we’vecontinued to do that ever since.”Aligning PrioritiesELI state teams struggled with balancing theneed for expanding access to arts educationwith competing state priorities. ELI helpedeach state to position their arts initiativeswithin the broader movements of educationalreform, economic growth, and innovation. Teammembers were part of a national, multi-stateeffort that coordinated top-to-bottom resourcesacross diverse constituencies to position artseducation as essential to a complete education.“A lot of our challenges are due to policy andlegislation that is already in place. There’s ahuge emphasis on accountability, initiativeslike Race to the Top, and new standards. Wehave to constantly figure out ways to keep[the arts] entwined and moving forward inthe context of all these other initiatives.”Batiste Cultural Arts Academy in New Orleans providing music lessons and introducingstudents to different instruments. Photo by David Aleman, f-stop PhotographyCreative Action works with Austin students. Photo courtesy of Creative ActionArtist-in-residence Monte Yellow Bird at the Holter Museum of Art in Helena,Montana, works with a local student. Photo courtesy of Emily Yellow Bird“It took us four years to get certified teachersin the classroom. It took us three years to getthe School for the Arts. It’s a lifetime of work.It’s not something that you do immediatelyand you’re done. People have to realize we’rein it for the long haul. It took a long time forthe schools to get in the condition they’rein now and it’s going to take a while to getthem back on track.”Building Consensus forSustained Commitment

The four catalysts identified for advancing artseducation align with the framework of collectiveimpact that was introduced at the ELI AlumniSummit. The NEA’s Arts Education Strategic Plan,which is grounded in collective impact, is guidingthe agency’s leadership, investments, and annualpriority-setting process for pre-K through12th-grade arts education. Fulfillment of thestrategies in this plan will further deepen theagency’s leadership and contributions to artslearning across the country.FounN daew tiSt Ar onra ts fote E r agy ducationA Strategic Plan for Arts EducationThe question facing the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was:How can leaders developsystemic support for artseducation for all studentswithin pre-K through12th-grade education?The strategic plan consists of a vision, a mission,and four goals.Vision:Every student is engaged and empoweredthrough an excellent arts education.Mission: Position arts education as a driverfor transforming students, schools,and communities.Goals:Leverage investments for deeper impactTo help answer this question, the NationalEndowment for the Arts launched the EducationLeaders Institute (ELI). Bringing togetherexecutive-level, cross-sector state teams,ELI provided space to explore and debatekey questions to advance arts education andprovocateurs to challenge current assumptionsabout arts and education. Over a five-year period,teams from 29 states participated in ELI, with eightof these teams returning to attend an ELI AlumniSummit. The purpose of the Summit was to shareprogress, challenges, and lessons learned, as wellas deepen understanding of the critical elementsnecessary to advance arts education.Drive a national arts education dataand research agendaCollaborate with national, state andlocal leaders for collective impactProvide leadership for thefield of arts educationThe agency’s Arts Education Strategic Plan,which is included in the full ELI report, can befound at arts.gov.We can benefit from each other’s experiences.As a partner in this important work, you areinvited to share collective impact storiesabout your community, including successesand challenges at collectiveimpact@arts.gov.We look forward to hearing your stories!AcknowledgmentsThe NEA would like to thank Libby Chiu andTatiana Gant from the Illinois Arts CouncilAgency for their leadership in the design andimplementation of ELI and David O’Fallonand Jack Lew for their masterful facilitation.A multifacetedproblem requires amultifaceted solutionCover Image: Created by a visual note-taker at theEducation Leaders Institute (ELI) Alumni SummitEducation Leaders InstituteAlumni Summit ReportThe findings of the final report have shaped thepriorities, leadership, and investments in artseducation for the NEA. Incorporating what welearned from ELI, the NEA developed a new artseducation strategic plan that is included in thisreport. We believe that when implemented overtime, this plan will move us towards our visionfor arts education in this country: that everystudent is engaged and empowered through anexcellent arts education.The full report, which includes the agency’sArts Education Strategic Plan, can be foundat arts.gov.Catalysts to AdvanceArts EducationDrawing from the experiences in ELI and knowledgegained by participants in the ELI Alumni Summit,the report presents four key catalysts to advancethe arts as a core element of education.Cross-Sector CollaborationSystemic ChangeBuilding Consensusfor Sustained CommitmentAligning Priorities“It really is amazing what can happen whenyou bring a group of passionate, intelligentpeople together around the subject and youcome up with solutions that you never couldhave dreamed of in isolation.”– An ELI Alumni Summit ParticipantImage from the Education Leaders Institute. Photo by Nati Soti, Zero One ProjectsNext Steps for the NationalEndowment for the Arts:

Agency for their leadership in the design and implementation of ELI and David O’Fallon and Jack Lew for their masterful facilitation. Cover Image: Created by a visual note-taker at the Education Leaders Institute (ELI) Alumni Summit Image from the Education Leaders Institute. Photo by Nati Soti, Zero One Projects