Arts Education - It's your carrots and peas

Dear Dominic:  Today, for the first time in 11 years, the federal government  released a national report card on achievement in the arts  among 8th graders.  This long-awaited report finds that  since 1997, our nation's students have not made  significant progress in developing their skills and knowledge  in the arts. The National Assessment of Education Progress  (NAEP) in the Arts report is the only continuing, national  measure of academic achievement in America's schools.    A nationally representative sample of over 7,900 eighth grade  students from public and private schools participated in the NAEP  Arts Assessment in 2008. Students were measured on their ability  to create and respond to the visual arts; whereas, the study scaled  back on music questions and only measured a student's ability  to respond and identify music.  Unfortunately, theatre and dance  skills were not assessed at all due to budgetary and data  collection constraints, according to the National Center for  Education Statistics.   As reported today in the New York Times, Christian Science  Monitor, and USAToday, the findings are "mediocre," "lackluster,"  and "may make America's arts instructors kind of blue."   Not a great report card.  However, new U.S. Secretary of Education  Arne Duncan gave a strong reaction in support of arts education,  "This Arts Report Card should challenge all of us to make K-12  arts programs more available to America's children ... We can and should do better for America's students."   As you may know, Americans for the Arts has been leading a  national effort to increase federal funding and to strengthen the  role of the arts in the classroom through legislative efforts in  Congress.  We have published a set of legislative  recommendations that calls for changes to the problematic  No Child Left Behind Act. Our schools need greater support for arts education - take two minutes to send a message to  your Congressional delegation, please visit our E-Advocacy Center.   To raise awareness of the importance of arts education,  we have also been leading,  along with The Ad Council,  the NAMM Foundation and  hundreds of local, state,  and national campaign  partners, a public service awareness campaign  titled, "The Arts. Ask For More." currently airing on radio  and television and appearing in print media.   In the television and radio ads, the arts are equated with a  healthy diet; just like kids need healthy foods on a daily basis,  kids need their daily serving of the arts. Included in the campaign  is a list of "10 Simple Ways," detailing how parents can get  involved in their child's arts education.   Please take action on this important education effort by  sending a message to your member of Congress let your voice be  heard.