Today, there is a great problem in American schools. The ever increasing dropout rates are showing that teachers are not able to stimulate and interest their students. Children and teens are losing their ability to think creatively and on higher level because of the lack of arts education in public schools. If all children had this privilege, they would have higher test scores, would more likely go to college, and less likely to commit crimes. Students who graduate from high school are drones of a test-centered, strict curriculum based on if the student can pick the right multiple choice answer. Graduates who have graduated recently find it extremely difficult to compete in the higher education world due to their inability to think critically compared to other students from around the world.
Arts education can refer to either being specifically educated in the arts or using art as a way to teach general education (Deasy). Studying these practices encourage students to branch out and learn about other subjects. Reading, writing, and math require the understanding of symbols, and so does constructing shapes and colors in art pieces or learning music notes in order to understand fractions easier. Many schools are not meeting the sufficient amount of art education for students that would help them participate and succeed in other areas and build skills that would help them be noticed on a global level (Education Next).
The way in which people’s intellect is judged is through testing them. In many public and private schools across the country, test scores are probably the most important thing because they show who the most intelligent students are, which teachers are most effective, and what students will be boosted up to the next gr...
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... decision makers and determine that they have the limit and capacity to settle on choices to guarantee our stature on the planet.
Works Cited
Deasy, Richard J. "Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development." ERIC, 2002. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
"Education Next." RSS. Education Next, 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Smith, Fran. "Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best." Edutopia. The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 2014. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
"The Arts - For a Balanced and Complete Education." Instructional Tool Kit. Google, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2014. .
"The Importance of Fine Arts Education." Katyisd.org. Katy Independent School District, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Imagine a world without artists, poets, inventors, authors, or designers… Can’t do it? You don’t have to .All you have to do is look at the students being molded by the American public school system, a group of boring conforming unimaginative robots. The problem with the American school system, as argued by John Taylor Gatto in his article “Against School”, is that it’s designed to create students to conform and adapt, to determine their social roles. Schools don’t pay nearly as much attention in encouraging the students to think more critically or creative as they do in making sure they are labeled by some absurd “standardized test”. The school system needs to focus on creating a group of innovators, creative students who think outside the
Holcomb, Sabrina. "Arts Education." Rss. National Education Association, 17 Jan. 2007. Web. 10 May 2016.
A recent development in public education has been the decline in arts programs nationwide. Budget cuts to arts programs are responsive to decreases in state funding, especially in states with conservative economic policies. Many states have also enacted legislation disabling local school districts’ abilities to justify employing art and music teachers. Consequently, several problems have manifested themselves, including the loss of arts programs proving detrimental to the overall quality of education for today’s children. First and foremost, arts programs improve overall performance in core school subjects; this is demonstrated clearly through higher test scores amongst students with exposure to arts and positive correlations between arts and core class engagement. Other reasons supporting retaining arts programs include to help foster community development, produce creative minds, develop problem-solving skills, aid in child development and visual-spatial skills, and encourage underprivileged students to remain in school (Metla, 2015). By removing arts programs from some public schools, an alarming issue of public concern arises. Public education, given that it is considered to be a non-rivalrous and non-excludable, is deemed a public good (Clark, 2016). Cutting arts programs in public schools, especially when cuts transpire in schools saturated with heavy minority populations, creates inequitable education and creates a serious issue of public concern.
In the society of today, there are various educators who believe in assessment as proper method to measure the performance of a child in school as well as the overall achievement of a specific school system. The assessment may be presented in the form of verbal, written, or multiple choice, and it usually pertains to certain academic subjects in the school curriculum. Recently, many educators began to issue standardized tests to measure the intelligence of a common student body. (Rudner, 1989) These standardized tests were initially created to reveal the success in institutional school programs, and exhibit the abilities of students today. The standardized tests can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a student as well as the admission into certain programs. The test results also assist various schools in determining the proper curriculum, evaluate a specific school system, or a particular school related program.
