Evaluation to Measure Impact of Detroit Wolf Trap’s Early Learning through the Arts on Teacher Growth in Instructional Ability

Detroit Wolf Trap’s Early Learning Through the Arts provides arts-based teaching strategies and services to early childhood teachers. As a regional affiliate, Living Arts provides eight-week arts integration residencies to Early Head Start and Head Start educators in Detroit, Michigan. Classroom residencies embed routine coaching for teachers, stand-alone professional development workshops, and out-of-school performing arts experiences. The residences emphasize improving the quality of early education by infusing art into pre-K instruction in math, science, and literacy. As a first step to understanding the impact of the program on teacher instruction, RFA conducted interviews and observations to generate a close-in description of how classroom instruction changes when teachers participate in the DWT program.