Facts:
1. Forty minutes in either discipline is insufficient to address the benchmarks outlined in the fine arts frameworks AND to make adequate assessment of each student's progress.
2. As was predicted, whatever is required as a minimum amount of time has become the maximum considered by many districts, primarily because the bill is based on the mistaken premise that taking students from the classroom will contribute to lower standardized test scores. THIS IS NOT TRUE (see "Current Research Shows" below).
3. Some beginning band and choir programs have experienced a decrease in contact time with students because of the inflexibility of Act 245.
4. The phrase in Title 6-16-130 referring to "a period not less than (1) one hour" was used as a ruse to convince those who had not or could not correctly interpret the law, that a one-hour block of time was required. A one-hour block does not fit a large number of school district elementary schedules. Several Arkansas schools have successfully implemented both the 60-minute or two 40-minute classes of both art and music into their schedule. The law DID NOT require a single, one-hour block of time as claimed by many administrators and legislators.
5. Most classroom teachers believe the students should have MORE music and art per week, not less, as claimed by administrators. This is based on common sense and interviews with classroom teachers. Classroom teachers are required to have a 40-minute, uninterrupted period of time for preparation each day. Music and art classes are two of the main sources of that preparation time. This should enhance instruction because it allows the teacher to be rested and better prepared.
6. The classroom teacher is NOT "highly qualified" (as defined by NCLB), in most cases, to teach to the state frameworks in music and art.
a. The arts are considered core academic subjects by both NCLB and the Arkansas Department of Education rules based on Ark. Code Ann. § 6-11-105 and Ark. Code Ann. § 25-15-201 et seq. and 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq. (2002).
b. Only a teacher who is highly qualified may teach core academic subject areas.
c. The process used to achieve "highly qualified" in any of the arts is much greater than the classroom teacher is able to achieve.
7. Many of the state's administrators still do not want to meet the mandate of Act 245. Many of these same districts did not initially comply with Act 1506 even though they had nearly five years to phase-in the requirements. This was really a sign of bad faith, management and planning on the part of the non-complying districts' administrators. They chose to wait until the deadline to begin complying with the law.
8. Lack of available teachers was also no reason to reduce the requirements. Had all non-compliant school districts in the state begun the hiring process after the law's passage, a strong message would have been sent to hundreds of potential music and art educators within and outside our state as to the viability of teaching the arts at the elementary level in Arkansas. Other alternatives were also available to those districts having difficulty finding arts educators.
9. Supporters of arts education in the public schools can expect attempts to water down or repeal the current law with every gathering of the State Legislature.
Current research shows:
a. the arts help children develop literacy skills such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
b. the arts encourage divergent thinking and problem-solving skills, enabling students to think creatively.
c. that arts education can play a critical role in a child’s academic and social development.
d. that well-designed and executed arts education leads to overall improved academic performance, builds skills necessary for workplace success, and has a positive influence on the lives of students.
e. that access to and participation in the arts helps decrease and prevent negative behavior by at-risk youth.
f. that schools that made room in their schedules for the arts at the expense of other academic disciplines did not suffer a decline in standardized test scores in the courses that lost time in the school schedule through the addition of the arts.
Opportunity to Learn Standards
The Goals 2000: Educate America Act mandated that all disciplines develop national standards. It also called for the development of opportunity-to-learn (OTL) standards. The purpose was to ensure that no young American was deprived of the chance to meet the content and achievement standards established in the various disciplines because of the failure of his or her school to provide an adequate learning environment.
The Opportunity-to-Learn Standards for Music Instruction: Grades PreK-12 recommend ninety minutes of instruction per week. Our current state law requires less than 1/2 of that. Arkansas is being lauded nationally for being the lead state to have a law mandating arts education specifically. Our own Governor has been presented with a State Arts Leadership Award by the Americans for the Arts because of his focus on the arts in his capacity as Chair of the Education Commission of the States and because of Title 6-16-130.
Even at 60 minutes per week under Act 1506, arts teachers would have had difficulty teaching all of the frameworks and addressing all of the benchmarks that have been established. One 40-minute class per week under Act 245 is certainly preferable to nothing; however, it will not allow us to achieve the results promised by current research.
