Happy March!
As I mentioned in a post on February 11, 2013 March is a great time to promote what you do so well – teach ARTS EDUCATION. Sometimes others need to be reminded or actually taught about why the Arts are essential to a complete education for all students.
And, this is a good time for me to site this post prepared by the Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s office at the USDOE. You can find the information by clicking here. Mr. Duncan’s office had conducted a survey on arts education. It is the first survey that really provided a comparison since the first survey of this type was done during the 1999-2000 school year.
Secretary Duncan highlighted some of the findings that included:
I start from a simple presumption that I think most parents and teachers share. And that is that all students—100 percent—should have access to arts instruction. All children should have arts-rich schools.
Judged against that widely-shared standard, I think it is clear that our public schools have a long way to go before they are providing a rich and rigorous arts education to all students.
For a host of reasons, high-quality arts education is absolutely critical to providing all students with a world-class education.
The study of the arts can significantly boost student achievement, reduce discipline problems, and increase the odds that students will go on to graduate from college.
Arts education is also essential to stimulating the creativity and innovation that will prove critical to young Americans competing in a knowledge-based, global economy.
And the arts are valuable for their own sake. They empower students to create and appreciate aesthetic works. Creating by doing is a uniquely powerful way to learn.
I want to add that last, but not least, the arts are also fun. They give students a reason to look forward to coming to school.
Here are some resources that you might find useful during this exciting Arts education month:
- National Education Association webpage on Arts Education month found at http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/51007.htm
- National Art Education Association at http://www.arteducators.org/news/yam
- National Association for Music Education http://www.nafme.org/
Have a WONDERFUL ARTS EDUCATION MONTH!
me arts ed 