Department of Theatre and Dance

Since 1996, the Department has been partnering with various public school districts around the state to implement its Drama for Schools Projects (DFS). DFS is an extension of the University of Texas at Austin's Arts in Communities programming, which develops K-12 partnerships across the state. These projects bring UT theatre faculty and graduate students into public schools where they train the K-12 teachers to use creative drama techniques to teach across the curriculum. These techniques can be applied to history, geography, English, and a variety of social science classes to help students become more invested in their studies. For example, for a history class studying the battle of the Alamo, students might join together to write and produce a play about the event. This activity would go beyond merely reading a textbook and would engage the students in group research, practice of their English and writing skills, memorizing lines that included historical facts and dates, and teaching them social and disciplinary skills required for working within a team. This is just one example of the various creative drama techniques used to teach different academic subjects. The goal is to train and support teachers interested in using drama as a teaching technology to increase student productivity and academic achievements. Research has proven that students who participate in this innovative program show marked progress on test scores and in school attendance.

Students from the Drama for Schools Program

The Drama for Schools Projects began in Austin and Central Texas schools, then branched out into the Rio Grande Valley in 1999. The community of La Joya, Texas, invited UT into its school district to help with its high student drop-out rate and low TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) test scores. The La Joya school district is 95% hispanic and one of the poorest districts in the state. Most of the children come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Classroom performance was measured both before and after UT's two-year pilot program, and the results were astounding. These children experienced increased classroom performance in their overall curriculum, and TAAS scores improved dramatically (43%) over the two-year period, demonstrating the positive relationship between their participation in the program and overall classroom improvement.

In 2003, UT was invited to implement DFS in Tyler, where the school district had experienced a severe drop in TAAS scores in recent years. More disadvantaged children are enrolled in the Tyler schools, where the student population is now 40% hispanic, 30% African-American, 29% white, and 1% other. DFS in Tyler was tailored to help underachieving children in Tyler Independent School District by introducing creative drama teaching methods throughout the curriculum of selected schools.

Teachers are trained to teach theater games and techniques, such as improvisation and role-playing, to explore history, culture, conflict and point of view to help student remember and cultivate problem solving/critical thinking skills, language and communication, creativity, imagination and collaboration skills.

How it works:

• Initial district and/or community needs assessment
• Two-year commitment agreement
• Selection of a cadre of academic teachers/community partners
• Initial training sessions in drama as a teaching tool
• 1st year support and follow up (including initial research strategies)
• 2nd year training as co-researchers and peer leaders
• Assistance in structuring peer-led trainings and mentorship planning

Results:

• Teacher and staff enthusiasm in the schools
• Tyler teachers reported immediate results in their classrooms
• When teachers used the drama techniques, students were more engaged, retained information and skills learned much longer, and misbehaved less frequently
• Decrease in student absenteeism
• Improved TEKS test scores (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills)