Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons from School
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GAINING THE ARTS ADVANTAGE Lessons From School Districts That Value ARTS EDUCATION PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES and ARTS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP PRESIDENT'S ARTS COMMITTEE ON ADVISORY THE ARTS AND ARTS EDUCATION COMMITTEE THE HUMANITIES PARTNERSHIP GORDON AMBACH JANE WALTERS HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON RICHARD J. DEASY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COMMISSIONER Honorary Chair Director COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT JOHN BRADEMAS SCHOOL OFFICERS OF EDUCATION Chairman WASHINGTON, DC NASHVILLE, TN PEGGY COOPER CAFRITZ Vice Chair BENJAMIN CANADA DENNIE PALMER WOLF EMILY MALINO SCHEUER SUPERINTENDENT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Vice Chair PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS PACE - HARVARD TERRY SEMEL PORTLAND, OR GRADUATE SCHOOL Vice Chair OF EDUCATION USAN ARNES ELT RAMON C. CORTINES S B -G CAMBRIDGE, MA EXECUTVE DIRECTOR LERONE BENNETT, JR. THE PEW NETWORK FOR ADELEINE ARRIS ERMAN OTHER ADVISORS M H B STANDARDS-BASED REFORM CURT BRADBURY STANFORD UNIVERSITY ELLEN MCCULLOCH-LOVELL JOHN H. BRYAN PALO ALTO, CA DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND ADVISOR HILARIO CANDELA DIANE FRANKEL TO THE FIRST LADY ON ANNE COX CHAMBERS DIRECTOR THE MILLENNIUM MARGARET CORBETT DALEY INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM HITE OUSE W H EVERETT L. FLY AND LIBRARY SERVICES MILLENNIUM COUNCIL HARVEY GOLUB WASHINGTON, DC WASHINGTON, DC RICHARD S. GURIN DOUG HERBERT SARAH HOWES IRENE Y. H IRANO DIRECTOR GENCY EPRESENTATIVE A R DAVID HENRY HWANG ARTS IN EDUCATION OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT QUINCY JONES NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF EDUCATION ROBERT MENSCHEL FOR THE ARTS WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON, DC MILLENNIUM COUNCIL RITA MORENO WASHINGTON, DC ANTHONY PODESTA JIM HERBERT ANN SHEFFER DIRECTOR AYMOND MITH DIVISION OF RESEARCH R S AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS ISAAC STERN NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR SHIRLEY WILHITE THE HUMANITIES HAROLD WILLIAMS WASHINGTON, DC FEDERAL MEMBERS DAVE MASTER DAVID BARRAM DIRECTOR JAMES H. BILLINGTON ARTIST DEVELOPMENT WILLIAM R. FERRIS AND TRAINING WARNER BROTHERS FEATURE DIANE B. FRANKEL ANIMATION JOHN D. HAWKE, JR. GLENDALE, CA I. MICHAEL HEYMAN BONNIE POLITZ BILL IVEY SENIOR PROGRAM OFFICER JAMES A. JOHNSON CENTER FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TERRY PETERSON AND POLICY RESEARCH EARL A. POWELL, III ACADEMY FOR ROBERT STANTON EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WASHINGTON, DC HARRIET MAYOR FULBRIGHT Executive Director GAINING THE ARTS ADVANTAGE Lessons From School Districts That Value ARTS EDUCATION President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and Arts Education Partnership Funded by GE FUND THE JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MACARTHUR FOUNDATION BINNEY & SMITH Additional Support Provided by NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WHITE HOUSE MILLENNIUM COUNCIL COPYRIGHT © 1999 PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES AND ARTS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP EDITOR/WRITER: LAURA LONGLEY PUBLICATION DESIGN: PETER M. SAK, BINNEY & SMITH PRODUCTION CREDITS PRINTING: STRINE PRINTING COMPANY, INC. PAPER STOCK: MEAD OFFSET ENAMEL, 80 LB. TEXT AND 100 LB. COVER INKS: KOHL MADDEN PRINTING INK CORPORATION COVER IMAGES: PHOTODISC, TONY STONE, AND SWB PERMISSION TO COPY, TO DISSEMINATE, OR TO OTHERWISE USE INFORMATION FROM THIS REPORT IS GRANTED AS LONG AS APPROPRIATE ACKNOWLEDGMENT IS GIVEN. THIS REPORT IS PUBLISHED IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT WWW.PCAH.GOV WEB SITE DESIGN: IMC (ISTROS MEDIA CORPORATION) FUNDED BY: BELL ATLANTIC FOR AVAILABILITY OF PRINT PUBLICATIONS, CONTACT: PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES 1100 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW, SUITE 526 WASHINGTON, DC 20506 VOICE: 202-682-5409 FAX: 202-682-5668 E-MAIL: [email protected] GAINING THE ARTS ADVANTAGE CONTENTS FOREWORD . .PAGE 4 by Harriet Mayor Fulbright and Richard J. Deasy INTRODUCTION . PAGE 5 by Ramon C. Cortines HOW THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED . PAGE 7 THE STUDY'S FINDINGS . .PAGE 9 SCHOOL DISTRICT CASE STUDIES AND PROFILES . PAGE 15 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . PAGE 87 Lessons From School Districts That Value ARTS EDUCATION his study was directed on behalf of the FOREWORD T President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and Arts Education Partnership by Harriet Mayor Fulbright and by Harriet Mayor Fulbright and Richard J. Deasy Richard J. Deasy. Harriet Mayor Fulbright, executive director of the his report responds to ques- schools by accountability measures President's Committee on the tions posed by school and that focus largely on reading, math, Arts and the Humanities since community leaders through- and writing. the spring of 1997, has spent T most of her adult life in the out the United States about public We believe this report – and fields of education and the school districts that have made the database available on its accom- arts. Her administrative competence