In 1997, as part of its national Annenberg Challenge initiative, the Annenberg Institute awarded the Center for Arts Education (CAE) in New York a $12 million grant to develop the New York City Partnership for Arts in Education (NYCPAE) project.

The NYCPAE project funds partnerships between New York City public schools and cultural organizations to design, develop, and implement arts education and experiences in the K-12 classroom. The initiative was designed to stimulate and support school change through the introduction of partnerships with outside organizations, extensive professional development for teachers and teaching artists, parent and community involvement, development of new student assessment methods and approaches, and the integration of arts instruction into the core curriculum.

To this end, NYCPAE provides partnerships with substantial multiyear grants; citywide professional development opportunities; smaller professional development research projects around specific issues (such as using video in student assessment, or introducing teaching artists to state learning standards); and localized site-specific support and mentoring. CAE also advocates locally and nationally for increased and improved arts education for all students. Working in partnership with the United Federation of Teachers, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York City Board of Education, CAE has effectively raised the visibility and viability of arts education in New York City. Public school arts programs had effectively been eliminated over the past two decades, but in the two years since the Annenberg grant was awarded, the city has committed more than $100 million to support arts programming and resources.

CCT undetook the overall NYCPAE project evaluation and connected it with the national evaluation efforts of other Annenberg Challenge sites. The CCT research and evaluation team: Monitored and provided feedback to CAE about its progress toward the program's goals as they evolve and grow. Collected data and information from the local partnerships to document the ways in which partnerships define, carry out, and achieve their project goals. Assessed the impact and effectiveness of the NYCPAE program by reviewing student achievement and project assessment data from local sites to create a synthesis of project results for reporting back to Annenberg, other funders, and the field at large.

Methodology included making classroom observations; holding interviews with teachers, teaching artists, and school and cultural organization administrators; administering project-wide surveys; conducting pre- and post-inventories of arts resources at participating schools; administering questionnaires at specific professional development activities; participating in NYCPAE planning and design meetings; and conducting in-depth multiyear research projects at a number of schools selected for their geographical (in the five boroughs), arts discipline, and grade-level distribution.