year one Progress Report March 2012 – March 2013
“The practical design of the workshop enabled teachers to be immersed in professional development for three days and then have ongoing implementation support on a monthly basis throughout the entire school year. This model will help effect a change in the instructional practice of teachers, creating an environment where risk-taking, play and creativity are all celebrated.” — Dana Sadan, Principal, Ross School (2012 pilot partner)
Our Mission: To ignite and advance creative thinking for all children
Dear Supporters, For over three years, the Bay Area Discovery Museum explored the idea of extending its reach and impact before officially launching the Center for Childhood Creativity (CCC) at the Museum's annual Creativity Forum in March 2012. As we wrap up our first year, we are thrilled with our progress and look forward to an exciting future. The CCC builds on the Museum's child-centered, hands-on, constructivist approach as a foundation for all we do. Our services provide parents and the larger educational community with tools to cultivate deeper learning in the classroom and at home. We rely on extensive research in early childhood learning and development to support the incredible work we do at the Museum. In fact, through recent
research partnerships, we have PhDs onsite working regularly with our visitors to learn more about learning. In this way, the Museum is not only incubating the CCC, but also serving as a lab for our research platform. 2012 was a year of foundation building for the CCC; we added dedicated staff, extended our family of supporters, created the beginnings of several long-term academic partnerships, dipped a toe in the advocacy waters and made a splash with our educational programs. These educational programs were the primary area of focus for 2012 and we are off to a tremendous start.
idea. The CCC allows us to expand our demographic reach to older children, to connect with new funders and peer organizations in the education reform sector, and to extend our impact into the adult community through parents and teachers, thereby reaching far more children than we can onsite. We look forward to a productive and impactful 2013 and appreciate your continued support. Sincerely,
Elizabeth Rieke CEO & Executive Director Center for Childhood Creativity
The addition of the CCC to the Museum's portfolio confirms the original hypothesis behind the
3
Education
The amount of knowledge and understanding of how children’s brains develop has grown exponentially in the past decade. We are committed to bringing that research to those who work with young children on a daily basis. Teachers are a key starting point.
4
Partnering with four schools, we trained 60 teachers from grades K - 4 during the summer of 2012. Teachers learned the components and value of creative thinking and received tools and strategies for developing engaging classroom curriculum focused on empowering a child’s whole brain to participate in learning. Teachers continued with a year-long support program of monthly trainings focused on the application and advancement of their teaching practices.
We then worked with Marin County Office of Education (MCOE) to modify the Creativity Immersion training specifically for schools in lower-income areas and with larger numbers of English language learners. We trained 20 more Pre-K through third grade teachers from seven different schools in a two-day workshop in February 2013. Administrators at all seven of the participating schools are in discussion with the CCC and Marin Community Foundation to enroll additional teachers in summer workshops.
“This was the best professional development I’ve ever attended.” – Participating 2nd grade teacher with 14 years experience.
NPS
Year One accomplishments
We developed a three-day “Creativity Immersion” training program to bring the best of new research in brain science to the classroom.
Title One Pilot
100%
K - 4 Professional Development Pilot
100% of participants in the pilot group of teachers reported that they would highly recommend this training to their colleagues.
EDUCATION
5
accomplishments 6
EDUCATION
Pre-K Pilot
Administrator Workshop
The Museum's Connections staff developed a training program for Pre-K teachers focused on promoting early science learning and creativity.
In recognition of the need for holistic school change, and in partnership with an administrator from our first set of partner schools, we piloted a four-hour administrator workshop in February 2013 which highlighted key brain research and provided tools to help schools promote creative thinking in the classroom.
Twenty teachers from the program participated in a two-day workshop with three half-day workshops throughout the academic year to support application in the classroom. Based on the success of the pilot, the Museum and CCC have been contracted by the San Francisco Unified School District to train all 200 of their Pre-K teachers during the summer of 2013.
All future school partnerships will include administrator participation.
future plans
Scaling workshops
New programs
Building on the learnings and success from our pilot year, we are scheduled to train hundreds of Bay Area teachers this coming summer, funded through a combination of fee-for-service and indivdual and foundation support.
