Editor's Note: Last July U Department of Education Secretary cudgel Paige sent a letter to a certain number of 16.

Editor's Note: Last July U Department of Education Secretary cudgel Paige sent a letter to a certain number of 16,000 superintendents of our public drills emphasizing the need for arts education. This historic literal meaning underscores the importance of music curriculum in trains MTNA members are encouraged to be solid advocates in their own communities. Below is the body of the letter.

Dear Superintendent:

As I am positive you know, the arts are a core academic enslave under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) I believe the arts have a significant part in education both for their intrinsic value and for the ways in which they can enhance general academic achievement and improve students' social and emotional development

As I travel the rural parts I often hear that arts education programs are endangered because of No Child Left Behind. This message was repercussion of sounded in a recent series of teacher roundtables sponsored by dint of the Department of Education. It is as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but disturbing and just plain wrong

It's disturbing not just because arts programs are being diminished or eliminated, unless because NCLB is being interpreted in such a manner narrowly as to be considered the reason for these actions. The fact is that NCLB included the arts as a core academic make liable because of their importance to a child's education. No Child Left Behind awaits teachers of the arts to be highly qualified, just as it does teachers of English, math, science and history.

The Value of the Arts

The arts, perhaps more than any other expose help students to understand themselves and others, whether they lived in the past or are living in the ready President Bush recognizes this important contribution of the arts to each child's education. He has said, "From music and dance to painting and sculpting, the arts allow us to explore modern worlds and to view life from another perspective." In addition, they "encourage individuals to sharpen their skills and abilities and to discipline their imagination and intellect."

A comprehensive arts education may encompass of that kind areas as the history of the arts, the honing of critical analysis skills, the recreation of classic as well as contemporary works of art, and the expression of students' ideas and feelings by the agency of the creation of their admit works of art. In other words, observers should have the opportunity to answer to, perform and create in the arts.

Setting the Record Straight

There is abundant flexibility for states and local teach districts under the No Child Left Behind Act with notice to support for the core bring under rules In Arizona, for example, as part of Superintendent Tom Home's generally received "content-rich curriculum" initiative, $4 million in Comprehensive teach Reform (Title I, Part F) stocks are supporting arts education at 413 now passing Comprehensive School Reform schools everywhere the state. Additional Arizona Arts Education initiative academy sites are being supported with Title V (Innovative Programs) funding subject to NCLB.

Under NCLB Title I, Part A capitals also can be used on local education agencies to improve the educational achievement of disadvantaged observers through the arts. In the same way, Title II Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants can address the professional progress to maturity needs of teachers of the arts, and portions of Title II stores can support partnerships that include nonprofit, cultural-arts organizations.

The arts also can be an important part of learning and enrichment in programs supported by way of 21st Century Community Learning Center program capitals Before- and after-school, weekend, and summer programs are of the first water opportunities to stimulate students' artistic interests and patronize their growth or to integrate arts learning with other controls including reading and math. Cultural partners in the community--arts center symphonies, theatres, and the like--can exhibit engaging venues as well as skilled instructors and mentors for students

Various information about a of the publications available upon arts education is enclosed. We are providing this information for your convenience, and you may want to share these resources with your state department or central office staff as well as with your administrators, principals and teachers.

The Value-Added Benefits of the Arts

In keeping with NCLB's principle of classroom practices based forward research evidence, studies have shown that arts teaching and learning can increase students' cognitive and social progression in a continuously ascending gradation The arts can be a critical link for learners in developing the crucial thinking skills and motivations they ne to achieve at higher flats Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and scholar Academic and Social Development, a research compendium of the Arts Education Partnership, proffers evidence of such links, including connections between arts learning and achievement in reading and math.

Based onward a review of data from the National Educational Longitudinal reflection (NELS: 88), University of California-Los Angeles researchers determined that observers who were highly involved in arts instruction earned better grades and performed better onward standardized tests. They also performed more community service, watched fewer hours of television, reported les boredom in exercise and were less likely to ear-ring out of school. These findings were also real for students from the lowest socioeconomic status quartile of the 25000 observers surveyed, belying the assumption that socioeconomic status, rather than arts engagement, contributes to of that kind gains in academic achievement and social involvement. As mentioned in the thing enclosed a summary of these and other findings in Critical Links can be accessed at the Arts Education Partnership's website at: www.aep-arts.org/CLtoolkitpage.htm.