By Bob Morrison
As summer winds down and we prepare for the new school year, there has been a flurry of new studies and research reports unlocking new and important knowledge of the status, condition, and impact of music and arts education in our schools. I honestly cannot remember another period of time when so much new information came forward.
Federal Arts Education Fast Response Survey
The first report is from the US Department of Education, “Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999-2000 and 2009-10” (online at: nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012014).
This report presents selected findings from a congressionally mandated study on arts education in public K–12 schools. The data was collected through seven Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) surveys during the 2009-10 school year. This report provides national data about arts education for public elementary and secondary schools, elementary classroom teachers, and elementary and secondary music and visual arts specialists. Comparisons with data from the 1999–2000 FRSS arts education study are included where applicable.
The Good News
The Bad News:
These survey findings suggest that more than 1.3 million students in elementary school fail today to get any music instruction – and the same is true for about 800,000 secondary school students. All told, nearly 4 million elementary school students do not get any visual arts instruction at school during their formative learning years.
Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan noted, “Unfortunately, the arts opportunity gap is widest for children in high-poverty schools. This is absolutely an equity issue and a civil rights issue – just as is access to AP courses and other educational opportunities.”
Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth
The next report to call to your attention is “The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies” published by the National Endowment for the Arts (online at www.nea.gov/research/research.php?type=R).
This report examines arts-related variables from four large datasets – three maintained by the U.S. Department of Education and one by the Department of Labor – to understand the relationship between arts engagement and positive academic and social outcomes in children and young adults of low socioeconomic status (SES). Conducted by James Catterall, University of California Los Angeles, et al., the analyses show that achievement gaps between high- and low-SES groups appear to be mitigated for children and young adults who have arts-rich backgrounds
Some key findings:
The overarching points from this report may be summarized in this way:
Very powerful stuff!
New Engines of Growth: Five Roles for Arts, Culture and Design
The National Governors Association released a report titled, “New Engines of Growth: Five Roles for Arts, Culture and Design” (online at tinyurl.com/chvgepj), which focuses on the roles that arts, culture and design can play as states seek to create jobs, boost their economies, and transition to an innovation-based economy. Abundant examples from states illustrate how arts, culture and design can assist states with economic growth by: (1) providing a fast-growth, dynamic industry cluster; (2) helping mature industries become more competitive; (3) providing critical ingredients for innovative places; (4) catalyzing community revitalization; and (5) delivering a better-prepared work force.
“Economic growth is a top priority for all governors,” said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a member of NGA’s Executive Committee. They are using an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach throughout all state agencies to put in place policies and programs using arts, culture and design as a means to enhance economic growth.
Under the topic of “delivering a better-prepared work force,” the report talks about the role of arts education to prepare our students to be successful in creative environments. It calls for not just more arts education, but clearly sees the arts as a vehicle for economic growth and global competitiveness.
As I wrote in a column two years ago, the more creativity and innovation moves toward the center of our educational debates, the better it is for music and arts education and, ultimately, our students.
Keeping the Promise – Arts Education for Every Child
The last report for discussion is “Keeping the Promise – Arts Education for Every Child: The Distance Traveled – The Journey Remaining” (on the web at: artsednj.org/census.asp) from the New Jersey Arts Education Census Project (where I served as project director). This report is based on a mandated survey of every public school in the state of New Jersey. This was a follow-up study to a 2006 report and provides the first state-level longitudinal data to compare changes to arts education over time.
Some key findings include:
A complex analysis revealed two new and important findings:
These last two findings directly address important priorities for education leaders in New Jersey.
“We know that in order for students to truly be ready for the demands of the 21st century, we need
to provide a broad curriculum that includes the arts,” said acting education commissioner Chris Cerf. “I am encouraged to see that the number of students with access to the arts in school continues to increase, and we will continue our work to strengthen those programs.”
“The New Jersey Arts Education Census Project has once again demonstrated the importance of data in getting a full picture of the creative life of our schools,” said Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation CEO Chris Daggett. “Significant gains have been made in the past five years in regards to policy yet the declines in student participation in the arts raise serious questions about barriers that still remain. I look forward to further research that will help inform next steps to ensure more New Jersey students benefit from a robust arts curriculum.”
To know and not do… is to not know
Any one of these reports would bee seen as milestones in their own right. The fact that all for of these were released within six weeks of one another provides a treasure trove of new well-documented information for educators and advocates to use to make the case for the role of music and all of the arts in our schools.
But it will only make a difference if we all do something with the information. If we do not, then there is really no point in having it to begin with.
Indeed, to know and not do… is to not do. Our job is to take this information and…Do Something!
Robert B. Morrison is the founder of Quadrant Arts Education Research, an arts education research and intelligence organization. In addition to other related pursuits in the field of arts education advocacy, Mr. Morrison has helped create, found, and run Music for All, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, and, along with Richard Dreyfuss and the late Michael Kaman, the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.
He may be reached directly at bobm@artsedresearch.org.