We are designing professional development training for private preschools and K-4 independent schools (both with fee-forservice models).
Partnerships Our partnerships include the San Francisco Unified School District and the Marin County Office of Education (MCOE). We will be an anchor content provider at the June 2013 MCOE Summer Training Institute, and at the first Marin-based EdCamp.
Digital reach We are building partnerships to bring our professional development resources for teachers to national and international audiences through digital technology. Key opportunites include partnering with Edutopia, iTunes University, New Teacher Center, and the Stanford Technology Ventures program, all of which have established dissemination structures to help us share research on learning and the brain to a wider audience.
“Finally, current brain research integrated into professional development for teachers! It is time for teachers to enter the 21st century along with their students.” – Participating teacher, Summer 2012 Pilot EDUCATION
7
Research
Our research platform is the foundation of all we do; it draws on neuroscience, cognitive psychology, sociology and economics. Onsite experiences at the Museum allow us to translate philosophy into practical actions and serve as a lab for research in action. The goal of the CCC is to articulate a holistic view of how children learn and thrive – and to share that view far and wide.
Year One accomplishments
research archive We are continuing to compile a robust archive of over 500 creativity and learning studies.
We grew our Advisory Board to increase focus on education and research, adding:
Our research team has combed through hundreds of these studies to inform content for our education platform. A Thomas P. Murphy Fellowship has been awarded to advance the Center for Childhood Creativity's research platform.
Academic Partnerships
nadine burke harris kenneth ginsburg
We solidified a partnership with UCSF’s Educational Neuroscience Department. We are currently seeking funds for a CCC/ UCSF fellowship to do primary research on creative thinking in the brain. We have developed a partnership with UC Berkeley’s Department of Psychology to conduct onsite research at the Bay Area Discovery Museum on creativity and early childhood development — and are currently seeking funds for a CCC/UC Berkeley fellowship to do primary research on cognitive development and creativity.
alison gopnik scott pearson
research
9
future plans
research
Advisory Board
We will fund two key research positions for the CCC: Director of Research & Curriculum Strategist to drive the translation of research into actionable materials and a Research Strategist to lead the development of new studies and collaborations.
We are discussing partnership opportunities with WestEd on a variety of research projects, key among them being assessments of creativity with the new Common Core standards, and exploring connections between STEM education and creative thinking in childhood.
We are also seeking funds for academic postdoctoral fellowships at UCSF and UC Berkeley. We are developing a longitudinal study to measure the impact of our teacher trainings. Discussions for additional university and academic partnerships are underway.
10
research
Advisory Board members will be added in education and research, particularly those individuals whose work we reference in our education workshops. Our goal is to convene the Advisory Board for mini conferences focused on surveying existing work and developing new collaborations.
“The time is ripe to pursue neuroscientific research on childhood creativity with the availability of new technology suitable for young children and increasing awareness of the importance of the topic. So the partnership with the Bay Area Discovery Museum’s new Center comes at a perfect time. It will allow us to take advantage of both the Museum and the Center’s expertise and resources, while pursuing our efforts to increase public awareness of the importance of understanding how children’s brains develop. We are extraordinarily excited about the opportunity.”
Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service
Fumiko Hoeft, MD, PhD Director of Laboratory for Educational Neuroscience, UCSF
11
Advocacy By making research accessible to parents and educators, and by working directly with educators to show impact, we can influence not only daily interactions with young children, but also public awareness and opinion. We are just getting started and have many opportunities to pursue in the coming years.
At the Museum's annual Creativity Forum in February 2013, CCC Advisor Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg spoke to an audience of more than 600 Bay Area parents and educators on the topic of creativity and resiliency in youth. In partnership with the Museum, we launched a speaker series sponsored by ScholarShare on March 14 with a talk by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris: “The Buzz on Brains and Babies.”
press We posted weekly to Facebook, sent hundreds of tweets and welcomed visitors from 101 countries and every state in the U.S. to our website. The CCC has been identified as the primary source of information for a piece in Parents Magazine (October 2013 issue) on how to foster creativity in children.
future Plans
Year One accomplishments
events
Building on our local success, we will promote the CCC as a trusted resource to a national audience of parents and educators. Edutopia, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, has committed to helping us scale our impact and educate a broad audience through digital media. We are seeking funding to produce videos and multimedia presentations that put the newest research and learnings about the brain into engaging, digestible formats. We aspire to improve and expand our website, building its capacity to draw traffic through social media and to provide useful content to the adults who interact daily with children. Finally, we are developing a long-term plan for convening thought leaders to advance the discussion and influence policy.
