Mayor Sam Adams

Right Brain's pilot year has come to a close and it's time to check in on this fantastic investment.  Yesterday, Portland City Council unanimously adopted the Right Brain Iniative Progress Report.

As a reminder, the Right Brain Initiative is a partnership of schools, local government, foundations, businesses, and the cultural community. Together, our mission is to make arts education accessible to every K-8 student in the Portland tri-county region.

In some cases, the arts integration Right Brain provides is the only exposure these students get to arts education.  The Right Brain Initiative doesn't replace existing arts resources in schools.  Instead, teachers, arts specialists and local artists collaborate to weave the arts throughout the curriculum, engaging students in a creative process that connects art to other learning. 

We know that not only does arts education offer students the opportunity to express themselves creatively, but it has also been linked to higher academic performance and lower drop-out rates. And our public opinion research over the years reveals the value placed on arts education by the community across the region.

Over 9,000 students and 486 teachers in 20 schools across four districts participated in arts integrated learning through The Right Brain Initiative.  In this report:

• See a full description of the diverse offerings that Right Brain brought to the students
• Understand better the important role that professional development plays
• Get a first look at the baseline data that was collected to inform our evaluation work going forward. 

Check out the Right Brain Iniative Progress Report for yourself.