Arts Education In Public Schools

Section Two: History: Since public schools across the country have faced budget cuts in the past decade and a half, a common cost-cutting measure is to lessen the funding for arts education, prioritizing what are deemed more essential subjects such as math, reading, and science. Yet in fact, the current iteration of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, lists that the arts are among the core academic subjects, requiring all schools to enable all students to achieve in the arts and reap all the benefits of a comprehensive arts education. Yet the economically prioritized curriculum is still draining the sources from these imperative programs leaving instruments, paintbrushes, and other artistic pieces in closets to collect dust, because no one will be there to teach or use them. Most impacting in the history of

All around the United States, art programs are being cut out of the budget in public schools. The arts include dance, band, chorus, theatre, film, drawing, painting, photography and literary arts. Some school board members feel these art programs are not necessary and do not benefit the students in any way. Elementary, middle, and high school students are forced to quit their passion and feel that their talents are not supported by their schools. Although many are not aware, there is a strong connection between arts education and academic achievement. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts in many public schools, the art classes are first on the list to be cut. It is important that the students, parents and teachers

Many would argue that sports have a greater importance compared to the arts. Not only this, but many would say that art is not important enough to have a place in public schooling. However, those who have this mindset do not understand the countless amount of benefits that arts education has in an everyday student's life. Art education refers to education in music, dance, the visual arts, and theater. The engagement of students in the arts are essential to every student's educational career. However art programs always seem to come short in funding and this can later negatively impacts a student’s academic career. Budget cuts would be defined as the act of reducing budgeted expenditures. Budget cuts can come about due to a decreasing amount of money used to split among various school programs. The board members of school districts are constantly trying to get more resources. However, in the end, there is not enough money to cover for so many teachers, supplies, and programs. As budget cuts arise, the arts are almost always immediately targeted. The budget cuts would cut down funds for art supplies, musical instruments, and art teachers. In addition to funds that order to hire art organizations for programs which provide arts education services for students. Many public schools are struggling with budget cuts, resulting in the continued elimination of art programs across school districts throughout the nation. Due to budget constraints, fewer schools offer art classes today. Due to the fact that arts education is infrequently seen as a number one priority in public schools, there is little funding put into place and because of the diminishing amount of art programs, students are being deprived of the benefits that arts education can provide for them academically and non-academically.

In today’s school systems, art and music classes are not mandatory to be taught. This makes them very vulnerable to budget cuts in struggling schools. It is estimated that more than eighty percent of schools nationwide have experienced cuts to their budgets since 2008 (Metla). Every child in America deserves a complete education, and a complete education includes the arts. Due to budget cuts, many students do not receive instruction in art and music and therefore do not receive a full education. Music and art classes in schools are just as important as core classes and should not be subject to budget cuts.

One of the largest issues with fine arts implementation is the narrow effects. Garcia et. al conducted research that attempted to determine the effect fine arts have on standardized test scores. The researchers found that specific students attending schools with dense fine arts programs scored higher on the state standardized test; however, this improvement does not imply that fine arts will effectively cure the education decline. When analyzing the results, one sees that the fine arts mainly affect one group of students: at-risk students. The term “at-risk students” generally includes English Language Learners and low socioeconomic students. The research found that the at-risk students exposed to fine arts programs were more likely to have higher scores on the state standardized test specifically on the English Language Arts portion. This research suggests that if these at-risk students are exposed to the fine arts their test scores will increase on this specific portion of the test.

As in consequence of our troubling economy, budget cuts were inevitable. In the year 2008, more than eighty percent of schools nationwide had received budget cuts. Music and theater classes were cut to the full extent along with some art programs. Within the late 90s and early 2000s schools had theatre and dance classes available, ranging in the twenty percentile. Currently, that percent has dropped drastically to two percent. These are just brief statistics on the outcome of budget cuts and how quickly the outcome is the demise of the fine arts in schools nationwide.

“Students who study art are 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and 3 times more likely to be awarded for school attendance” ("11 Facts about Arts in Education"). Music and art are clearly not two subjects that schools today can afford to cut off funding for based on this evidence. Music and art programs are responsible for increasing school attendance, which can lead to being one of the most important things in a student’s academic success in school. Students have to attend school and be present in order to attain the information from their classes and teachers if they wish to succeed. Better attendance means more students are in class, which means more students are getting the information they need to excel from their teachers, which ultimately means better grades and test scores for schools. As of today, arts are defined as core subjects in only twenty-six states in America (Mandel). If only twenty-six states are treating art education as a core subject, that means that twenty-four states are currently neglecting art programs and not considering them important to their student’s education. If more states are educated on the importance of art programs for young students, and the arts are defined as core subjects nationally, then there will be a

First, educators need to have a paradigm shift in the idea that arts education is the responsibility of only the art teacher. Fowler (1994) offers that strong schools tend to have strong arts program. Fowler (1994) states,

“The arts are an essential element of education, just like reading writing, and arithmetic…music dance, painting, and theatre are all keys that unlock profound human understanding and accomplishment” (William Bennett, Former US Secretary of Education).