The CCC was chosen as a key contributor for the Summer 2013 issue of Hand to Hand, an industry magazine of the Association of Children’s Museums, which will highlight museums that are tackling global issues by making a local impact.
advocacy
13
Advisory Board Dennis Bartels, Ph.D.
Dave Eggers
Fumiko Hoeft, M.D., Ph.D.
Executive Director, Exploratorium
Best-selling author, editor, publisher, education nonprofit leader and founder, 826 Valencia
Director of Laboratory for Educational Neuroscience (LENS), University of California, San Francisco
Author and public school advocates
Maria Giudice, B.F.A.
Kathleen McCartney, Ph.D.
Stuart Brown, M.D.
CEO & founder, Hot Studio, an experience design company
Dean, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University
Kenneth Ginsburg, M.D., M.S. Ed
Scott Pearson, M.B.A., M.P.A.
Medical doctor, professor, University of Pennsylvania, best-selling author and thought leader on resiliency
Executive Director, District of Columbia Charter Schools, former U.S. Dept. of Education Deputy
Founder & CEO Center, Youth Wellness
Alison Gopnik, Ph.D.
Daniel H. Pink, J.D.
Rich Crandall, M.B.A.
Developmental psychologist, University of California, Berkeley, best-selling author
Author of several New York Times bestsellers, including A Whole New Mind
Associate Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund
Glen Harvey, Ph.D.
Mark A. Runco, Ph.D.
CEO, WestEd, a research, development, and service agency, working with education communities
Director, Torrance Creativity Center, University of Georgia
Jackie Broad, M.B.A. & Ken Broad, M.B.A.
Medical doctor, psychiatrist, clinical researcher, and founder, National Institute for Play
Nadine Burke Harris, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P.
14
Thank You!
Founding Contributors: We gratefully acknowledge these supporters, who saw the opportunity to make an impact by significantly investing in our growing organization. Anonymous (3) Jackie & Ken Broad Formium* Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau Gwen Hinze & Ernie Chow
The James Family Foundation Leigh & Bill Matthes The Maquarie Group Tammy & Kurt Mobley Christy & Ravi Mohan
Elizabeth Rieke* Thomas P. Murphy Fellowship Jeana Toney & Boris Putanec Richard & Wendy Yanowitch Listing As Of April 2013
SUPPORTING Contributors: Alyssa and Mark Berwick Shannan and Steve Bishop Alexandra and Chris Britt Hannah Brown Jennifer Caldwell and John Fisher Lycia Carmody Michele and Ronald Conway Jaqueline and Christian Erdman
Suzanne and Elliott Felson Elizabeth and Robert Fisher Heather and Kelly Fowler Jane Gannon* Mindy Glass and Eric Sagmeister Julia and Kevin Hartz Gabriel Sod Hoffs Anne and Jeff Howson
Jennifer and Nohemy Jeffries Caroline and David Jeske Wendy and Carl Kawaja April and Peter Kelly Robin Kim* Kerri and Mark Lehmann Susan Keiko McKibben and Kurt Menning Tara and Bryan Meehan
Anne and Robert Pedrero Gina and David Pell Sonja Perkins and Jon Perkins Rebecca and Steve Ravel Merritt Richmond Shannon and Jay Thomson Elizabeth and Laurent Warner-Huguenin Alexandra Wells
*In-Kind Donation
Excited by our progress? Please support us in achieving our future plans.
Get Involved
To learn more, contact Brandy Vause at bvause@badm.org or (415) 339-3956 15
Our Mission: To ignite and advance creative thinking for all children
557 McReynolds Road, Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 339-3920
www.CenterForChildhoodCreativity.org