Read all the research, news, and policy in our arts education RECAP for October 2022.
Research
Creativity Challenge: The State of Arts Education in California “The report reveals that a majority of California schools continue to fail to meet the state’s arts education mandate of offering all California students dance, music, theater, and visual arts instruction.” Create CA
Results From Long-Running Study Bolster Case for Universal Pre-K “The latest results of the longest-running study of state-funded pre-K in the nation strengthen the case for universal programs open to all young children. Released Tuesday by researchers at Georgetown University, the results show that young adults who attended a universal pre-K program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as 4-year-olds were more likely to graduate from high school on time and enroll in college than peers who didn’t attend.” The 74
What the Research Says About 4-day School Weeks “For schools that are considering a four-day week, the schedule matters. Some schools have been better at preserving instructional time, reallocating the hours across four longer days, Morton told me. Others have struggled to protect every minute of math and reading instruction. Longer hours can also tax young children’s attention spans. It’s a tradeoff.” KQED Mind/Shift
Equity
Princeton to Offer Full Rides to Students Whose Families Make Less than $100K a Year “Starting next year, Princeton University will offer full rides to undergraduates from families earning less than $100,000 a year, the Ivy League school announced this week. Financial assistance is slated to take effect in the fall of 2023 and expected to include about 1,500 students, according to information released Thursday from the school.” USA Today
The Problem With Kindergarten – Early Education is Vital. So Why Aren’t Students Guaranteed Access to it? “The majority of U.S. schoolchildren do go to kindergarten, and 79 percent of those kids are enrolled in full-day programs. But this vital education is not guaranteed nationwide. The country’s kindergarten policies vary from state to state, district to district, and even within school systems themselves. At least 29 states—both red and blue—do not mandate that districts offer full-day kindergarten.” The Atlantic
Calls-to-Action
Four Circles of Self-Care: a Tool to Help Students Make Mental Health a Daily Practice “Adolescent mental health crises, including anxiety, depression and self-harm, have been on the rise for more than a decade, and the coronavirus pandemic has only worsened the trend. Whether or not they have a clinical diagnosis, Livingston said all teenagers need to develop skills for coping with stress, but the past three years have made clear that many haven’t.” KQED Mind/Shift
State of the Arts: Creative Work in 2030 “Arts for LA is hosting its first in-person convening in over two years. Intended as an act of collective visioning, the program invites participants to explore what is possible over the next eight years: what will the creative sector look like in 2030? What structures, models, practices, and investments do we need to strengthen, shift, or dismantle?” Arts for LA
Advocacy
Centering Student Voices to Transform Educational Systems “This report centers student voices in the conversation about how we can transform educational systems. Students are most affected by education policy decisions. Their experiences and perspectives are invaluable to shaping the future of education.” Arts Education Partnership
Time to Make Free School Lunch Programs Permanent — and Open to All “When schools are part of a wider network of social service and clinical providers, they can connect struggling families with additional resources, whether it’s a food bank, an employment agency or a counseling center, because more often than not, a family that is food insecure has other unmet needs as well.” The 74
Policy
California May Become 20th State to Mandate Kindergarten “Early childhood education advocates say initiatives like universal preschool, which the state is currently phasing in, and kindergarten help close achievement gaps. Studies show early childhood education is linked to better student and adult outcomes, like higher school readiness levels, graduation rates and income levels — sometimes for generations.” K-12 Dive
Don’t Overlook These Key Details of Student Loan Forgiveness “After months of speculation, President Joe Biden announced his administration’s plan for student loan forgiveness. Although many reactions focused on how the plan cancels student debt for tens of millions of borrowers — $10,000 for those making less than $125,000 in 2020 or 2021 and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients — and extends the pause on student loan payments through the end of 2022, the notice contained significant changes to income-driven repayment plans (IDR) in recent memory.” EdNote
Dual-Immersion Programs Show Promise in Fighting Enrollment Declines “Dual-language immersion programs, which teach all students in English and another language, are so much in demand that some school districts have been able to stop declining enrollment or even grow enrollment in a school by beginning a dual-language program. Research has shown that these programs are beneficial for both English learners and native English speakers.” EdSource
Why More Schools are Considering a 4-day Week Despite Some Drawbacks “The deciding factor for whether a four-day school week will negatively affect students’ academic performance is instructional hours, according to Thompson. Schools have to make up for the day students have off by increasing the amount of time during the days students are in school. On average, the four-day-week school days are about an hour longer than five-day week schools.” KQED Mind/Shift
New Program to Give Ineligible University of California Applicants a Path to Admission “The program is targeted toward students who graduate from high school with at least a 3.0 grade point average but without all the required A-G courses, the set of classes students must take to be eligible for admission to UC. Those students would be given a conditional offer of admission to a specific UC campus, but will first need to go to community college and complete their lower-division classes.” EdSource
Climate Change Must Now be Taught to N.J. Students. What Will New Curriculum Look Like? “The New Jersey Student Learning Standards includes language that requires climate change education across seven areas: 21st century life and careers, comprehensive health and physical education, science, social studies, technology, visual and performing arts, and world languages.” NJ
Thanks for reading our arts education RECAP for October 2022. View past RECAPS here.
