February-Edutopia+Reflection

“Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who’s Doing It Best” Education is at a tilting point—the delicate balance between arts education and advancement in math and reading test scores. With the increase pressure for higher test scores, schools have reduced the number of minutes and offerings for arts education. While No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation includes arts education as one of the ten core academic subjects, little emphasis has been placed on evaluating students’ arts progress, like NCLB has done for math and reading. However, arts education has been linked to the facets that American society values and demands for schools: “academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity.” In addition, it has been shown that arts education creates a more level playing field for students of low socio-economic status backgrounds.

Arts education is evolving into more comprehensive and innovative programs. Comprehensive arts programs include: “using the arts as a learning tool, incorporating arts into other core classes, creating a school environment rich in arts and culture, and hands-on arts instruction.” While many districts have reduced arts instruction time and offerings, several schools are making valiant strides in promoting arts educating. These communities include Dallas, Minneapolis, Chicago, and the state of Arizona.

Tom Horne, Arizona state superintendant of public instruction, stated that arts education serves three purposes: “preparing kids for jobs. . .to be citizens. . . to be human beings who can enjoy the deeper forms of beauty. The third is as important as the other two.”

[|Why Arts Education Is Crucial and Who's Doing It Best by Fran Smith]