Linking Education Policy
and Classroom Practice

Connecting education policy to the classroom

How do education policy decisions directly effect what students learn in school? STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is one example of how policy can shift what the educational focus is in schools. Policies effect resource decisions and ultimately effect what individual students and teachers work on in the classroom. Lee Friedman in his book, The Microeconomics of Public Policy Analysis (pg 6), says that, “. . . [A]ll resource allocation decisions are shaped by public policy.”

In today’s environment students have fewer opportunities to study the arts, social studies and even physical education as science, technology, engineering and math have grown in importance. Policymakers and educators are trying to prepare students in the best possible ways for their futures. Of course this is a challenge since it is hard to predict the future–many jobs, even just a few years into the future, have not been invented. Students will need a well-rounded education as the best preparation for working in and helping to create this new future. They will need to use their imaginations and creativity to deal with the complex issues and problems facing their communities, our nation and people around the world.

Both the arts and sciences provide students with necessary ways of thinking and working.

Jean Johnson in the new Dana Foundation publication, Transforming Arts Teaching: The Role of Higher Education (2007), says that “aspirational” parents want things to be better for their children. “They are open, searching, and looking for leadership about what their children need. But these parents may erroneously think that math and science are very dull but important, while the arts are fun but not very important. That is a total disservice not only to math and science, which can be creative and wonderful, but also to the arts.” (pg 28)

The Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, Minnesota was created by legislative policymakers as an opportunity to develop and model educational excellence and interdisciplinary study. The Arts High School models a curriculum that balances courses in math, science, social studies, language arts and world languages with an in-depth curriculum in the arts. Students respond enthusiastically to this comprehensive education and find the interdisciplinary connections among other content areas and the arts meaningful and relevant.

Colleagues at the University of Minnesota have coined the term, STEAM, meant to expand the definition of STEM to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, in an unpublished paper, “ART-TOPIA – The Role of the Arts, Schools, and Business in Advancing Minnesota’s Ability to Compete in the New Knowledge Economy.”

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An Imagine Nation

Dick Deasy, Director of the Arts Education Partnership states, “What is very clear in the recent public opinion polling and our own research is that people across the country want a much more engaging and broadened education for students. They want schools to help students set high standards for themselves, have ambition and aspirations for success, develop the skills to fulfill their dreams and meet the demands of the 21st century in which we live. And, the majority of voters (88%) believe that an education in and through the arts is essential to developing the capacities of the imagination that empower students to achieve these goals.”

A new Imagine Nation website supports this goal.

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Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce: True success depends on a broadly educated populace with flowers and leaves as well as stems

In an article titled “Not by Geeks Alone,” Chester Finn and Diane Ravitch say, “In a globalizing economy, America’s competitive edge depends in large measure on how well our schools prepare tomorrow’s workforce. . . . Indeed, STEM has swiftly emerged as the hottest education topic since No Child Left Behind. They’re related, too, NCLB puts a premium on reading and math skills and also pays some attention to science. Marry it with STEM and you get heavy emphasis on a suite of skills.”

“But there is a problem here. Worthy though these skills are, they ignore at least half of what has long been regarded as a “well-rounded” education in Western civilization: literature, art, music, history, civics, and geography. . . .”

“This is a mistake that will ill-serve our children while misconstruing the true nature of American competitiveness and the challenges we face in the 21st century.”

“As with all education reforms, the STEM-winders mean well. They reason that India and China will eat America’s lunch unless we boost our young people’s prowess in the STEM fields. But these enthusiasts don’t understand that what makes American’s competitive on a shrinking, globalizing planet isn’t out-gunning Asians at technical skills. Rather, it’s our people’s creativity, versatility, imagination, restlessness, energy, ambition and problem-solving prowess.”

“True success over the long haul – economic success, civic success, cultural success, domestic success, national defense success – depends on a broadly educated populace with flowers and leaves as well as stems. . . .”

