Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), there’s been much talk about the added flexibility for states to incorporate additional measures into their state accountability systems. ESSA allows states broader latitude to define school quality and ensure that students receive a “well-rounded education,” a definition that includes the arts and music.

Interested in reading more on arts education? Visit this selection on Giving Compass.

In their policy brief, Brian Kisida, Bob Morrison, and Lynn Tuttle develop a helpful framework on how to best incorporate these measures. Highlights include:

  • The Every Student Succeeds Act requires that states provide students with a “well-rounded education,” opening the door for greater emphasis on arts and music in schools.
  • Building arts education measures into accountability plans doesn’t have to be a bureaucratic technicality; several states are already incorporating arts education into their accountability systems effectively.
  • State longitudinal data systems can be a rich source of data for policymakers hoping to incorporate rigorous arts education accountability measures into their state plans.
  • Policymakers will need to weigh several important political considerations when deciding how best to incorporate arts measures into their accountability systems.

Some states and districts already incorporate arts education measures into their accountability systems. Looking to these leaders will provide useful lessons for others. Additionally, a number of large urban districts systematically collect arts indicators, such as New York City’s Annual Arts Education Survey, Chicago’s Creative Schools Initiative, Boston’s Public Schools Arts Expansion Initiative, and the Creative Advantage in Seattle.

Most states will not submit new accountability plans until September 2017, but we’ve been able to analyze 12 states that already turned in ESSA plans. At this stage, the role of music and arts in state plans is promising. Five states—Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Michigan—as well as Washington, D.C., are including access and participation rates in arts and music education as part of their planned accountability systems.

Luckily, for most states, the decision to utilize arts measures isn’t dependent on creating new measures, but simply reporting on existing measures. Recently, there’s been significant progress in the deployment of state longitudinal data systems (SLDS) to manage education data by state departments of education, including tracking course availability, student enrollments, and teacher assignments for all “core content areas” per the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which includes arts disciplines.

Read the source article at Brookings