After participants are introduced to DBAE in the summer institutes, they face a formidable challenge: transforming their understanding of art into discipline-based instructional programs.

Evaluators discovered that at first the summer institutes did not always provide useful instructional models. The art disciplines were sometimes presented as separate subjects, and there was a lack of clarity about whether artworks or the art disciplines should be the principal content of DBAE.

Summer institute directors and faculty were encouraged to create programs that resembled the kinds of DBAE instruction they hoped to see in elementary and secondary schools. They were urged to find ways to present holistic and integrated models for artwork-centered instruction while simultaneously providing participants with an understanding of the individual art disciplines.

Another early stumbling block to implementation was that participants did not usually receive introductions to all four disciplines until near the end of the institutes. Thus, there was little time left for active exploration of the disciplines or for experimenting with ways of teaching them to students.

The institute programs were redesigned over the years to correct this problem. Most participants are now better able to practice DBAE from the onset. The improved programs frequently begin with an overview of what DBAE looks like in practice, giving participants an educational context for the art world information and experiences they will soon encounter.

The summer institutes also help promote implementation by placing art at the center of school curriculum and instructional planning. Teams made up of a school principal, art teachers, elementary classroom teachers, and other members of the instructional staff participate in instructional planning and lay initial plans for the implementation of DBAE and involvement of other faculty.

Art instruction, formerly perceived as having little relevance to the school curriculum, is put at the core of the planning process, and art specialists, by being part of a school team, are removed from their customary "lone ranger" role. Placing art at the core of school planning gives it new importance, and administrators and teachers of other school subjects make plans to weave art into school instructional programs.

As the summer institutes continue to evolve, the content of their programs has become more integrated and whole. With increasing frequency, works of art with special relevance to participants in the various regions are the objects with which they learn inquiry processes. Art discipline presenters, institute staff, and facilitators have begun to plan inquiry activities and educational applications collaboratively. Facilitators, generally drawn from among prior participants, have taken on an important role in monitoring and guiding small group instruction and have become key members of DBAE change communities.

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