Statewide arts education census results released

AUGUSTA — The second census of arts education resources for Maine’s 183,995 students, the first survey in this area since 2009, revealed both a surprising amount of consistency in school offerings over the past seven years as well as large gaps in the equity of the resources available to students across the state. The summary report on the survey’s results, including five recommended goals across four key areas to strengthen arts education in Maine, is now available to the public at bit.do/MaineArtsEd_Census.

The year-long collaboration between the Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Department of Education, championed by famed singer-songwriter Noel Paul Stookey, achieved a stunning 95 percent response rate, reporting on 97% of Maine’s students — making it the highest voluntary response rate on record nationally.

“Local and national data shows that high quality arts education, taught by certified teachers and teaching artists, positively impacts student learning and school quality,” said Julie Richard, executive director of the Maine Arts Commission. “Now our job is to ensure that all students in Maine have access to these beneficial programs and instruction.”

Maine ranks among the top six states in the nation in regard to comprehensive arts education policies, according to a 2014 report from the Arts Education Partnership, but the State of Maine does not require measurement in subject areas not mandated by the federal government. Responding principals noted an important outcome of the census would be to advocate for assessment polices for arts education in order to gather Maine-centric, rather than national, data points demonstrating the impact of arts education on student performance.

The census data shows, among other things:

* Music and visual arts education for Maine students remains strong but not consistent from region to region: 71% of all schools report music classes and 68% report visual arts classes during the school day;
* Media arts, theater and dance instruction in schools lag far behind, with only 15% of schools reporting media art classes; 12% reporting drama classes; and 5% dance classes. Even fewer of these schools offer instruction in these areas by a certified teacher;
* 28% of Maine’s schools report arts integration in other curricular content areas; 30% offer after school arts programs; and 29% report gifted and/or talented programs;
* 52% of all principals report no arts-related field trips and 46% report no arts in co-curricular activity, such as concerts or community events;
* 27% of principals report programming in their schools through a relationship with one or more local or regional arts organizations; 15% indicate utilizing community-based artists in their arts education offerings.

“There’s an ongoing perception, with education budgets being cut statewide, that Maine schools have lost art teachers. The good news is that this newest data indicates that isn’t so,” said Argy Nestor, director of arts education for the Maine Arts Commission. “But district by district, the data does indicate a pattern whereby our most rural schools have access to the fewest resources.”