From the ECS State Policy Database: Curriculum--Arts Education - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

Access to Arts Education - While basic state requirements and instructional time for arts education in schools have remained unchanged in recent years, state funding levels varied, according to this survey. The report found that arts education funding was more attributed to state budget changes than to No Child Left Behind requirements or other factors. The appendices include 50-state data on arts education and a summary of research that examines connections between the arts and student success. (Government Accountability Office, February 2009) ...

Access to Arts Education: Inclusion of Additional Questions in Education's Planned Resarch Would Help Explain Why Instruction Time Has Decreased for Some Students - The national picture indicates that the vast majority of schools have found a way to preserve their arts education program. However, a somewhat different picture emerges for some schools identified as needing improvement under NCLB. Appendix III, a state-by-state breakdown of arts education requirements and funding, and Appendix IV, listing additional studies on arts education are particularly helpful. (U.S. Government Accountability Office, February 2009)...

2010-2011 State Arts Education Policy Database - This database provides information on whether and how the arts are addressed by states in 11 areas of education policy, including standards, assessments, high school graduation requirements, teacher licensure and professional development, and state task forces or commissions. The database also indicates whether states mandate arts education, and provides an arts in education contact for each of the 50 states....

Arizona's Arts in Education Initiative - Arizona Superintendent Tom Horne announced in his January 2004 State of Education speech, “We must enrich every student with a thorough exposure to the arts.” To that end, the department has launched an initiative to incorporate arts into the curriculum in every school in the state. Check out the Power Point presentation “Arts Education Program Plan 2003-2004” to see what is in the works in the Grand Canyon State. Click here for Superintendent Horne's speech...

Arts Education Assessment Consortium - SCASS ARTS is a state-based, nationally focused group addressing the development and refinement of arts education assessment materials for large-scale, district-level, and classroom-based assessment and professional development connected to the National Standards in Arts Education. The group has developed and implemented a Web-based development process for arts assessments....

Iowa's Creative Economy - Several organizations and individuals are involved in activities related to Iowa's creative economy. The University of Iowa conducted an assessment of the state's creative economy to define its size and scope, measure how it compares with the United States and discern the value of the creative economy to the larger Iowa economy. Governor Tom Vilsak has promoted historic preservation to create livable cities and towns, economic vitality, and to attract and keep people in the state. And Iowa's Department of Cultural Affairs developed the "Imagine Iowa: 2010" initiative to leverage the state's cultural assets for economic development purposes....

The Arts: A Competitive Advantage for California II - The study by the California Arts Council concludes that the impact of nonprofit arts and culture on the state's economy has increased by 152% to $5.4 billion since an earlier study in 1994. According to the study, the arts and culture generate billions annually, support a workforce of more than 160,000 and produce nearly $300 million in state and local taxes. Other findings include: California's nonprofit arts attract 71.2 million people; the impact of the nonprofit arts sector includes $2.7 billion in worker income; and nonprofit arts contribute to California's ranking as the most visited state in the nation. The authors also discovered that the creative industries fuel the rapid growth of the new "information economy" – the fastest growing segment of the nation's economy. Executive Summary (California Arts Council, 2004) ...

Maryland Assessment of Fine Arts Education: State-of-the-Art in Large-Scale Fine Arts Assessments - With the movement toward educational accountability in states and the administration of the 1997 NAEP Arts Assessment, nine states (i.e., Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Washington) have been mandated to administer assessments in the arts to students. An additional seven states (i.e., Alaska, California, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and Vermont) are encouraging activities in fine arts assessment at the local level. This report highlights the essential characteristics of large-scale assessments in the fine arts for both groups of states. The purpose of this review is to provide (1) a current picture of arts assessment at the national level and (2) a more detailed description of the latest progress at the state level in standards-based, large-scale arts assessments in the United States. The focus of this survey of state assessments is multifold: to examine each state's arts assessment instrument and implementation, the impact of arts assessment on school/district accountability systems, and the lessons and experiences that can be learned by Maryland in developing their own assessment. (Prepared for the Maryland Department of Education by Jean Yan and Sandra Rieder, Westat, October 2001) ...