Arts Integration Certification

Take the next step in your arts integration journey. Become a certified arts integration specialist with this self-paced, online accredited program.

About this Program

The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM’s Arts Integration Certification™ is an accredited online program that enables educators to become certified Level 1 Arts Integration Specialists.

The program is designed for K-12 classroom and arts teachers who want to improve their teaching methods and engage students more deeply in and through the arts. It can also be beneficial for curriculum coordinators, teaching artists, administrators, and district-level leaders.

This certification program will help you to:
• Learn proven strategies in and through the arts that lead to scaleable and sustainable arts integrated efforts
• Confidently make standards-aligned connections across the curriculum through lesson and assessment design
• Create models of success for arts integration and STEAM programming
• Build buy-in and maximize your impact by honoring adult-learning practices
• Collaborate with teachers, administrators, and community members
• Design inspiring and innovative learning opportunities for all students and
• Assess maker-centered approaches and use data to make meaningful change

Included in this program:

  • 520 PD Hours and 20 CEUs with Certificate (often suitable for relicensure)

  • Self-paced access to all online video lessons, resources, and readings (start as soon as you want!)

  • Take up to 3 years to completed (flexible to your schedule)

  • Private, Online Community with Quarterly Live Zoom Calls

“If you are an advocate for the arts in education, or even understand the value and power, yet hesitant to implement, this program is for you. You will grow professionally and bring experiences that will change your students and school community. The support you get from this program is beyond expectations. This program is rooted in best practices, research-based methodology, standards, and assessments, yet allows for creativity and innovation, something that is missing from those mandated curriculums. There is nothing else out there like this program for arts integration.”

– STEPHANIE MCKENNY, CLASS OF 2021

Included in this program:

  • 520 PD Hours and 20 CEUs with Certificate (often suitable for relicensure)

  • Self-paced access to all online video lessons, resources, and readings (start as soon as you want!)

  • Take up to 3 years to completed (flexible to your schedule)

  • Private, Online Community with Quarterly Live Zoom Calls

“If you are an advocate for the arts in education, or even understand the value and power, yet hesitant to implement, this program is for you. You will grow professionally and bring experiences that will change your students and school community. The support you get from this program is beyond expectations. This program is rooted in best practices, research-based methodology, standards, and assessments, yet allows for creativity and innovation, something that is missing from those mandated curriculums. There is nothing else out there like this program for arts integration.”

– STEPHANIE MCKENNY, CLASS OF 2021

About this Program

The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM’s Arts Integration Certification™ is an accredited online program that enables educators to become certified Level 1 Arts Integration Specialists.

The program is designed for K-12 classroom and arts teachers who want to improve their teaching methods and engage students more deeply in and through the arts. It can also be beneficial for curriculum coordinators, teaching artists, administrators, and district-level leaders.

This certification program will help you to:
• Learn proven strategies in and through the arts that lead to scaleable and sustainable arts integrated efforts
• Confidently make standards-aligned connections across the curriculum through lesson and assessment design
• Create models of success for arts integration and STEAM programming
• Build buy-in and maximize your impact by honoring adult-learning practices
• Collaborate with teachers, administrators, and community members
• Design inspiring and innovative learning opportunities for all students and
• Assess maker-centered approaches and use data to make meaningful change

Why Get Certified?

Whether you’ve been using arts integration for a while and are ready to take your next step, or you’re exploring different career options, Arts Integration Certification™ can help. Here’s how this program can benefit you and your future goals:

Credibility

In a recent survey, 86% of polled administrators said that certified arts integration specialists are more credible than non-certified specialists.

Advance with Hours

This accredited program comes with 520 PD hours, 20 CEUs, and up to 6 Grad Credits. So you can advance your career (and on the salary scale) with PD that makes a difference.

Career Options

95% of alumni report this program helped them become better educators overall, and 87% feel confident they now have skills that transfer across professions.

Getting Certified opens so many doors and opportunities. From leading others to a whole new career, our alums are using their skills in amazing ways – and so can you.

“Rather than just giving ideas, the program actually shows how to take Arts and blend it with the core subjects without adding any extra work for the teacher.”