Peter, S., 1996. The History of American Art Education. 7th ed. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Some students simply do not test well, others try their hardest and still cannot reach the impracticable standards set for them. The individuals who create these tests do not understand the pressures of being a student, or the struggle to answer thirty-five questions in a compressed time period. One test cannot accurately measure the intelligence of a student.
Intelligence tests have been developed by scientists as a tool to categorize army recruits or analyze school children. But still discussing what intelligence is, academics have a difficult time defining what intelligence tests should measure. According to the American researcher Thorndike, intelligence is only that what intelligence tests claim it is (Comer, Gould, & Furnham, 2013). Thus, depending on what is being researched in the test and depending on the scientist’s definition of intelligence the meaning of the word intelligence may vary a lot. This essay will discuss what intelligence is in order to be able to understand the intelligence theories and aims of intelligence tests.
Today, in the United States, standardized tests are administered every year by states to their Kindergarten-12th grade public school students. Different states place different weight on their standardized testing results where some states differ their funding based on results and annual improvement, whereas other states allow schools to simply gauge where their students are scoring relative to other schools in the state. These tests, however, are only standardized within one state. One of the few tests standardized throughout the entire country is the SAT, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, administered by College Board and required by, “More than 800 of the nation’s colleges and universities,” (Comras, 1984). This test will be the standardized test focused on in this paper. While standardized testing is that, standardized, and enables the comparison of one student to another, the meaning of the score does not equate to a test of intelligence. Therefore, while standardized testing should be applied in the education system, it needs to be more indicative of the material learned in school and should hold less weight than it currently does in the college admissions process.
Smith, Fran. “Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who’s Doing It Best.” Edutopia.org. The George
The Importance of Arts Education Jane Alexander, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), once said, “Many children are missing out on something which gives their education context, gives their lives depth and meaning, and prepares them to be the future workforce.” This “something” that she spoke of is music and art education. Unfortunately, she is entirely correct. We are currently seeing a dramatic cut in arts education curriculum in our public schools due to the limited amount of time and funding. In many cases, budget cutbacks mean arts education cutbacks.
Art can be used to raise scores in every subject, “Students who took four years of art classes scored 91 points higher on their SAT exams than those who took half a year or less. Multiple studies also confirmed that there is a correlation between art engagement and students’ other achievements.” (Valeriya Metla) Even with the research linking art and better grades some educators think that it is more worth while to only focus on the core classes because it is more important to fund what is being tested than to help raise children who are creative.
Art Education is not always valued in school settings. Although some may see it as an unnecessary use of school funding, there are many who believe it is beneficial to students in more ways than one. There are many different studies that have been conducted to test the effects that art education has on school-aged children. Some studies have proven that art education can help students to improve in other academic areas. In a journal article from Ohio State University’s “Theory in Practice,” Karen A Hamblen states, “There are linkages between art learning and learning in other subjects areas and that art study can promote creative behaviors, critical thinking skills, and academic achievement.” It has also been found that the arts can teach children better self-regulatory strategies, and even foster more confidence and self-efficacy in school which relates to confidence in academics. Overall, art education in schools has been very beneficial and has proven to ignite creativity, confidence, critical thinking skills, and academic achievement in students.
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. (2014) State Policy Briefs. “Why Should Government Support the Arts” Retrieved April 18, 2014, from http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Advocacy/Advocacy-Tools/Why-Government-Support/WhyGovSupport.pdf
When I was in high school, I was very involved in the arts. I took a band, choir and two years of visual art. During the years of high school, I knew that the fees for the art courses cost much more than other electives at my school. I also observed that the school focused more on their athletic and academics programs, than on their art programs. We had many fundraisers to raise more money for the art programs even after paying an already expensive fee to takes these electives. Schools are neglecting the visual arts programs and placing all of their money and focus on academics and athletics programs. I propose a balance between the arts, academics, and the athletics.
"Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best." Edutopia. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.