Music Advocacy Links...
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Advocacy Materials...
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Arts Are
A Core Subject In "No Child Left Behind" Act
The No
Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President Bush in
January, 2002.
Near the very end of the legislation the definition of a core subject
appears:
TITLE IX -
GENERAL PROVISIONS
PART A - DEFINITIONS
SEC. 9101. DEFINITIONS
Except as otherwise provided, in this Act:
(11)
CORE ACADEMIC SUBJECTS - The term core academic subjects' means
English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign
languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.
There you
have it. The arts are on equal footing with the subjects that have been
traditionally considered the "core" subjects. This definition is tucked
away in the glossary, and policy makers may not notice it there. It is our
responsibility as arts educators and advocates to make it known to the
decision-makers at our state and local levels that according to federal
law the arts are a CORE subject, eligible for federal funding to boost
student achievement and teacher training.
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MUSIC AND ART LESSONS DO MORE THAN COMPLEMENT THREE R's
by Eleanor Chute
from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
April 13, 1998
Want to give the brain a good workout? Try making music or doing art.
"Children not only enjoy the arts but learn a great deal from it,"
said Sarah Tambucci, principal of Chartiers Valley Intermediate School
and past president of the National Art Education Association. She
thinks the arts can stimulate learning, help with memory and foster
creative problem solving.
Researchers are bolstering that argument made by arts educators in two
main ways: - Studies that link music training with math-related
skills. - The theory of "multiple intelligences," which shows that
people learn in many ways, some of them through the arts.
The theory of multiple intelligences was developed by Harvard
University professor Howard Gardner, whose book "Frames of Mind" was
first published in 1983. Gardner says there are at least eight forms
of intelligences, which people have in varying amounts: language,
logic, musical, spatial, bodily, naturalist, interpersonal, and
intrapersonal.
"A good educational system ought to nourish and nurture the range of
intelligences, which include several featured in the arts. Otherwise,
we will be neglecting important forms of human potential and stunting
the cognitive development of youngsters," Gardner said.
"All youngsters everywhere should have exposure to the greatest
creations of the human mind and spirit in our society. That would
include painters like Rembrandt and Picasso, musicians like Mozart and
Duke Ellington, writers like Shakespeare, George Elliot, and Toni
Morrison."
Ideally, Gardner said, students should be exposed to all art forms at
all ages, but he doesn't think that's practical. He favors depth over
breath, allowing each child to choose an art form to master well
enough to create in it and appreciate it.
Using spring 1997 information, the Pittsburgh School District has
developed its own statistics to show that students who were in
instrumental or choral classes had higher grade point averages, higher
graduation rates, better attendance, and lower dropout rates. The
average GPA for gifted students with one or two years of music was
3.45, compared with 3.19 without music.
Among students overall, those without music training had a dropout
rate of 7.4 percent, those with one to two years had a rate of 1
percent, and those with three or more years had a 0.0 percent dropout
rate.
So why is music so often considered extraneous? Natalie Ozeas,
chairwoman of music education at Carnegie Mellon University and
Eastern Division president of the Music Educators National Conference,
has a theory. "Perhaps because it's such an enjoyable thing to do,"
she said, "that somehow making music doesn't seem to fit into the same
category as doing your homework." |
Pleasant
Valley High School Band