A child’s education is not complete unless it
includes the arts. In fact, the No Child
Left Behind Act (NCLB) lists the arts among the core academic subjects,
requiring schools to enable all students to achieve in the arts and to
reap the full benefits of a comprehensive arts education.
In spite of this federal direction, access to arts
education in our schools is eroding. A
report from the Center for Education Policy concludes that, since the
enactment of NCLB, instructional time for art and music has been
reduced by 22 percent. This at a time when
parents, employers, and civic leaders are demanding improvements to the
learning environment that will make our schools places where all
learners will access a complete education and opportunities to succeed. These demands cannot be met without
comprehensive arts education in our nation’s schools.
The Arts Strengthen the Learning Environment
Where schools and communities are delivering high-quality
learning opportunities in, through, and about the arts for children,
extraordinary results occur. A
recent study by the Arts Education Partnership, Third
Space: When Learning Matters, finds that schools with large
populations of students in economic poverty – too often places of
frustration and failure for both students and teachers – can be
transformed into vibrant hubs of learning when the arts are infused
into their culture and curriculum.
The Arts Can Prepare and Retain High Quality Teachers
Who Love to Teach
The
recruitment and retention of our best teachers is a daunting challenge.
It can be met, however, by ensuring schools embrace the arts. Schools, especially those struggling, retain their best
teachers by becoming artistic havens; places where students want to
learn and teachers want to teach. As we aim to improve teacher quality, the arts can help us
train and retain our best future and current educators in all subjects,
not simply the arts.
The Arts Prepare Students for School, Work, and Life
As this country works to strengthen our foothold in the
global economy, the arts equip students with a creative, competitive
edge. To succeed in today’s economy of
ideas, students must masterfully use words, images, sounds, and motion
to communicate. The arts provide the skills and knowledge students need
to develop the creativity and determination necessary for success in
today’s global information age.
A comprehensive strategy for a complete education includes high-quality, sequential arts instruction in the classroom, as well as participation and learning in available community-based arts programs. Public schools have the responsibility for providing a complete education for all children, meeting the commitment put forth in NCLB. The federal commitment to arts education must be strengthened so that the arts are implemented as a part of the core curriculum of our nation’s schools and are an integral part of every child’s development.
ACHIEVEMENT IN
AND THROUGH THE ARTS
Position:
The Arts Help Close the Achievement Gap.
Argument:
The arts make a tremendous impact on the developmental growth
of every child, leveling the “learning field”
across socio-economic boundaries.
The arts reach students not otherwise
engaged, uniquely bridging the broad
spectrum of learning styles.
Low achieving students often become high achievers
in arts learning
settings. Students who participate in the
arts outperform those who
do not on virtually every measure. Researchers found that sustained learning in
music and theater correlate to greater
success in math and reading, with students
from lower socioeconomic backgrounds reaping
the greatest benefits (footnote
Champions of Change). It is now
accepted that the arts are uniquely able to boost
learning and
achievement for young children, students with disabilities, students
from economically disadvantaged
circumstances, and students needing
remedial instruction (footnote Critical
Links).
High poverty schools benefit dramatically
from arts education. The arts teach
children the skills necessary to succeed in
life, including learning to solve
problems and make decisions; building
self-esteem and self-discipline;
articulating a vision; developing the ability
to imagine what might be;
and accepting responsibility to complete
tasks from start to finish.
Ask:
Academic achievement for disadvantaged students should be
strengthened by integrating successful arts
education models into the
schools. High poverty schools should be urged to use
federal funds to
integrate the
arts into school curriculum to improve student achievement.
Support should be provided for
local, state, and national
partnerships
that promote standards and strategies in
support of arts education.
EDUCATIONAL EQUITY IN AND THROUGH THE
ARTS
Position:
The Arts Are a Core Academic Subject and Must Reach All Children.
Argument:
The federal government requires that a complete education for
every child must include rigorous instruction
in all “core academic
subjects”- a designation given to the arts in
the No Child Left Behind
Act (NCLB). Unfortunately,
implementation of NCLB has led to the
erosion of art education in the schools, with
instructional time for arts and
music reduced by 22% (footnote CEP). U.S. Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings has said, "Many educators
across the country have shown
that a focus in NCLB on reading and math is
not mutually exclusive of the arts
and music. In fact, we all know that a
well-rounded curriculum that includes
the arts and music contributes to higher
academic achievement." A
comprehensive arts education – fully
integrated as a core subject of learning
– fosters the
creativity and innovation needed for a more competitive workforce.
