PROGRESS REPORT 2014–15 TABLE OF CONTENTS THE LANDSCAPE SUPPORTING 01 THE DISTRICT 13 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY pg. 4 AREAS FOR 07 FURTHER STUDY pg. 48 STAFFING AND 09 ACCESS pg. 18 COMMUNITY ARTS PARTNERS MINUTES OF 02 pg. 19 KEY FINDINGS pg. 6 INSTRUCTION WHY ARE PARTNERSHIPS APPENDIX IMPORTANT? pg. 32 ARTS ASSETS WHO PARTNERS ARE pg. 32 IN SCHOOLS pg. 20 14 ACTIVE COMMUNITY CREATIVE SCHOOLS ARTS PARTNERS pg. 33 REFERENCES AND THE PLAN CERTIFICATION RESOURCES pg. 50 PROGRESS FINDINGS pg. 22 TYPES OF PARTNER PROGRAMS pg. 34 REACH OF COMMUNITY 03 pg. 35 CPS ARTS EDUCATION ARTS PARTNERS IN SCHOOLS 15 PLAN PROGRESS pg. 8 08 DATA SOURCES AND SCHOOLS AND LIMITATIONS pg. 51 INSTRUCTORS 10 FUNDING pg. 36 04 IS STAFFING ADEQUATE? pg. 24 pg. 38 16 THE CREATIVE WHAT CPS PRIVATE PHILANTHROPY SCHOOLS INITIATIVE pg. 10 INSTRUCTORS TEACH pg. 25 A NOTE ON THE CREATIVE SELF-REPORTING pg. 52 WHAT THE DISTRICT NEEDS pg. 26 SCHOOLS FUND pg. 38 ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTIONAL TIME pg. 28 17 05 GLOSSARY pg. 54 THE CREATIVE SCHOOLS PROGRESS TO DATE CERTIFICATION PROCESS pg. 11 11 pg. 42 18 TWO–YEAR PROGRESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 06 RUBRIC pg. 56 THE CREATIVE SCHOOLS CERTIFICATION 12 PARTICIPATION pg. 12 THREE–YEAR PROGRESS 19 CREATIVE SCHOOLS: HIGH SCHOOLS RUBRIC pg. 76 THE CREATIVE pg. 44 SCHOOLS CATEGORIES pg. 14 THREE-YEAR TRENDS CHANGE IN CREATIVE – pg. 45 THE CREATIVE SCHOOLS CATEGORY 2013 15 SCHOOLS RANKINGS pg. 15 20 STAFFING LEVELS pg. 46 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS pg. 86 WEEKLY INSTRUCTION pg. 47 01 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11, 15 Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the nation’s third-largest GOAL 5A: Create a system to track the quantity of school district, has experienced numerous changes over elementary-level arts instruction. the past four years including an increase in instructional minutes, school closures, Common Core† implementation, GOAL 5D: Integrate the arts into the school progress fiscal challenges, changes to student assessments and report card. budgeting, an increase in high school graduation rates, and a GOAL 6A: Require each school to maintain a budget decrease in student enrollment. Despite these fundamental for the arts. changes, and as a result of the collective efforts of school leaders, community arts partners†, and local funders, the 2014–15 State of the Arts progress report demonstrates steady improvements in the district’s capacity to deliver arts This progress report outlines the results instruction to all students. 68% from the 2014–15 Creative Schools OF SCHOOLS Certification data collection process. MET THE A QUALITY ARTS EDUCATION FOR EVERY CHILD Ingenuity’s data collection efforts RECOMMENDED IN EVERY SCHOOL STAFFING to support arts education access in RATIO The 2012 CPS Arts Education Plan elevated the arts to a CPS began in 2012–13 and resulted 13 core subject and articulates that a quality arts education in a baseline report followed by 58% 14 must include instruction in every art form—visual art†, a 2013–14 progress report. In the OF ELEMENTARY † † † † 2014–15 school year—our third year SCHOOLS music , dance , and theatre —that is ongoing and sequential . PROVIDED Additionally, this instruction is delivered in the following of data collection—86 percent of CPS 2 HOURS OF † schools completed the Creative Schools WEEKLY ARTS ways—by credentialed arts instructors teaching discipline- INSTRUCTION specific classes, by non-arts credentialed instructors Certification survey in full, sustaining a authentically integrating the arts with other content areas, significant participation increase from and by community arts partners connecting students to the baseline year. A higher proportion 57% of elementary schools participated than OF SCHOOLS professional works of art and practices both in school and in WERE cultural venues. high schools. CLASSIFIED AS EITHER STRONG OR EXCELLING At the core of the CPS Arts Education Plan† is a set of high- level goals that are central to its overall progress. These include: PROGRESS IN A CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT ONGOING GOALS COMPLETED GOALS Gains were seen in some of the Plan’s most critical areas GOAL 1A: Make the arts a core subject† by this past year. Over two-thirds of schools reported meeting dedicating 120 minutes of arts instruction per week in the recommended goal of one full-time certified arts elementary schools. instructor for every 350 students, an increase for the second GOAL 1D: Set minimum staffing requirements in the consecutive year. Additionally, 58 percent of elementary arts at one certified full-time employee per school or schools met the recommended 120 minutes of weekly arts an improved ratio. instruction—a 45 percent increase from the baseline year.9 This past school year the total number of arts instructors in † GOAL 3C: Launch the Creative Schools Certification the district rose, with the greatest increases in total visual to establish school and network-level supports to help arts and dance instructors. In 2014–15, there