National Dance Association

Is Dance Education in Danger?

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a nationwide arts survey, "Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999-2000 and 2009-10" that comprehensively documents the state of arts education in U.S. public schools.

The report may be found here.

According to the report, there have not been significant national declines in the availability of music and visual arts instruction in elementary and secondary schools. However, dance availability has gone from 20% ten years ago, to just 3% in the 2009-10 school year.

Also, there is a large gap in arts instruction between high-poverty and low-poverty schools. Meaning, students who are economically disadvantaged do not get the same art enrichment experiences as students who are economically advantaged.

This "equity gap" is being analyzed in two ways.

• Flexibility under No Child Left Behind
• Promise Neighborhood Competition

Here are the remarks of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the Report.

To read more about this, please go here.

In addition, the Office of Communications and Outreach just posted the April edition of "School Days," a monthly retrospective on the Department's key activities; the FRSS release begins at 5:16.

Below is a video of the release ceremony of the report, "Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 2009-2010."