How does arts education fuel the nation's economic prosperity and innovation? Or capitalize on new media trends? These and other questions will be addressed at two upcoming Education Leaders Institutes, an NEA initiative that convenes "dream teams" to develop coordinated state arts education plans. This spring, the NEA will assemble policymakers, educators, advocates, and artists to design arts education plans for their respective states.  With these upcoming Institutes, the NEA will have gathered 19 policy teams since the program was launched in 2007. Today, the NEA announces the state teams who will attend the third and fourth Institute, to be held this March and June in Chicago, Illinois.

"We are rapidly rolling out a platform to integrate the arts into national educational policy," said NEA Arts Education Director Sarah Cunningham. "Our efforts are resulting in greater awareness of innovative practices, new partnerships, and a host of dynamic state leaders who recognize the value of arts education to their economic and social welfare."

Arts & the Economy, a recent report by the National Governors Association, cites the importance of the arts to state economies, and warns of an increasingly competitive global economy. The report notes that "the most desirable high-wage jobs require employees with creativity and higher order problem solving and communications skills." 

The NEA Education Leaders Institutes bring together state teams to discuss a shared arts education challenge, and create strategies to strengthen their state's arts education policies. State teams may include state department of education officials, governor's cabinet members, superintendents, district-level school leaders, artists, and arts advocates. Each group includes a "team lead," the organization that has convened the other partners to address shared challenges.  These teams will discuss topics such as arts education and job training, new media opportunities, curriculum reform, and accountability. As participants exchange ideas, innovative partnerships emerge, coupled with renewed commitment to arts education to train the creative workforce in and out of school.