THE STATE OF ARTS EDUCATION IN THE USA
Mar 8th, 2009 | By Sidney Gendin | Category: EducationUnder the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), districts and schools
must demonstrate adequate yearly progress (AYP) for all students.
The following is a verbatim excerpt from a 40 page report from the General Accounting Office. The full report may be accessed by CLICKING HERE.
Because schools may spend more time improving students’ academic
skills to meet NCLBA’s requirements, some are concerned
that arts education might be cut back. To determine how, if at all,
student access to arts education has changed since NCLBA, the
Congress asked: (1) has the amount of instruction time for arts
education changed and, if so, have certain groups been more affected
than others, (2) to what extent have state education agencies’
requirements and funding for arts education changed since NCLBA,
(3) what are school officials in selected districts doing to provide
arts education since NCLBA and what challenges do they face in
doing so, and (4) what is known about the effect of arts education in
improving student outcomes? GAO analyzed data from the U.S.
According to data from Education’s national survey, most elementary school
teachers–about 90 percent–reported that instruction time for arts education
stayed the same between school years 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. The
percentage of teachers that reported that instruction time had stayed the same was similarly high across a range of school characteristics, irrespective of the schools’ percentage of low-income or minority students or of students with limited English proficiency, or the schools’ improvement under NCLBA.
Moreover, about 4 percent of teachers reported an increase. However, about
7 percent reported a decrease, and GAO identified statistically significant
differences across school characteristics in the percentage of teachers
reporting that the time spent on arts education had decreased. Department of Education (Education), surveyed 50 state arts officials, interviewed officials in 8 school districts and 19 schools, and reviewed existing research.
******************************
Overall, research on the effect of arts education on student outcomes is
inconclusive. Some studies that examined the effect of arts education on
students’ reading and math achievement found a small positive effect, but
others found none.
GAO reports are issued daily on every conceivable subject. To become a subscriber at no cost, visit www.gao.gov
Excessive testing for accountability has narrowed the curriculum from what education professionals have determined to be a high quality balanced curriculum choices. Contrary to this poorly constructed GAO report, Changes, and Challenges: Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era, sponsored by the Center on Education Policy covers the impact on arts instruction from the implementation of NCLB in 2001 until 2006 and reported a 30% decline.
This report fails to consider situations in California where NCLB was listed as the #1 suspect in a 50% decline in participation (over 500,000 students) of school music that covered the 3 initial years of NCLB implementation. The decline of music teachers was over 25% representing over 1,000 teachers. All the while, the total student population increased nearly 6%.
The report also fails to sample grades 7 – 12 that further limits any meaningful observations. Why issue a report that excludes nearly 50% of the grades effected by NCLB.
The report cites administrators taking innovative action such as moving instruction outside of normal school hours and contracting with community resources. Instruction measured in terms of sequential instruction or qualification of instructors is not addressed.
“GAO reports are issued daily on every conceivable subject.” This clearly is not a statement I would advertise here.
Sir:
I hardly know how to react to your critique of GAO. It seems to show considerable familiarity with the issue and I am in no position either to endorse what you say or deny it. I say, however, that I have found GAO to be a very useful tool for knowing what happens in our government. I am not embarrassed to say I will continue to read its reports and publish them from time to time. I will welcome your continued comments on them whenever you have any.
Thank you for your analysis.