The education trade-off

Sep 22 2011, Written by Andrew Karim in Backpages, 0 Comments

Remember when school used to be fun? Okay, remember when school wasn’t absolutely dreadful?

For most of us, this time period probably ranged somewhere in between elementary and middle school. According to recent studies, however, fun times in grade school are witnessing a steady decline due in large part to the decreased importance given to the arts.

With such a strong focus on developing reading and math skills for state-administered examinations and so little time spent on the arts, science and non-tested subjects, students are becoming less and less motivated in their respective classroom settings. Student satisfaction has also declined due to a lessening of allotted recess hours during the day.

The gradual decline of arts eduction in public schools could perhaps be attributed to the implementation of No Child Left Behind, which stressed strong practical skills and high progression rates. A 2007 study by the Center on Education Policy found that 44 percent of elementary schools were spending less time on arts instruction since NCLB policies were implemented.

Strong reading and math skills unfortunately translated to less arts in public schools. The whole recession and recent budget tumult place further limits on the amount of funds available for arts education.

Katie Demcio, a kindergarten teacher at the Douglas Creative Arts and Science Magnet School in Raleigh serves as a program coordinator for the the North Carolina A+ Schools Program.  The A+ Schools Program is an initiative that advocates for arts education reform in North Carolina schools. A+ focuses on arts-integrated instruction that combines interdisciplinary teaching and daily arts instruction.

“Teachers need professional development to learn how to teach the arts through integration,” Demico said. “As far as recess, that time is required by law, so my only suggestion would be that the principal hold their teachers accountable for making sure that it happens.”

Although designated A+ schools do integrate the arts into everyday curriculum, the program is limited in the range of schools it is available to—it leaves thousands of students across the state with less than average exposure to the arts.

ArtsConnect is a student-run service organization at Duke that seeks to engage Durham elementary school students in the arts. Every Friday, ArtsConnect volunteers teach self-designed lesson plans to youth in the Emily K Community Center in Downtown Durham. President of ArtsConnect Kavita Chapla commented on the success of the program.

“The kids we work with are all minorities from socioeconomically underprivileged backgrounds, and I’m not sure that they would have access to art outside of school or the community center,” Chapla said. “Just last Friday, I was talking to a new first-grader’s mom and she told me her son was feeling unwell the previous day but told his mom that he had to go to school and the Emily K Center the next day because he had art. It was amazing to see how much of an impact the arts lessons are having on the kids we work with.”

The issue of arts—or rather, a lack thereof—in public schools is pressing, but programs such as A+ and ArtsConnect serve as art mediums of expression in an otherwise artless educational system.

Academics should remain an essential goal of the educational system, but administrators should perhaps reexamine the what they define as a successful curriculum.

“[Art] can motivate kids to succeed,” Chapla said.