Third Space: When Learning Matters

Third Space tells the riveting story of the profound changes in the lives of kids, teachers, and parents in ten economically disadvantaged communities across the country that place their bets on the arts as a way to create great schools. The schools become caring communities where kids - many of whom face challenges of poverty, the need to learn English, and to surmount learning difficulties - thrive and succeed and where teachers find new joy and satisfaction in teaching.

Lauren M. Stevenson, as senior associate for research at the Arts Education Partnership, was principal investigator for the research project culminating in Third Space. She also served as assistant editor of the AEP compendium, Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development and led the development of the AEP agenda for future arts education research, The Arts and Education: New Opportunities for Research. Prior to her work at AEP, she researched school reform and youth policy and trained youth advocates for the American Institutes for Research; founded and directed a performing arts and social change project in New York City; and was a policy, planning, and research associate with the President’s Initiative on Race at the White House during the Clinton Administration. Richard J. Deasy has been the director of the Arts Education Partnership since its founding. He has led AEP’s efforts to produce seminal reports and research studies that demonstrate the positive impact of the arts on students, schools, and communities and that provide guidance to policy makers and practitioners on how to create that impact. Most recently he commissioned and edited AEP’s compendium of studies, Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. Prior to assuming the leadership of AEP, Mr. Deasy has been a senior official in two state departments of education, responsible for the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and legislative relations. He also has served as chief executive of an international and cultural exchange organization, and was an award-winning journalist. Mr. Deasy has taught at the secondary and university levels.