in the arts as well as panying Web site – provide answers experience includes the to both sets of "how." It documents literacy one of the fundamental Congressional Arts Caucus purposes of schooling for all their some of the best practices used by (its first assistant director), the students. these school districts to address Fulbright Association (execu- As Dr. Benjamin Canada, staffing, program and resource tive director), the Center for then superintendent in Atlanta, needs. Yet if there is a single, over- the Arts in the Basic Georgia, and now in Portland, riding lesson they teach it is that Curriculum (president), and Oregon, put it to us when we first the presence and quality of arts the Fulbright International considered undertaking this study: education in public schools today Center (president). "I want to know what is going on in require an exceptional degree of Richard J. Deasy, these districts, how they are doing involvement by influential seg- director of the Arts Education it, and what effects they see." ments of the community which Partnership, formerly known Similar questions were value the arts in the total affairs of as the Goals 2000 Arts the school district: in governance, framed by school superintendents Education Partnership, served and school board members we gath- funding, and program delivery. as assistant state superinten- ered in focus groups at the beginning Orchestrating this involve- dent of schools for Maryland, of this study. The "hows" that inter- ment so that the arts are seen as where he had responsibility ested them were not only the fundamental to the general educa- for all curricular areas and strategies and practices regarding tion of all students is a task that statewide assessments as staffing, programs, and facilities. falls on school and community well as services to special They were perhaps even more inter- leadership alike. This report shows student populations. Deasy ested in how these districts developed ways it is being done throughout also served as executive assistant to the secretary of and sustained arts education in the the United States. education in Pennsylvania face of the enormous pressures on Ninety-one school districts and as president and CEO of them to prove the success of their are featured in this report. But the National Council for hundreds more were identified by International Visitors. A prize- “...the presence state and national education and winning journalist covering and quality of arts arts organizations as having out- politics and government at the standing arts education throughout state and local levels, he was education in public their schools. We are grateful to the nominated for a Pulitzer Prize schools today countless individuals in all of the for his reporting on housing districts who contributed their and urban affairs in the require an time, wisdom, and enthusiasm to Philadelphia area. exceptional degree make this report meaningful to of involvement their colleagues across the country. They knew better than we the ques- by influential tions that needed to be answered. GAINING THE segments of the We hope we have recorded their answers faithfully and accurately. ARTS community which ADVANTAGE value the arts...” PAGE 4 NTRODUCTION RAMON C. CORTINES, I is the executive director of the Pew Network for Standards-Based Reform at by Ramon C. Cortines Stanford University. He has been a school teacher and an administrator since 1956. He has taught at the elementary, middle, and senior high school levels and held component in the curriculum and a numerous positions in public schools, MAKING THE basic tool in the school reform arsenal. including the post of superintendent for But there are legions of people who do the Pasadena, San Jose, and San CASE FOR not see the arts as either intrinsically Francisco, California, school systems. valuable or even useful in acquiring Appointed chancellor of the New York ISTRICT IDE "real world" skills or achieving success City Public School System in September D -W 1993, he served in that position until in the "other basics." Therefore, mak- October 1995. He has chaired task forces ARTS EDUCATION ing the case for the arts to important and committees at both the state and fed- constituencies involved in school eral levels. He serves on the boards of A WORD TO MY COLLEAGUES: reform – parents, business and civic Brown University, the J. Paul Getty Trust, Scholastic, Inc., Special Olympics, Inc., There is a two-day retreat described leaders, other educators – is a crucial the San Francisco Symphony, and the in this report at which superintendents of part of a school leader's job today. National Center for Public Policy and each of the school districts in New York In my experience, the case for Higher Education. b City – challenged by the redoubtable the arts is built upon either (1) the Maxine Greene – decide that it is impor- intrinsic value of the arts or (2) the tant for each of them to clarify his or her value of an arts education's conse- philosophy of arts education and the spe- quences. Both are valid. beauty. We know about the ancient cific application of the philosophy that To establish the value of an Greeks and Native Americans, for will work in their districts. The school arts education's consequences, its "real example, by the architecture, poetry, leaders recognize that they need a vision world" benefits, many people point to and paintings they left behind.