Dr. Stephanie L. Milling

The Impact of ESEA: Strategic Points of Entry for Effective Advocacy

Posted by Dr. Stephanie L. Milling, Sep 14, 2015 0 comments


Dr. Stephanie L. Milling

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act has a long history in this country of both supporting and threatening the presence of arts education in America’s public education system. Originally created in 1965, the original intentions of ESEA included developing standards of accountability to lessen the achievement gap amongst students from various backgrounds. While the perspectives of how to achieve this endeavor have changed over time to reflect different Congressional administrations, the overarching philosophy has remained consistent: measuring student achievement is a necessary component of school accountability.

The pressure of meeting the provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act has resulted in reduced instructional time dedicated to the arts in education, yet one can still recognize that the primary guiding principle of this federal legislation has been and is well intentioned. Therefore, it is necessary for arts advocates to realize that methods for ensuring school accountability have and will most likely continue to require further consideration and discussion. Furthermore, we are currently at a critical juncture to encourage policymakers to value the use of authentic assessments to demonstrate student learning as opposed to unilateral algorithms and value added measures. When the latter occurs, the arts are excluded from consideration as serious subject areas that provide opportunities to demonstrate the following skills: critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, collaboration, and effective communication. Research has proven that arts education helps students develop the aforementioned aptitudes, and business leaders value these skills. Therefore, if we have the ammunition, why are we having so much trouble convincing others of the value of the arts in education?       

While the true impact of federal policy on teaching and learning in local classrooms might not be easily detected, understanding how decisions made in Washington D.C. affect education on a daily basis and being able to disseminate this information to policymakers could provide us with the hard-hitting data that could begin to transform perceptions of the legitimacy of the arts in education. While the arts education and arts advocacy communities already possess such data, critical attention to the intersection of the demands of ESEA and education at the local level might reveal specific strategies that could prove fruitful. Below are some considerations for individuals interested in preserving the presence of the arts in education.

1.      Research how your state is meeting ESEA requirements. Are there opportunities for the arts to be included in that plan? Could the arts provide some type of learning opportunity that could help your district demonstrate the desired level of student achievement?

2.      Be aware of the model of evaluation for arts teachers in your state. In the model, how is student learning demonstrated? Is there an opportunity for authentic measurements to demonstrate student growth that occurs in arts classrooms? Is there an opportunity to relate such data to school and district-wide initiatives?

3.      How is learning in the arts being assessed in the classroom? What are the measures that that could make a difference in how arts areas are valued? Do teachers have information from studies that could be used to support the assessment data they gather from evaluations of student learning?

4.      What is the knowledge of the new National Core Arts Standards in the district? How will they help you make your case to administrators, parents, and politicians that the arts have standards that drive best practices similar to other disciplines in K-12 education? What are the intersections between the expectations of learning indicated in the state and national standards in the arts and common core standards? 

5.      What are the statistics regarding at-risk youth, college and career ready high school graduates, and low-income populations in your district? What information could help you make your case that the arts would help students succeed?

6.      Who are your community partners who can help you in these respective areas? Are there researchers at universities nearby? Are there nonprofit organizations that can collect data on arts education experiences for dissemination to policy makers? And, what are the valuable learning experiences occurring in classrooms on a daily basis that can be used to demonstrate why we need the arts in education?

While these questions will seem redundant to many, sometimes the specific, day-to-day issues at home can get lost in attempts to advocate for the arts in education. It is following the daily impact over an extended period of time and collecting useful data from these observations that will make a difference. We need the arts in education as a means for ensuring the holistic development of every child, which will require the voices of many from different walks of life through collaborative efforts. 

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