Arts Education
TCG's Research, Policy & Collective Action Department offers a variety of education-related programming and resources that give visibility to the work of the theatre education sector of the field and provides professional development to the education staff of TCG Member Theatres. Please contact Laurie Baskin, director of research, policy & collective action, with any questions about TCG's education-related activities.
TCG Education Survey and Related Resources
Please participate in TCG Education Survey 2018! The deadline to submit your survey has been extended to Tuesday, September 3, 2019.
Since 1999, Theatre Communications Group has surveyed our Member Theatres about their education programs. The results of the surveys are featured in a periodic Special Report on Education. TCG also provides an online search tool, through which participating theatres' completed surveys from the most recently available year (currently 2016) can be viewed. An extensive, searchable database of student study guides published by TCG Member Theatres is also available online.
TCG Special Report on Education
TCG publishes a periodic Special Report on Education that provides a wealth of information about education programming at TCG Member Theatres. The report is comprised of three sections: a narrative portion that offers voices from the field a platform from which to speak about a specific education-related topic; a presentation of the data from the annual TCG Education Survey, which focuses on programming, demographics served, and staffing; and education-related data from the annual TCG Fiscal Survey, including earned income, contributed income, and expenses.
The TCG Special Report on Education 2016 (PDF) begins with a focus on education and community engagement programs and department structures at a number of theatres. Reflections from staff at seven Member Theatres are presented in this report. They explore definitions of “education” and “community engagement,” the similarities and differences between these two areas of focus, the choices that went into varying staff structures, and the collaborative nature of this work. These narratives are followed by an analysis of data from TCG Education Survey 2016, in which 96 Member Theatres participated, and a presentation of education-specific data from the 182 Member Theatres that participated in TCG Fiscal Survey 2016.
An archive of previous TCG Education Reports is available here.
Professional Development
Education Directors Teleconferences: Part of TCG's Theatre Professionals Teleconference Series and offered in the spring and fall, education teleconferences provide education staff at Member Theatres an opportunity to share information, ideas, problems, and solutions with peers throughout the country. Topics have included partnerships and working alliances, building stronger student matinee and touring programs, integrated approaches to education through the arts in public schools, internal and external advocacy, assessment, and artist training. Teleconference rounds typically run from February through June and September through December. If you have any questions, please email Laurie Baskin, director of research, policy & collective action.
TEAM Resources: The project, Building a National TEAM: Theatre Education Assessment Models, was developed by a Working Group of education directors, guided by a national assessment consultant, and directed by TCG’s education program staff. After deepening their own learning about assessment, the Working Group collectively designed and executed two phases of professional development training in consultation with the project consultant and TCG staff, that took the form of a Pre-Conference convening to TCG’s National Conference in 2007 and again in 2010. During Phase One the group delivered more than 15 assessment models for use in the field of professional theatre education. The models are assessment models or templates that can be adapted to various theatre education programs. The TEAM Working Group focused specifically on four types of models: Observations, Performance Tasks, Portfolios and Surveys. Phase Two was an opportunity for participants to learn how to build valid and reliable conclusions based on their assessment findings, strengthening their ability to interpret the data collected from assessment to create reports for different stakeholders. The aim of this work is not only to improve the quality and skills of education directors, but also to continue to help establish a focus on the assessment process and the creation of an assessment community at the national level. To find out more please see the TEAM portion of TCG’s website.