Navigating school culture can be a challenge for the participants in an arts partnership, but AER professional development workshops provide the tools to establish a healthy and productive partnership.

How best to integrate the arts and the academic curriculum is an ongoing challenge for artists and teachers. How will the arts support the academic subject and how will the academic subject support the arts? Too often there are no goals and objectives for the art form, and the art making is seen as a way to get students active rather than as a vehicle to support the curriculum and student learning. AER provides practitioners with the tools to get the most out of their arts partnerships and maximize the value of the arts integration.

Differentiated instruction starts with the belief that we must teach to the student rather than teach to the class. Since students learn in different ways (e.g., seeing, doing, playing), AER helps artists develop practical strategies for implementing lessons that are inclusive of multiple learning styles.

One of AER's overarching goals is to help artists and schools design city, state, and national standards-based curriculum with clear goals and objectives. AER founder Russell Granet was an advisor and workshop facilitator on the development of the New York City Theater Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts, which provides citywide guidelines for arts learning. AER also holds workshops on the Blueprint for New York City-based artists.

The arts are a powerful entry point into learning and participation for many students and adults with disabilities (emotional, physical and cognitive challenges). All disabilities are on a continuum from mild to severe and can be found in self-contained or inclusion classrooms. AER helps teachers and artists develop content geared toward a specific disability and/or develop best practices when dealing with a variety of disabilities.

Classroom management can be overwhelming for artists who haven't had experience with it, so AER provides workshops for artists and teaching artists that introduce practical classroom management strategies. Since most classroom management problems are a result of instruction issues, AER emphasizes engaging students through a well thought-out and meaningful lesson.

Creating a culture of reflection with artists is key to sustaining quality. Thoughtful implementation, reflection, and revision allow artists to determine if they have been successful and why. And if they haven't, why not? Looking at student work and the protocols that support looking at student work gives artists the opportunity to be reflective and helps student and teachers get the most out of their arts experience.

Helping artists and organizations define and articulate their core values and personal mission statement helps them strengthen their work. AER provides artists with processes that will let them determine if their work with students is consonant with their personal or professional mission statement.