– SHILPA VERMA, Class of 2020

“Before, I really felt like I was on an island. But now, this program has given me a process that I’m able to share with other teachers.”

– ELIZABETH BROOKS, Class of 2018

2022 arts integration certification graduates

Who is This Program For?

The Arts Integration Certification™ Program is designed for:

  • K-12 Classroom and Arts Teachers seeking to enrich their teaching methods and engage students at a deeper level using a standards-based model.

  • School Administrators & Curriculum Coordinators looking to integrate innovative, proven approaches in their schools and curriculum.

  • Teaching Artists & Museum Educators open to learning how to connect with curriculum standards, make connections to school offerings, and eager to make a meaningful impact in the educational sphere.

“This program promotes deep thinking about new content areas and about the content areas you think you have mastery of. The program’s progression helps you dip your toe into the other content areas in manageable ways.”

– KATY SHIREY, Class of 2022

What You’ll Learn

Whether you want to become a national leader in using Arts Integration or the go-to person in your school/district for using the approach, this certification program will help you with:

what you'll learn in certification

Program Overview

Each sprint in the Arts Integration Certification Program contains 5-6 core video trainings, workbooks to help you put your learning into practice and a culminating project. Each project is part of your certification portfolio which is submitted to the mentor panel when you finish all 4 sprints.

This program is grounded in meeting these established standards.

View the full 2023-2024 handbook here.

Here’s the outline of each sprint…

SPRINT 1

Foundations of Integration – Building Core Knowledge

Arts Integration Specialists are required to have a working knowledge of arts processes, demonstrating this through curriculum support. Specialists must also know where to find curricular standards in all areas and how to align arts and content standards for natural integration. To support you in this, Sprint One covers:

  • An Overview of Arts Integration
  • Specific AI Strategies in Each Arts Area
  • How to Connect through Standards
  • The Standards Alignment Process
  • The Arts Integration Lesson Planning Process
  • How to Use Cognitive Demand to Support Arts Integration

Sprint Project: Create a set of 8-10 total standards alignments

SPRINT 2

Lessons and Assessments – Become a Lesson-Writing Master

Arts Integration Specialists are often tasked with creating lesson plans which connect naturally-aligned standards, provide equitable assessments in both areas, and are responsive to all students’ learning preferences.  Here’s what we’ll cover in Sprint Two so you’ll feel confident in these areas:

  • Components of an Arts Integration Lesson
  • Sequencing Strategies to Lessons to Projects
  • Lesson Implementation Cycle
  • The Purpose of Assessment
  • How to Assess Arts Integration

Sprint Project: Create 2 Arts Integration Lessons with Assessments (must include diagnostic, formative and summative examples).

SPRINT 3

Connecting with Other Initiatives – Expanding Your Reach

As an arts integration specialist, you’re going to need to know how to connect with all of the other priorities that are going on in your school or district. In this sprint, you’ll learn how to use STEAM and the Innovation Design Cycle as a way to infuse arts integration when it makes sense.  You’ll also learn how to foster positive relationships with partners and how to present effective professional development. You’ll cover:

  • What is STEAM and how do we use it?
  • STEAM vs. Arts Integration
  • Creating a PD Session on Strategies, Lessons, Assessments, Standards or Extensions
  • Presenting your PD Session via Recorded Video

Sprint Project: Create a PD session about arts integration or STEAM via recorded video which is shared at an online conference.

SPRINT 4

Leading Change Efforts – Working with Administrators

All Arts Integration Specialists must work with leadership in order for their efforts to succeed. You’ll need to know how and what data to collect, how to coach others through change, and how to serve as a bridge between teachers and leaders.  In this Sprint, you’ll explore:

  • How to Embrace Leadership
  • Addressing Challenges
  • Integrating Data Analysis
  • Working with Administration
  • Teaching Adults this Approach
  • How to Build Buy-In and Break through Resistance

Final Sprint Project: Create a final portfolio that highlights your abilities as an arts integration specialist.

Optional Live Virtual Coaching: Sprint Intensives

While the core program is self-paced, all participants have the option to add live, online coaching to any or all sprints.

