Scott Shuler Testimony for USDOE Arts Stakeholders Mtg Jan. 20, 2010 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 860-713-6746)

I. Thank You for this opportunity to provide input

II. My name is Scott Shuler

III. I am present today wearing 3 hats in Arts Education

A. President-elect of MENC: The National Association for Music Education

B. Member and recent board member of State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE)

C. My "Day Job": the Arts Consultant ("state arts supervisor") in the CT State Dept of Education

IV. The successful worker in the 21st century will be a creative worker

A. Daniel Pink "A Whole New Mind"

B. Richard Florida "Rise of the Creative Class"

C. Sir Kenneth Robinson "Out of Our Minds"

D. Thomas Friedman "The World is Flat"

V. Secondary School Reformers rightly focus attention on increasing student engagement in school

A. Research suggests that students who study the arts are:

1.    more successful academically, as measured by grades

2.    achieve higher test scores

3.    are less likely to abuse substances

4.    are less likely to drop out of school

B. Glasser's research, based on interviews with high school graduates, indicates that students consistently identified the arts (and athletics) as the two areas where they:

1.    found a positive group in school with which they identified, and

2.    were pushed to achieve higher standards of excellence

VI. The 21st century is a multimedia century - We should focus on "STEAM" (STEM is too limiting)

A. We increasingly communicate through media -- and THE ARTS ARE THE MEDIA

B. Children must learn not only to understand and critically examine the messages that reach them through the media...

1.    ... they must learn to USE the media to EXPRESS THEIR OWN IDEAS

2.    Unfortunately, arts as communications media do not appear on any high-stakes tests, and therefore do not receive the attention they deserve

VII. As The Arts Leader in Connecticut's State Education Agency, I see Daily the impact of state and federal legislation on school arts programs

A. Arts educators tend to be incredibly dedicated teachers

1.    Their teaching assignment is also their hobby

2.    To put it another way, their teaching subject area is also their life's work

B. Unfortunately, I must spend a LOT of my time helping arts teachers and schools overcome the damage unintentionally caused by legislation

1.    The Law of Unintended Consequences has unfortunately created a lot of collateral damage to children's arts education

2.    Two obvious places to see this damage are in membership of All State music ensembles and recipients of Scholastic Art Awards

a.    Very few urban and poor children have the kind of opportunity to learn the arts that enables them to earn recognition for excellence in the arts

(1)    and most students who DO are in specialized schools such as magnets

b.    The "achievement gap" is great in the 3Rs subjects, but I guarantee that it is far greater in arts education

(1)    At least every child receives regular instruction in reading and math

(2)    Unfortunately for them, there are much greater disparities in access to arts instruction

(3)    This is a serious Civil Rights issue -- what is the meaning of federal CORE SUBJECT if not to assure the right of ALL students to instruction in these subjects?

3.    What federal education legislation has helped arts education?

a.    The inclusion of the arts as core subjects has been of critical importance (and must be continued!)

(1)    Inclusion as core ensures that arts teachers must be "highly qualified"

(2)    Inclusion as core has proven tremendously important in ensuring arts instruction in schools, ranging from elementary general music to statewide arts requirements

b.    Federal funding of professional development for arts educators in Title I and high-poverty districts

(1)    In Connecticut I have observed the impact of this funding on arts teachers in Hartford and Bridgeport, two of our nation's poorest cities

(2)    Arts instruction was revitalized in these districts through sustained opportunities for:

(a)     professional development

(b)    curriculum development and sharing

(c)     addition of technological and other key instructional resources, and -- less tangible, but arguably just as important --

(d)    a sense of being respected as educators making important contributions to students' well-being

4.    What are the legislative factors that are narrowing children's education? The following are just a few examples that I see or hear about on a daily basis from teachers and school leaders in my state, many of which are attributable to legislatively imposed high stakes consequences of test scores:

a.    Response to Intervention (RTI) programs that pull children out of arts classes for remediation in tested subject areas

b.    Race to the Top (RTTT) guidelines that did not reward balance/arts inclusion

c.    Narrow PD offerings that focus on test preparation and neglect the needs of arts educators

d.    Narrow school and district data teams that focus on test scores and do not address data re children's arts learning

e.    Site-based school reform strategies that focus on test score improvement and fail to hold schools accountable for offering balanced curriculum

f.     And, of course, a difficult economy is only making matters worse

5.    As a result, too many children are not receiving a balanced education that includes music and the other arts

VIII. Policy and Legislative Question: what must we do to Ensure that ALL children Receive a Quality Arts Education? Take a systemic approach...

A. Improve Arts Opportunity-to-Learn

1.    Require that all schools that receive federal funding offer students a balanced curriculum that includes instruction in all core subject areas -- including music and the other arts

2.    Ensure that Opportunity-to-Learn data are publicly available

a.    CCSSO recently voted to recommend that states collect key data about the arts through their statewide school report card systems

b.    To eliminate the achievement gap in arts education, we need to collect data about students' opportunity to learn, and use those data to identify focal points for school improvement

B. Guide Arts Learning through Common Standards

1.    Invest in taking our existing National Standards to the next level, including a review of child development research and best practices in classrooms

2.    Key participants

a.    Work with professional arts education associations to identify expert P-21 teams of arts educators who are experienced working with children

b.    Include members of the arts and arts-related industries (architecture, recording, film, advertising/marketing, etc.) to help connect new arts standards to careers

C. Improve Arts Teaching

1.    Increase existing funding for Professional Development targeted to Arts Educators in urban and less affluent districts

2.    Require schools receiving federal funding to provide appropriate, content-based Professional Development in all core subject areas, including the arts

D. Create Arts Data Systems to Improve Arts Learning

1.    Support collection of Arts achievement data by:

a.    Providing competitive funding

b.    Establishing a date by which arts achievement data (data in all core subject areas?) must be included in school report cards

2.    Connecticut and a few other states have been developing Common Formative Assessments in the Arts

a.    Effective common assessments take the form of rich units with embedded assessments to guide and monitor student arts learning, linked to standards

b.    These units also typically include thoughtful writing, which enables arts educators to link their work to more traditional school-improvement initiatives

c.    Such assessments generate data that can be used to ensure that ALL students are receiving a quality arts education, and that arts educators are teaching effectively

d.    Such assessments also enable us to identify successful teaching practices that can be disseminated and replicated

3.    As common arts standards are created, develop content outlines (artwork, styles/genres, cultures) by grade level that can provide the foundation for developing an item database and on-line assessment system to administer selected response arts assessments to supplement embedded classroom performance assessments

a.    SEADAE has done some initial work on collaborative item development

b.    The South Carolina Dept. of Education has developed a basic system for on-line administration of arts items

IX. Thank you again for the opportunity to participate in today's discussion of Arts Education