Education Crisis

In my local arts education nonprofit work, I come across a lot of interesting articles. Here is an interesting point from one of them:

As arts education is pushed further to the margins by the emphasis on standardized testing, a tool for nurturing children's social and emotional development is being lost.

Arts education, which tends to be something of an afterthought in many American school districts, is facing an even tougher time than usual. Twin threats — budget cuts necessitated by dwindling tax revenues and the push to focus on math and reading skills as measured on standardized tests — have left music and art classes in a particularly vulnerable state. In December, for example, the Los Angeles Unified School District proposed eliminating its 350 elementary school arts specialists over the next two years.

What is being lost — and what, if anything, can be done about this trend — is addressed in two scholarly papers published in the new issue of the Arts Education Policy Review. One notes students whose education is dominated by rote learning will not be prepared for "the jobs of tomorrow," while the other explores the value of the arts in helping kids understand their emotions.

"If we marginalize all non-tested subjects, we create a system in which only the affluent members of our society have access to the most comprehensive and well-rounded educations, which widens the achievement gap rather than closes it," she writes.

Specifically what arts-deprived kids are missing is explored in "How the Arts Help Children to Create Healthy Social Scripts" by Liane Brouillette of the University of California, Irvine. She argues that for children to become successful adults, they need to know more than just how to read, write and multiply. They need to learn fundamental social skills, such as the ability to "persist in goal-oriented activity, to seek help when needed, and to participate in and benefit from relationships."