These are called “Sprint Intensives”. Each 8-week Intensive meets in a dedicated Zoom room and allows you to work with a coach and cohort of others for your selected Sprint.

These Sprint Intensives are offered all year long, and help support learners who prefer more direction, a guide to preview their work, and a timeline to complete a Sprint.

You can review the Sprint Intensives Catalog here.

These coaching opportunities are optional, and carry an additional $250 fee per sprint.

Flexible Time to Complete.

The entire program is self-paced and online, so you can participate from home or work.

While designed to be completed in a year or less, you have up to 3 years to finish.  So if life happens (and it will)…you’re covered.

“Thank you for this program. All of the people involved in making this program have been nothing but excellent the entire time and it brings me joy to be around people like me who are passionate about the arts and want to use that to make a bigger impact on education and the world.”

– CHAN’TELE ROUNTREE, Class of 2022

2022 arts integration certification graduates

What Our Alumni Are Doing Now…

You’ll join hundreds of our alumni who are making a big impact in education. Here’s what many of them are up to:

  • Working in schools and districts as Arts Integration Specialists, team leaders, or teacher coaches

  • Private arts integration consultants

  • Nationally-recognized speakers

  • State-recognized educators for using Arts Integration as their primary approach to teaching
  • Museum program specialists focusing in Arts Integration and STEAM
  • Arts Integration and STEAM Coordinators

“Do it! It worked into my working schedule in ways that I don’t think my Master’s program will ever be able to. I want you to know: this is powerful stuff. These are intelligent people, it’s a rigorous program, and nobody’s going to waste your time.”

– STEPHANIE PINTO

Worth Your While

ALUMNI STORIES

“This will really help you grow and think succinctly as a professional. It will help you think about how to tie in so many connections the world provides.”

– LATASHA CASTERLOW-LALLA

I would do it all over again

ALUMNI STORIES

“The doors this has opened for me have been incredible. The support you receive, the friendships you make, and the resources you receive are irreplaceable.”

– CHRISTY TALMAGE

Accreditation, PD Hours and Graduate Credit

This program is fully accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training  (IACET). All program participants will receive at least 520 PD hours and 20 CEUs (often used for relicensure requirements and salary scale increases) from The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM upon successful completion of the program, along with being certified as an arts integration specialist through our organization.

Additionally, all participants have the option of registering for 6 graduate credits through our partner, University of California San Marcos if they also complete 1:1 coaching for all 4 sprints*.

* Total additional fee for graduate credits is $1594. CSUSM charges $594 for the 6 graduate credits. Each 1:1 coaching sprint is $250 for a personalized 8-week instruction period. Both of these are additional to the base tuition fee of $2150.

Tuition

This is a comprehensive and internationally recognized certification program.

Other comparable programs cost between $5,000-10,000. However, in this economic climate, the reality is that kind of cost is out of reach for most educators.

We strive to provide the highest-quality, most respected Arts Integration Certification™ program possible. As such, your investment reflects that value. We are also committed to ensuring affordability pathways for as many educators as possible.

For 2024, the total investment in the Arts Integration Certification™ program is $2,150 plus a $15 application fee to ensure serious applicants.

We provide a variety of budgeting options for this including:

School Purchase Orders

Credit Card Payments

and 6-Month Installment Payments as low as $395/mo.

** Limited financial assistance payment plans of $199/mo for 12 months are also available to those who submit a financial assistance application.

BEST VALUE

One Payment of

$2,150

(Lowest cost)

FLEXIBLE PAYMENTS

6 Payments of

$395

(Budget friendly)

Payment Process

We make the payment process for this program extremely easy.  We accept the following forms of payment:

  • School Purchase Orders
  • Credit Cards
  • Check

Tuition is ONLY due if you are accepted into the program.  If so, payment is due within 7 days of acceptance through your preferred payment method.  If you are paying for yourself, we also have the added benefit of providing you with a convenient monthly installment plan to make the program budget-friendly.  

TAKE THE NEXT STEP.

There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain. This could be the “click” that changes your future.