Press ResourcesContact UsSign Up for CAPE's E-Mail NewsletterMake a Donation to CAPEHelpful Reources and LinksSite MapPartners Only Secure Area

CAPE DELTA PROJECT, 2003-2006
The Chicago Public Schools, in partnership with Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, developed the Developing Early Literacies Through the Arts (DELTA) project.
DELTA was a 3-year program, serving three Case Study DELTA Schools with intensive professional development, artist residencies, technical assistance, and research on the relationship between arts integration and literacy development.
DEVELOPING EARLY LITERACIES THROUGH THE ARTS
Larry Scripp, Ed.D., Founding Director, Center for Music-in-Education, New England Conservatory, 2007
The Developing Early Literacies Through the Arts (DELTA) project, made possible by an Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant from the U. S. Department of Education, consisted of a three-year collaboration between the Chicago Public Schools and CAPE, focusing on the contribution of arts integration to text literacy development in grades 1, 2 and 3. The DELTA study demonstrates how arts learning promotes multiple literacy learning processes that depend more on creative response, imagination, experimentation and aesthetic experience than do methods of learning that emphasize formulaic responses to rule-based literacy instruction.

For an executive summary of this research, click the following. A PDF of CAPE's second release in its Contributions to Arts and Learning series will open in a separate browser window.

Click the following for the full research report. A PDF of Developing Early Literacies through the Arts: A Final Report will open in a separate browser window.



 The three DELTA schools – Sumner, Emmet, and Miles Davis – were part of the 26 schools in the Improving Academic Achievement Through The Arts (IAAA) initiative of CPS Bureau of Cultural Arts, under the leadership of Diane Chandler. This project was supported by the United States Department of Education and targeted 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades.

The efforts of teachers and artists working to impact students' literacy through arts integration, at these three schools was examined closely by local and national research teams for the DELTA project

The work of the DELTA teachers, artists, students, and researchers was disseminated on April 7th, 2006 to all 26 IAAA Schools via a day-long seminar for teachers, artists and administrators.

Emmet School

Principal Artists
Dr. Jacqueline A. Robinson

Adam Busch, musician
Guillermo Delgado, visual artist

Download a PDF (1.2mb) of a Process Portofolio by Adam Busch and Jurrate Moore, 1st Grade Teacher at Emmet School.


Sumner School
Principal Artists
Mrs. W. D. Robinson

Andrea Vinson, dance artist
Juan Carlos Perez, visual artist

Download a PDF (3.2mb) of a Process Portofolio by Juan Carlos Perez and Josy Nolin, 2nd Grade Teacher at Sumner School.


Miles Davis Academy
Principal Artists
Dr. Maxine Toliver

Mary Tepper, visual artist
Reggie Lawrence and Kevin Douglas, MPAACT Theatre artists

Download a PDF (2.8mb) of a Process Portofolio by Kevin Douglas and Lashaun Woodland, 3rdGrade Teacher at Emmet School.


A quote from the onset of the DELTA project:

“The DELTA project is an extremely valuable initiative for our CPS schools and the future of arts education in general. This research based approach will be useful in helping to identify and define how involvement in the arts contributes to the academic development of our youth.

“This type of study is in an embryonic stage, but is one that will prove to be very beneficial in the years to come as a larger body of research evidence is created. It is an exciting project for our schools and we are proud to be part of such important work.”

— Diane Chandler,
Director of the Bureau of Cultural Arts, Chicago Public Schools
 

© 2004-2008 Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) • 203 N. Wabash, Suite 1720, Chicago, Illinois 60601-2417
312/870-6140 • fax 312/870-6147 •