An Artful Graduation
There’s been a lot of talk recently about graduation rates. We direct your attention to the new report from the Center for Arts Education in New York City, which links arts education and graduation rates in New York City’s public schools. The report, which analyzed data from over 200 schools over a two-year period, found that “schools in the top third in graduation rates offered their students the most access to arts education and the most resources that support arts education,” while “[s]chools in the bottom third…consistently offer[ed] the least access and fewest resources.” Schools with the lowest graduation rates also had a higher percentage of poor and minority students than schools at the top.
The authors suggest that increased access to arts instruction may be a good strategy to increase graduation rates nationwide, especially since “students at risk of dropping out cite participation in the arts as their reason for staying in school” and because “arts education ha[s] a measurable impact on at-risk youth in deterring delinquent behavior and truancy problems while also increasing overall academic performance.”
And while the New York State Education Department’s learning standards for arts education are laudable, the report’s analysis of New York City Department of Education data found that most New York City public schools are not in compliance with the state’s arts education requirements.
Read the whole thing.