Department of Education Arts in Education
(AIE) programs identify and
disseminate successful models of arts
integration and professional development,
and support the leadership initiatives of VSAarts
and the
for the Performing Arts.
In addition, after-school learning partnerships
with arts organizations which, when teamed
with rigorous instruction in the arts
during the school day, provide students with
opportunities to achieve arts literacy.
These programs decrease the frequency of
delinquent behavior and school truancy,
and improve overall academic performance,
communication skills, and the
ability to complete work on tasks from start
to finish.
Ask:
Congress must address the unintended consequences of NCLB that
have
diminished the presence of arts education in
our schools; preserve and strengthen
the arts as a defined core academic subject
and improve the implementation of the
arts as a core academic subject at the state
and local levels. Congress should also
continue and strengthen support for programs
and partnerships that maximize the
capacity of the arts to reach all students,
including the Department’s AIE program,
the primary Federal initiative for developing
national models in arts education and professional development.
TEACHER QUALITY AND THE ARTS
Position:
The Recruitment and Retention of Highly Qualified Arts Teachers is
Crucial to Creating Powerful Learning
Communities and Maximizing
Student Achievement.
Argument:
Experts predict in the next ten years
2 million new teachers to meet student
enrollment. In light of current trends,
addressing this need appears daunting at
best. One-third of new teachers
leave the profession within three years; half
within five years. (Footnote) Most
affected are urban, rural, and minority
communities with large
populations of
students in economic poverty.
But schools have the ability to retain their best
teachers by transforming schools – especially
those drowning in frustration and
failure for students and teachers alike –
with the infusion of the arts into their
culture and curriculum. When schools embrace
the arts, they can become
vibrant and successful centers of learning
and community life - places where
students want to learn and teachers want to
teach (third space footnote). For
schools to develop this sense of community
and collaboration through the
arts, arts instruction for every child must
be delivered by a “highly qualified”
teacher with specific and expert arts
education knowledge, as mandated
by federal legislation. To do otherwise dilutes both the benefits in
student
achievement and opportunities for schools to
retain their best teachers.
Ask:
For student achievement to remain competitive, Congress must
address
the crisis in teacher recruitment and
retention currently facing the American
education community. This can be done by
ensuring arts education specialists
are the providers of arts instruction to all
students, continuing support for
professional development of new and
experienced teachers, and increasing
federal support for the transformation of
struggling schools into successful
learning communities through the arts.
IMPROVE
NAtional measurements OF the arts
Position:
The
Research and Data Collection Regarding the
“Core Academic Subjects.”
Argument:
NCLB and current U.S. Department of Education policy make
it clear that
decisions regarding education should be made on the basis of
research. Furthermore,
as this nation crafts major policies regarding the future
of public education, it is imperative that
sound research is available on the
status of learning and teaching in our
schools. The
is the only
entity in a position to collect essential demographic information and
to guide policy research of this kind. In the past, influential data-gathering has
taken place in a manner that excludes the
collection of information on the
arts. For example, the January 1999
study on “Teacher Quality” specifically
excluded arts teachers from the study sample. Meaningful research is needed
to determine the status of dance, music,
theater, and visual arts education.
Since the arts are designated as a core
academic subject, they should be
included in all
research and data collection efforts by the U.S. Department
of Education.
For example, the Fast
Response Survey System (FRSS) report, Arts in
Education in
Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, is the only
Department of Education-produced research
report on the status of how arts
education is delivered in
on arts education featured data collected in
the 1999-2000 school year. An
updated report
with the next round of data collection is long overdue.
The National Assessment of Educational
Progress in the Arts (NAEP) – the
national arts
“report card” - provides critical information about the arts
skills and knowledge of our nation’s students. The next NAEP is
scheduled to be administered in 2008, and
must stay on track. The FRSS
and NAEP are essential to studying and
improving access to the arts as a
core academic
subject.
Ask:
The U.S. Department of Education’s research efforts must be
strengthened by systematically including the
arts in studies conducted on
the condition of education, practices that
improve academic achievement,
and the effectiveness of Federal and other
education programs.