    The fine arts have been studied for many years, and those who have studied how people have emphasized the importance of arts in the education process (Katy Independent School District). In 2002, the government assessed school districts by students’ scores on reading and mathematics. After they assessed the districts, they passed the No Child Left Behind Act. Schools started spending more time on tested subjects like reading, language arts, and mathematics and cut time spent on other classes. The more schools fall behind, the more money they begin to spend on these programs and the less they spent on others (Arts and Smarts: Test Scores and Cognitive Development). With budgets tightening, schools have to cut programs and they try to choose the ones that least impact learning and create the least amount of controversy, which means the core classes are safe (Dickson).Today, many schools have cut their fine arts programs or are considering it because of major funding cuts by state governments who are struggling to balance their budgets (Hawkins). They can not cut sports programs because it results in the communities feeling as if they cut the heart out of the community. The first programs to be cut are the fine arts from the elementary programs. However, fine arts are still kept in the curriculum, but the students’ everyday teachers teach them instead. At the highschool level, fine arts are harder to cut because they are

Schools that offer fine arts classes have lower dropout rates and raised attendance. The fine arts positively impact students of lower socioeconomic status more those of a higher  status. The fine arts have no barriers for race, religion, and culture when it comes to being involved in the arts. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to be involved (Katy Independent School District). Without the arts these students have no outlet for creative capabilities and no way to express their talents. Students who need this way of expressing themselves are overlooked and they are the ones who need it the most (Dickson). When viewing the participation of arts in the eyes of a ten-year old, “It cools kids down after all the other hard stuff they have to think about” (Arts and Smarts: Test Scores and Cognitive Development).

“People are forgetting that math is taught when a child is playing an instrument. English is taught when a child is reading or writing a script. Critical thinking is taught when a child is analyzing art” (Sabrina Holcomb). There is a significant correlation between participating in the arts, and success in school. Multiple studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between playing an instrument, and an increase in scores in mathematical subject. In these studies, it was also noted that students who were more creative were better problem solvers than students who were not as creative. All of these characteristics are sought after in the work force, meaning that the arts not only help during the school years, but in work and business as well (Ron Whitehorne). Also, it is important to note that “Low-income students who had arts-rich experiences in high schools were more than three times as likely to earn a B.A. as low-income students without those experiences. And the new study from the National Endowment reports that low-income high school students who earned little or no arts credits were five times more likely not to graduate from high school than low-income students who earned many arts credits” (Tyleah Hawkins). The arts have always been used as a form of expression and inspiration for people across the world, the arts have also been shown to improve high-risk student's outlook on their schooling. Research has shown that the arts help improve standardized test scores like the ACT or SAT (Tyleah Hawkins).People who support the arts believe that quality art education can help engage at-risk students in ways that other subjects such as math, science, or reading cannot. This is why it is believed that the arts are a key tool in the prevention of high-school dropout. There are many studies that point to a lower dropout rate for students who participate in

With the arts being cut out of most classrooms these days it is important for us to discover why they were a part of the classroom in the past, and how it affected our student’s learning. It is important that I discuss how the arts affect children’s cognition, emotional and social development. With the latter I will discuss how these developments may affect the student academically. I will discuss how the teacher can teach students to be creative and the difficulty with this task. Finally I will discuss the implications that the schools and districts play into making sure to support high quality arts education for all students.

Parents and educators always have known that music and art are an important part of primary and secondary school. School choirs, recorder ensembles, bands, orchestras, drawing and painting, and theatricals all lead to better performance in school and in life. Unfortunately funding shortages and shifting priorities since the 1970s have led to the loss of many music and arts programs – a huge loss of creativity, experiencing success, a sense of play, fun and discovery, and most importantly, a loss of potential. The presence of strong arts and music programs in the schools has an extraordinarily positive impact on individual students and their ability to excel in other parts of education – academically, cognitively, socially, and in preparation to become better-functioning adults.

Multiple different studies have been conducted regarding art education and whether or not it actually has a significant impact on students. State’s standardized testing focuses mainly on the math and language arts scores. Time spent in these classes has been increased to accommodate for the high expectations on the test, meaning that the arts classes have been decreased. This decrease in arts classes is absurd considering that taking arts classes in school or as a type of extracurricular actually improve tests scores. A series of four longitudinal studies were conducted in 2012