In 2018, Portland Public Schools began a major academic initiative called the Master Arts Education Plan (MAEP).
The central goal of the MAEP is to increase equitable access to high-quality arts education in dance, music, theatre, and visual arts for all students.
The MAEP formally launched in April of 2023 at the HeART of Portland showcase.
What is a MAEP?
The MAEP is a framework to help guide district and school staff when making decisions about current and future arts education in Portland Public Schools.
Why do we need one?
Right now, depending on where a student lives and goes to school, their arts experience may differ greatly from their peers across the district. A MAEP will help address inequities in our system and provide a strategic plan for implementing large-scale change.
What are the goals?
The MAEP is currently organized into 6 Strategic Goals:
STRATEGIC GOAL 1: District Visual & Performing Arts Policies & Practices: Establish district-level policies and practices that ensure equitable, comprehensive, and high-quality arts learning throughout every student’s pre-k through 12th grade experience, and create conditions that utilize dance, music, theatre, and visual arts to support student success in alignment with the PPS Graduate Portrait
STRATEGIC GOAL 2: Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment: Establish a standards-based, culturally sustaining scope and sequence for visual and performing arts courses delivered by certified arts educators through sequential k-12 programs of study aligned to the PPS Instructional Framework
STRATEGIC GOAL 3: Professional Learning & Capacity Building: Implement effective and relevant professional development to support new and established teachers, administrators, and community arts organizations in the service of meaningful and equitable student learning in and through the arts
STRATEGIC GOAL 4: Stakeholders & Partnerships: Curate relationships with and between internal stakeholders (including teachers, administrators, and school communities) and external arts partners to create deep learning experiences for students while serving district initiatives with a focus on racial equity and social justice
STRATEGIC GOAL 5: Data-Informed Decisions & Practices: Engage in continuous cycles of inquiry and data analysis to improve practice and advocate for district-level and school-specific policies and practices that support arts education
STRATEGIC GOAL 6: Financial Sustainability: Ensure that the funding for arts education is adequate, sustainable, and equitably distributed to support schools.
How will this plan align with PPS reImagined, Forward Together, and our Vision and Values?
The MAEP will work to prioritize the System Shifts needed to impact arts education in PPS, including:
Racial Equity-aligned Systems and Structures
Consistent Arts Pathways
Stabilize Staffing
Instructional Practices Shift (Professional Learning)
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy
Culturally Sustaining Materials, Supplies & Equipment
Read more about the PPS reImagined Vision and the Forward Together Strategic Plan
How is this related to the Arts Tax?
The Portland Arts Tax was implemented by a ballot measure in 2012. PPS is required to use money from the tax to pay certified visual and performing arts teachers for students in kindergarten to fifth grade. Revenue from the tax allowed PPS to go from the equivalent of 15 full-time arts teachers for K-5 students to 63+ teachers who serve over 20,000 students across all PPS elementary schools.
The MAEP will lay the groundwork for an early arts education that includes fully-formed pathways through which students can continue to receive a coherent, thoughtfully-planned and equitable arts education through grades 6 to 12.
Currently, 75% of the district’s K-5 students are receiving instruction in both visual and performing arts. The MAEP will target increasing those offerings to 100% and expanding pathways in grades 6-12.
What was the Strategic Planning process for creating the MAEP?
1. Convene Stakeholder Groups (PPS certified teachers in dance, music, theatre and visual arts, Portland arts organizations, PPS students)
2. Identify Collective Beliefs: What Are The Purposes Of Arts Education?
3. Enact Research In The Field
4. Develop Vision & Mission Statements
5. Identify Current Assets And Limitations Within PPS
6. Align Emerging Strategic Plan To PPS Reimagined
7. Develop Strategic Goals, Subgoals, Strategies, And Action Items
8. Incorporate Feedback Data Points & Reconvene Stakeholders
