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The Value and
Quality of Arts Education
A Statement of
Principles
We, the
undersigned representatives of professional education
associations, share a deep concern about the nature,
role, importance, and future of arts education in the
schools where our members teach, administer, supervise,
and make and implement education policy.
We are unanimous in
our agreement that all Americans who share our concern
about the quality of education in general, and of arts
education in particular (dance, visual arts, music,
theater), should understand the value of arts education
for every child, and we encourage those who will work
with us to enhance and support arts education in our
nation’s schools. To that end, we invite all
Americans, both within the professional education
community and outside it, to join us in support of the
following principles.
First, every student
in the nation should have an education in the arts.
This
means that all PreK-12 students must have a
comprehensive, balanced, sequential, in-school program
of instruction in the arts, taught by qualified
teachers, designed to provide students of all ages with
skills and knowledge in the arts in accordance with high
national, state, and local standards.
Second, to ensure a
basic education in the arts for all students, the arts
should be recognized as serious, core academic subjects.
The arts should not be
treated as extracurricular activities, but as integral
core disciplines. In practice, this means that
effective arts education requires sequential curricula,
regular time-on-task, qualified teachers, and a fair
share of educational resources. Similarly, arts
instruction should be carried out with the same academic
rigor and high expectations as instruction in other core
subjects.
Third, as education
policy makers make decisions, they should incorporate
the multiple lessons of recent research concerning the
value and impact of arts education.
The arts have a unique
ability to communicate the ideas and emotions of the
human spirit. Connecting us to our history, our
traditions, and our heritage, the arts have a beauty and
power unique in our culture. At the same time, a
growing body of research indicates that education in the
arts provides significant cognitive benefits and
bolsters academic achievement, beginning at an early age
and continuing through school. (See appendix for
supporting examples.)
Fourth, qualified arts
teachers and sequential curriculum must be recognized as
the basis and core for substantive arts education for
all students.
Teachers who are
qualified as arts educators by virtue of academic study
and artistic practice provide the very best arts
education possible. In-school arts programs are
designed to reach and teach all students, not merely the
interested, the talented, or those with a particular
socioeconomic background. These teachers and
curricula should be supported by local school budgets
and tax dollars, nurtured by higher education, and
derive direct professional development benefits from
outstanding teachers and trainers in the organizations
we represent. Several national education
associations identify the arts as essential learning in
which students must demonstrate achievement.
(Breaking Ranks, NASSP, 1996, Principal magazine, NAESP,
March, 1998.)
Fifth, arts education
programs should be grounded in rigorous instruction,
provide meaningful assessment of academic progress and
performance, and take their place within a structure of
direct accountability to school officials, parents, and
the community.
In-school programs that
are fully integrated into state and local curricula
afford the best potential for achieving these ends.
Sixth, community
resources that provide exposure to the arts, enrichment,
and entertainment through the arts all offer valuable
support and enhancement to an in-school arts education.
As a matter of policy or
practice, however, these kinds of activities cannot
substitute for a comprehensive, balanced, sequential
arts education taught by qualified teachers, as shaped
by clear standards and focused by the content of the
arts disciplines.
Seventh, and finally,
we offer our unified support to those programs,
policies, and practitioners that reflect these
principles.
On behalf of the
students we teach, the schools we administer and work
in, and the communities we serve, we ask all Americans
who care deeply about making the whole spectrum of
cultural and cognitive development available to their
children to join us in protecting and advancing
opportunities for all children to receive an education
in the arts.
American
Association of School Administrators
With 15,000 members, the American Association of School
Administrators, founded in 1865, is a professional
organization for superintendents, central office
administrators, and other system-wide leaders.
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers, which has more than
2,100 locals nationwide and a 1998 membership of
980,000, was founded in 1916 to represent the economic,
social and professional interests of classroom teachers.
Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development is an international, nonprofit, nonpartisan
education association committed to the mission of
forging covenants in teaching and learning for the
success of all learners. ASCD was founded in 1943
and is one of the largest professional education
associations in the world, with membership approaching
200,000.
Council for Basic Education
The mission of the Council for Basic Education is to
strengthen teaching and learning of the basic
subjects-English, history, government, geography,
mathematics, the sciences, foreign languages, and the
arts. CBE, with a readership base of 3,000,
advocates high academic standards and the promotion of a
strong liberal arts education for all children in the
nation’s elementary and secondary schools.
Council of Chief State School
Officers
The Council of Chief State School Officers represents
public officials who lead the departments responsible
for elementary and secondary education in the
states. CCSSO advocates legislative positions of
the members and assists state agencies with their
leadership capacity.
National Association of
Elementary School Principals
Dedicated to educational excellence and high
professional standards among K-8 educators, the National
Association of Elementary School Principals serves
28,000 elementary and middle school principals in the
United States and abroad.
National Association of
Secondary School Principals
The National Association of Secondary School Principals
is the nation’s largest organization of school
administrators, representing 43,000 middle, junior, and
senior high school principals and assistant
principals. NASSP also administers the National
Association of Student Activity Advisors, which
represents 57,000 members, as well as the 22,000
chapters of the National Honor Society.
National Education Association
The National Education Association is the nation’s
largest professional employee organization, representing
more than 2.4 million elementary and secondary teachers,
higher education faculty, education support personnel,
school administrators, retired educators, and students
preparing to become teachers.
National Parent Teacher
Association
The National PTA, representing 6.5 million members, is
the largest volunteer child advocacy organization in the
United States. An organization of parents,
educators, students, and other citizens active in their
schools and communities, the PTA is a leader in
reminding our nation of its obligations to
children. Membership in the National PTA is open
to anyone who is concerned with the health, education,
and welfare of children and youth.
National School Board
Association
The National School Board Association represents the
nation’s 95,000 school board members through a
federation of state associations and the school boards
of the District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands. NSBA’s mission is to foster
excellence and equity in public education through school
board leadership.
Appendix
Supporting examples
for Principle No. 3
There is a demonstrated,
direct correlation between improved SAT scores and time
spent studying the arts. In 1997, the College
Board reported that students with four years of study in
the arts outscored students with no arts instruction by
a combined total of 101 points on the verbal and
mathematics portions of the SAT.
Statistically significant
links are now being reported between music instruction
and tested intelligence in preschool children. In
one widely cited study (Neurological Research, Feb.
1997), after six months, students who had received
keyboard instruction performed 34% higher on tests
measuring temporal-spatial ability than did students
without instruction. The findings indicate that
music instruction enhances the same higher brain
functions required for mathematics, chess, science, and
engineering.
As numerous school-based
programs have repeatedly reported around the country,
study of the arts helps students think and integrate
learning across traditional disciplinary lines. In
the arts, they learn how to work cooperatively, pose and
solve problems, and forge the vital link between
individual (or group) effort and quality of
result. These skills and attitudes, not
incidentally, are vital for success in the 21st century
workplace. Sequential arts education also
contributes to building technological
competencies. It imparts academic discipline and
teaches such higher level thinking skills as analyzing,
synthesizing, and evaluating both personal experience
and objective data. Finally, research findings
indicate that arts education enhances students’
respect for the cultures, belief systems, and values of
their fellow learners.
MENC: The
National Association for Music Education
1806 Robert Fulton Drive
Reston, Virginia 20191 (703) 860-4000 |
