About CAN
Connected Arts Networks (CAN) is a five-year grant initiative to create nationwide virtual Professional Learning Communities with educators in visual arts, music, theatre, dance and media arts. NAfME is partnered on this work with the National Art Education Association, the Educational Theater Association, the National Dance Education Organization, and the NYC Dept. of Education’s Arts Office.
The purpose of CAN is to build a sustainable model of professional learning for arts educators in public schools and public charters to strengthen their pedagogy, instruction, and leadership skills in order to better serve students.
Through the (CAN) project, NAfME is part of a national network of almost 500 Teacher Participants taking part in multi-year PLCs. NAfME’s eight PLCs include more than 100 PreK-12 music teachers (Teacher Participants) and 14 PreK-12 Teacher Leaders.
The NAfME CAN PLCs have been meeting virtually each month since January 2024 and will continue school-year monthly sessions.
Connected Arts Networks (CAN)
Leveraging Arts Learning Communities for Teacher Leadership and Student Achievement is a 5-year federal grant project funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is proud to be partners on this project with the National Art Education Association (NAEA – the project lead), the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), and the New York City Department of Education’s (NYCDOE’s) Office of Arts and Special Projects (OASP). A comprehensive evaluation of the project will be conducted by Metis Associates.
All work is aligned to the National Core Arts Standards which recognizes arts education as dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts. Learn about the Music Education Standards.
The project is based on a New York City program in which music and arts educators across disciplines and grade levels meet monthly in professional learning communities to investigate how to incorporate best practices into music and arts education content, instruction, and leadership.
NAfME Staff Contacts
LaSaundra Belcher
Professional Development/Grant Project Content Manager
lasaundrab@nafme.org
Angela Keedy
Professional Development Specialist
angelak@nafme.org
John Donaldson
Assistant Executive Director for Professional Development and Publications
johnd@nafme.org