Summer Institute
                      A.C.T.S.  (Artists Collaborating with Teachers for Success)

CCE’s Summer Institute provides an exciting learning opportunity for Palm Beach County educators who want to enhance their abilities to positively impact their students’ academic achievement. In presenting the 3 to 4 day Institutes, CCE partners with Teaching Artists, other local artists and cultural organizations such as the Preservation Foundation, the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, the South Florida Science Museum, Mounts’ Botanical Gardens and the Norton Museum of Art, among numerous others.

In the workshops, CCE Staff and Teaching Artists demonstrate how various art forms can be used to improve student learning in the classroom. Participants investigate the arts as an educational tool, explore the concepts of multiple intelligences theory, are exposed to current, cutting-edge instructional strategies and  explore ways to utilize the arts during classroom instruction, designing lesson plans that integrate the arts. Examples of what is covered in the Institute include the following:

1. Pre-Institute assessment of accomplishment expectations;
2. The realities of classroom instruction-managing curriculum and instruction;
3. Identifying and encouraging the use of different intelligences;
4. Working through time constraints;
5. Effective use of textbooks and other support materials;
6. Meeting Sunshine State Standards; and
7. Post-Institute assessment and evaluation.

The Summer Institute provides Palm Beach County teachers with the opportunity to develop curriculum using the arts as the vehicle to deliver the subject matter. This method has proven to be successful in reaching students’ unique learning styles. It also provides teachers with a new and refreshing way to explore curriculum. The need to provide teachers with professional development in arts integration through a program like this can be a vital part of the success of students in Palm Beach County.
Currently, art programs are being cut and/or under-funded. Although art is part of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Florida Classroom Reduction Act does not apply to arts teachers. Often they are faced with teaching over 60 students at one time, leaving the student and teacher with an unsatisfactory experience. The Summer Institute provides teachers with the knowledge to teach creatively while reaching a variety of learners and still meet and/or exceed the goals set in the Sunshine State Standards that are tested in the FCAT.

Objectives of the Summer Institute include:

1. Supporting the integration of the arts into the K-8 school curriculum;
2. Providing participating teachers with a basic understanding of the value of the arts in instructional curriculum and how the arts can be used as a tool to improve student achievement in the classroom;
3. Help participants to learn a new skill set of arts-based instructional strategies that allow them to reach all types of learning modalities possessed by students, with the objective of reawakening a creative, enthusiastic passion for teaching; and
4. Increase exposure to and interest in the arts for both teachers and students.

                                                                         
Palm Beach County teachers who attend the Institute are eligible to receive recertification credits.  Palm Beach County teachers interested in attending the Summer Institute are encouraged to contact their Principal or CCE.

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