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Policy implications on instructional time

In February 2008, The Center on Education Policy prepared a report, Instructional Time in Elementary Schools: A Closer Look at Changes for Specific Subjects. This was part of an ongoing study of the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on the amount of instructional time devoted to specific subjects. Since 2001-2002, the average decrease in the percent of total instructional time for art and music is 35 percent in elementary school districts that increased language arts and math. (pg 7) The researchers also found that 44 percent percent of all school districts nationwide have added time for language arts and/or math, at the expense of social studies, science, art and music, physical education, recess or lunch. Where these changes have occurred, the magnitude is large, typically amounting to cuts in other subjects of 75 minutes per week or more.

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What is on the test is what gets taught . . . and Art is not

Pedro Noguera, professor in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, says that what is on the test is what matters and art is not on the test. “What we are seeing across the country is the elimination of art and music programs for poor children, not for middle-class children, in the name of raising test scores.”

Michael Cohen from Achieve agrees, “Tests tend to narrow the curriculum, particularly in schools with the most disadvantaged students, under the most pressure, and often with the least prepared teachers. But I want to caution that the remedy is not to add arts to the test; you wouldn’t like what the arts test looks like, and you wouldn’t like the way it would drive instruction. If we began to provide opportunities in some systematic way, but not on a pencil-and-paper test, for students to demonstrate problem-solving skills and creativity, then we’d be helping to create an environment in which the arguments for the arts might be more compelling. We need some measure of assessment and accountability that tilts things a bit more in favor of the arts. And we need to be smart about how to do that.” (Transforming Arts Teaching, pg 29)

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Not on the test

Tom Chapin, a Grammy Award-winning musician released a new song titled, Not on the Test. The song satirizes the American education system’s renewed focus on a limited curriculum and assessment process in which tests have become the singular reason to teach and learn. Music, art, drama, and sports kept Chapin engaged in school but unfortunately, these things are being cut from curriculums across the country.

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Better systems of assessment and accountability will highlight what students learn in the arts

Janet Corcoran, president of Common Good, says, “there seems to be too much testing, that takes too long, lacks sophistication, and puts a premium on too few subjects.” She asks, “How do we measure and reward students for their ability to think creatively, communicate effectively, and behave respectfully?”

Leo Casey, vice president, Academic High Schools, United Federation of Teachers points out, that “As a general rule, the more complex the skill or knowledge that is being assessed, the more limited the utility of standardized exams in assessing it. A quality education will thus include standardized exams, but as only one part of a full regimen of assessment. A rigorous course of study and a comprehensive curriculum will necessarily employ many performance assessments.”

Deb White, a teacher from Cody, Wyoming explained from her experience that, “Other mechanisms for evaluation take more time and effort on the part of educators, and more explanation to parents and community members, but are also much more effective.

"Other forms of accountability include Authentic Assessments or Performance Assessments: major assignments where students must produce a product."

" A specialized rubric is created for each assessment so that grading is as standardized as possible and students know exactly what is expected of them. These assessments take more time to design and grade and more time for students to complete. In the end, however, the teacher has a much clearer picture of what the student actually knows!”

These and other commetns are part of a "NewTalk Education Discussion" online.

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Assessing Expressive Learning, by Charles Dorn, Stanley Madeja and Frank Sabol, reports how 70 art teachers and 1,000 students in three states were involved in a study of authentic arts assessment. It is a call for school administrators and legislators to reconsider a national testing policy that supports a narrow set of educational standards and assessments. It suggests a more authentic assessment process that can include the arts.

The book describes several common features of productive methods for assessing learning in the arts: “Project activities included (a) training in the use of art rubrics in assessing preK-12 student art performance, (b) experience in using blind scoring methods by peer teachers to validate teacher-scored student work, (c) training in the use of authentically scored student art as a curriculum tool for the improvement of art instruction, (d) the development of assessment portfolios and analytical rubrics for special needs, and (e) methods for developing assessment instruments and methods of reporting consistent with student needs and with Goals 2000 state and school district standards.” (pg 4-5)

A truncated preview of this book that includes this passage is available online. The abstract describing this book is also online.

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