Arts Education in Public Schools

“The good news is that more than 98% of elementary students have some arts education.”

Sheila Sears Deputy Director with Colorado Creative Industries says there is good access to arts education for younger students in Colorado , that drops to 70% in Middle School and by High School, only 50% of students are taking education in the arts.

Last Thursday Colorado Creative Industries, a Division of the Colorado office of Economic Development and International Trade released a report on the state of arts education in Colorado Public Schools. CCI did an initial study in 2008.

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Other major findings of the 2014 study include:

95% of respondents showed very strong support for arts education as an integral and impactful component to a quality education
96.7% (versus 93% in 2008) of Colorado public schools offer formal arts education to their students
A strength of Colorado arts education program offerings is the prominence and commitment to the use of highly-qualified, licensed arts teachers
100% of respondents indicated arts programs offered within the school day are taught by licensed arts teachers
Colorado schools offer a wide variety of different types of classes/courses in the arts, and schools show good breadth and progression towards higher level coursework
Nine out of ten schools report being properly equipped for arts education (as opposed to relying solely on general classroom space)

Those involved in the study recommend that educators, administrators and arts education advocates create a user-friendly, efficient and effective process by which Colorado’s arts education data will be gathered consistently.

Click here to access the full Colorado Visual and Performing Arts Education Survey Statistical Report and a summary of the findings, including additional analysis about student access to different arts disciplines and the differences in access to arts education in high-poverty schools and in rural schools.