THE COMPLETE CURRICULUM Ensuring a Place for the Arts and ...

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NASBETHE COMPLETE CURRICULUMbehind. As with reading, the morelearning that occurs in the preschooland early elementary grades in the artsand foreign languages, the less likelyour nation’s children are to be “leftbehind” and the less likely we are toleave half the child’s education behind.7. Advocate continued developmentof curriculum materials for the artsand foreign languages from thetextbook publishing industry.Currently, there is no K-12 textbookseries and few curricular programs forcontinuous K-12 language study inthe United States. Programs are leftto piece together their own materials,which is costly and inefficient. Artseducation fares no better. While thereis a wealth of material availablethrough community and philanthropicorganizations and the Internet, it maynot always be an organized curricularprogram that is grade-level appropriateor aligned with state standards.State education officials shouldadvocate continued development ofcurriculum materials from thetextbook publishing industry, with afocus on textbooks and instructionalresources for students in kindergartenthrough grade 12.8. Incorporate all core subjectareas, including the arts and foreignlanguages, into the improvementstrategies promoted by the NoChild Left Behind Act. The NoChild Left Behind Act gave apowerful boost to the arts andforeign languages by including themas core academic subjects—suchrecognition had not been made inpast authorizations of the Elementaryand Secondary Education Act.Thus, NCLB empowers states andschools to focus on a well-rounded,comprehensive education, which inturn allows states to reevaluate theirpolicy frameworks—includingaccountability structures—for allcore subject areas.9. Urge the National AssessmentGoverning Board to increase thefrequency in the administration ofNAEP assessments for both the artsand foreign languages. Both the artsand foreign languages have NAEPassessments (foreign language is inthe pilot stage). Contrasting thefrequency with which NAEP isassessed in mathematics, comparedwith the arts, for example, has sent aless than encouraging signal to thestates about the importance of thearts as a core subject. It also reducesthe potential that states will benefitfrom the release of test items, resultsof validity and reliability field tests ofassessment exercises, and other waysin which the federal-state relationshipworks for math, reading, writing, andscience in large-scale assessment.10. Urge Congress and legislatures tomake a greater commitment to thearts and foreign languages. At thefederal level, the National Endowmentfor the Arts (NEA) and theNational Endowment for theHumanities (NEH) are two federalagencies that target study in theseareas. Congress created both in 1965as independent agencies of the federalgovernment. Funding for the eachagency hovers around $125 million. Instark contrast, the funding level forthe National Science Foundation(NSF) hovers around $5 billion—with around $1 billion going towardK-16. Additional funding should bemade available to states, universities,and local school districts to helpdevelop programs surrounding thearts and foreign languages, as well ashigh-quality assessment systems.6
Ensuring a Place for the Arts and Foreign Languages in America’s SchoolsChapter 2The Benefits of the Arts andForeign Languages in theClassroomThere is a preponderance ofevidence that arts and foreignlanguage education matters. Studentswho study and participate in the artsdo substantially better than thosewho do not on almost every academicmeasure. And for their part, foreignlanguage educators point out thatdecades of research on the benefits ofsecond language learning gives animpressive rationale for foreignlanguage instruction in terms ofcognitive benefits and increasedacademic achievement.However, those who justify thestudy of the arts and foreign languagessolely because of their impacton student performance in othersubjects may be neglecting animportant point: that these two vitalfields of study teach things no othersubject can; they tap into deeplycultural and expressive aspects ofpeoples’ lives that are at the center ofwhat it means to be human. Studiespoint to the value of arts education asit relates to students’ personaldevelopment—to understanding andcontributing to the world aroundthem. Similarly, research has foundthat studying a second language alsohelps in the development of positiveattitudes toward cultural diversity.The ArtsIn 1999 a compilation of researchstudies on the arts was released inChampions of Change: The Impact ofthe Arts on Learning. 3 Researchers notonly found a positive impact on studentachievement, but also that “learning inand through the arts can help ‘level theplaying field’ for disadvantagedstudents.” Other findings revealed,among other things, that:• Students who actively engage inlearning in the arts outperformthose who do not (termed “artspoorstudents”) on almost everymeasure. In addition, theresearchers found that sustainedlearning in music and theaterwere highly correlated withhigher reading and mathematicsachievement.• One study of high-povertyschools in Chicago that wereparticipating in the Chicago ArtsPartnerships in Education(CAPE) curriculum programfound that when compared tonon-participating, high-povertyschools, the CAPE schools weremaking much bigger gains inclosing the achievement gapbetween high- and low-incomestudents.• Another study of after-schoolprograms compared at-riskstudents who were participatingin one of three programs: sports/academic, community involvement,or the arts. While studentsengaged in all three programsshowed signs of academicimprovement, as well as personalgrowth, the researchers foundthat the youth involved with thearts programs outpaced those7
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