were six times principals plan for and implement the arts. as many visual arts and music instructors as there were GOAL 4B: Match at least one community arts theatre and dance instructors. Ninety-one percent of schools partner to every school in collaboration with an arts, or reported utilizing arts integration strategies, and 96 percent other instructor. partnered with at least one arts organization. †Refer to Glossary 4 3 YEARS OF DATA COLLECTION TRACKING VIA THE CREATIVE 664 CPS SCHOOLS SCHOOLS CERTIFICATION 91 SCHOOLS 86% OF SCHOOLS MOVED ALONG THE REPORTING Figures like those just mentioned are tracked via the CONTINUUM FROM A CATEGORY 1,322 Creative Schools Certification (CSC). The CSC creates OF DEVELOPING OR EMERGING ARTS an infrastructure to expand and track growth in arts TO STRONG OR EXCELLING 114 INSTRUCTORS instruction across all schools and was designed in part to MINUTES (ON support decision making at the school level. Participating AVERAGE) OF WEEKLY 550 schools submit data that indicate their arts instruction ELEMENTARY- ACTIVE opportunities, access to certified arts instructors, LEVEL ARTS COMMUNITY INSTRUCTION ARTS PARTNERS professional development†, arts integration, partnerships, and parent/community engagement. HOW TO USE THIS REPORT The Creative Schools Survey inventories school-level arts education assets including staffing and instructional time. SCHOOL LEADERS Each school then receives a rating along a five category • Note the improvement trends in the district continuum. In the 2014–15 school year, 57 percent of • Compare your school’s Creative Schools Certification (CSC) schools were classified as either Strong or Excelling in the category to the district’s overall results arts, an increase from 50 percent in 2013–14.10 Of the 551 • Create/update arts education goals for this school year schools that responded in both Years 2 and 3, 87 percent FUNDERS 10 maintained or improved their certification category. • Note areas of greatest improvement, where there is evidence that investing in CPS arts education is paying off Data indicates that significant strides have been made to • Note areas in most need of improvement and additional improve equitable access to certified arts instructors, and investment overall, schools made strategic choices that resulted in • Consider proposed areas for additional study improved CSC rankings. As CPS faces a critical budget crisis, it is more important than ever to recognize the progress made COMMUNITY ARTS PARTNERS • Note the trends in how schools engage community arts partners in arts education and to reaffirm stakeholder commitments • Consider the arts education needs of CPS to continuing this progress in the coming years. • Determine how your organization can best support schools in meeting their arts education goals In the end, while we can draw some district-level conclusions, the data sets used in this report are even PARENTS/ADVOCATES more powerful when examined at the school level. • Note which arts education policies are currently in place to When principals, instructors, arts partners, parents, and support student learning other stakeholders can track their school’s strengths and • Review your school’s CSC category in the appendix • Ask your school leaders questions about arts education goals opportunities, they can make more strategic choices for this school year when planning for the arts, and then the District will move toward a quality arts education for every CPS student. Ingenuity’s ability to report on this progress would not be possible without the work done by the hundreds of Arts Liaisons† who volunteer their time to report data on the schools where they work, and the hundreds of community arts partners and funders who contribute to positive institutional change that will result in a quality arts education for every CPS student. †Refer to Glossary 5 02 KEY FINDINGS This report examines Chicago Public Schools’ arts education resources in the 2014–15 school year. This most recent school year represents the third year of data collected following the approval of the CPS Arts Education Plan and the launch of The total number of arts the Creative Schools Initiative†. By surveying CPS schools; instructors increased from tracking the number of credentialed arts instructors, 1,278 in 2013–14 to 1,322 in community arts partners, and the services they provided; and 2014–15, with the greatest looking more closely at the 571 schools that participated in increases in visual arts and the Creative Schools Certification, Ingenuity has mapped the dance instructors.10, 11 dynamic landscape of arts education in Chicago. See page 24 The goal of this and future progress reports is to track the year-to-year expansion of arts instruction across Chicago Public Schools, and to provide accountability standards for the CPS Arts Education Plan’s goals, using the first State of the Arts Baseline Report 2012–13 as the benchmark. There 58% of elementary was a 31 percentage point increase in schools reporting schools met the 120 data from the 2012–13 school year to the 2013–14 school 68% of CPS schools minutes of weekly 9, 10 year.