The following quotes from interviews with Project partners represent their perspectives about ways SMARTArt could be sustained, and offer advice to people interested in replicating the Project.

Sustainability

Very few people are doing this at all in the United States, and even less in elementary schools. Most people don't think that elementary students have the ability to think critically. That's one part of it. And the other part is the people who think kids can do it, have no idea how to start.

We are very lucky; the teachers we have are the cream of the crop. They chose to do this on top of everything else they are already doing. It does take an extra level of interest and passion.
- Jeff Share, Media Literacy Coach, Center for Media Literacy

Nothing can happen without support from the school and district. District 4 is looking at establishing a media literacy learning community, but we're very early in that process.
-Tessa Jolls, President and CEO, Center for Media Literacy

In general, a change is needed in how school districts look at and value arts education. Fortunately, LAUSD is one of the districts leading this charge. Top administrators are committed to providing arts opportunities for all students in District 4.
- Denise Grande, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Music Center Education Division

We have a Wish List and a Reality List. Nothing is concrete yet. I would like to make one of the three school-year tracks a Media Literacy Track, so that we're moving children from kindergarten through fifth, building on the concepts of media literacy from one year to the next. That would help us to more clearly see what kinds of benefits media literacy has. Then we could compare if there are gains in one track versus the other. Beyond that would be to have a media literacy program in a middle school, so students could continue to build.
- Louis Carrillo, Principal, Leo Politi Elementary School

Media literacy is a critical look at not only media but how you process information in general. If those key questions and concepts were disseminated throughout District 4 it would make a huge difference in the way all children process information.

We are trying to create what we're calling a "K-12 media strand," with Leo Politi as the elementary anchor, a middle school, and a high school. We're trying to build that as a prototype to get media literacy to a larger audience.
- Luiz Sampaio, Arts Education Advisor, District 4, Los Angeles Unified School District

We're trying to keep the kids from the media literacy program together as a group, so they can build upon these experiences and go from one Smart Art teacher to another. What happens many times is that at the end of the school year the children are sent into other multiple classrooms. If we can keep them in tact, the kids are building upon what they already know about media literacy, so when they get to the next grade that teacher can take them to another level without having to take ten steps back and five forward.

By identifying the kids in the program now and incorporating in their cum folders that they have an interest in media literacy, we could steer them in the direction of a Media Academy, if that's something they want to do later on. That way, matriculation goes all the way across the grades.
- Richard Alonzo, Superintendent, District 4, Los Angeles Unified School District

Replication

The principal has to understand that media literacy is something that can be integrated into what's already happening in terms of the curriculum in the school.

Once teachers are identified, make it easy for them to attend meetings and to connect with other resources already in the school system. School literacy coaches, for instance, need to know this part of Open Court is a good match with what's happening in media literacy, so they can make the connection and be doing the same thing.
- Louis Carrillo

Canada used a cadre of media literacy Master Teachers assigned to school districts to train and support school staff.
- Tessa Jolls

Replicating Project SMARTArt could definitely be done. Two days of training to introduce the ideas is better than nothing. A full five days like we had in Year 3 is fantastic. Along with the added coaching sessions it helped us make tremendous progress. It is definitely the way to go.
- Jeff Share

Be patient. Know that it often takes three years to establish a new program, and that it's not always a forward-moving progression.
- Denise Grande

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