Demand for arts education is up

Attribution

The National Arts Index 2008, a project of Americans for the Arts

Item Text

Research by James Catterall at UCLA and others has demonstrated that students who are engaged in the arts perform better academically—higher grade point averages and standardized test scores, lower drop-out rates—a finding that cuts across all socio-economic strata. Yet, studies by the Center for Education Policy and the Council for Better Education have both shown a decrease in the amount of arts education taking place in the nation’s schools, with cuts ranging from 25 to 33 percent. While much attention is focused on the travails of arts education, there is surprisingly little national data to measure how America’s students are learning about the arts. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, produced by the U.S. Department of Education, addresses the arts only sporadically. All of the anecdotal information about local and state arts education funding for levels K-12 has not been assembled into a single national statistic. By contrast, more information is available about student interests and choices as they enter college and when they graduate. This education measure uses five such indicators.

There is a clear increase in demand among college-bound high school seniors—the 1.5 million students who take the SAT 1 Reasoning Tests. Data from The College Board, which administers the test, show an unmistakable upward trend in the percentage taking four years of arts and music classes while in high school, and even an increase in the percentage who intend to pursue an arts-related degree in college. Many of them have lived up to that expectation, too, with a steady growth in the number of arts degrees conferred annually:

• The percentage of all SAT test takers with 4 years of arts and/or music increased from 15.4 to 20.2 percent, between 1998 and 2009.
• Between 1998 and 2007, there was annual growth in the number of college arts degrees conferred annually (75,000 to 120,000) as well as growth in the share of arts degrees as a percentage of all degrees conferred (3.9 to 4.1 percent).
• The percentage of SAT test takers intending to pursue a college degree in the arts increased from 6.4 to 7.1 percent (1998-2008).
• Students taking four years of courses in art and music have higher SAT scores than those of students taking fewer years.

Links

www.americansforthearts.org

Submitter Information

• Name: MENC staff
• Email: advocacy@menc.org