May 28, 2005
The Rationale
Introduction
Federal and state laws and policies have put increased pressure on public education to hold schools accountable for student performance in curricular areas. This has not been matched, however, by government efforts to collect data that would permit analysis of the resources for, and impact of, those policies. Arts education, generally believed to be a curricular area particularly susceptible to policy changes and reallocations of resources, is a case in point. Reliable information is unavailable about student access to arts instruction, about the current and predicted availability of qualified teachers, and about student performance.
It is often asserted that arts education programs are subject to budget cuts or elimination during times of economic downturn, and when policy changes require schools to focus on specific programs or needs. Many believe that schools in urban and rural areas are likely to be hit harder during these times, and that the students in these schools lose access to arts programs more quickly than do their suburban counterparts. Unfortunately, there is no empirical data at the national level, nor consistently at state and local levels, to support or refute these hypotheses.
To move the discussion from anecdote to evidence will take rigorous and regular empirical research on funding levels for arts education in schools. The research would establish spending patterns over time for arts education, providing the basis for analyses of growth and decline relative to other school expenditures at times of policy change and relative to general economic conditions. Such research would have a number of benefits for policymakers and educators alike. For example, analyses based on empirical data would help better assess the financial impact on arts education of proposed policy changes, and would help weigh the implications before their adoption or implementation, clarifying both the intended and unintended consequences of policy decisions. Of particular importance, such analyses could monitor the distribution of financial resources and program impacts for general and special populations of students in various school settings and geographic regions. These analyses would provide guidance on how to insure equitable access to arts education for all students.
Federal government support is essential for comprehensive and regular collection, aggregation, and reporting of national arts education data. Designs, systems, and resources for similar efforts at the state and local level also are badly needed. Research on arts education is seriously hampered by the absence of these efforts.
The Arts and Education: New Opportunities for Research
Arts Education Partnership 2004
Posted by musicforall at May 28, 2005 1:59 PM