This article places youth spoken word (YSW) poetry programming within the larger framework of arts education. Drawing primarily on transcripts of interviews with teen poets and adult teaching artists and program administrators, the article identifies specific benefits that participants ascribe to youth spoken word, including the development of…

All eight poetry projects described in this volume, made possible by a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant through the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, were innovative programs designed either to promote changes in teacher training methods or to provide secondary schools with direct experiences with poets through readings and classroom…