From the Trenches

I was recently asked to testify before the New Jersey Assembly Tourism and the Arts Committee about arts education and where we stand in New Jersey. These are my remarks:

Good Afternoon,

I am honored to testify before you today and pleased to see my own state representative, Assemblywoman Munoz is a part of this committee.

My name is Robert Morrison. I am the founder of Quadrant Arts Education Research and serve as the Governance Chair of the New Jersey Arts Education Partnership.

Most recently I was honored to have served as a member of Governor Christie's Transition team overseeing a review of the Department of State led by our Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno.

Arts education... indeed education in NJ is at a crossroads

Policy makers often espouse the desire to have arts education for all students.

In New Jersey... this is simply not the case.

In the 2005/2006 school year, New Jersey completed the first-in-the nation statewide census of arts education. The report showed that while there had been 20 years of important progress we were still a long way from where we wanted to be... the arts for every child.
 
The good news is that most of our schools offer courses in music and visual arts. And the limited funding provided by the New Jersey State Council for the Arts helps support the educational programs of arts organizations that reach 89% of our public schools.
 
The bad news? There are 77,000 students attend school everyday without ANY access to the arts. And while the state has some of the most forward looking requirements in the arts... the fact that there is little or no accountability to measure if schools are actually meeting these requirements means administrators feel free to ignore them. In fact only 3% of our elementary schools are offering the courses required by the state to ensure children may meet the learning expectations.

This is cause for concern... not only for New Jersey... but also for our nation.

And here is why:

I often use this space to provide advocacy advice and suggest strategies for use in saving, maintaining, and expanding programs for everyone to consider. Not today.

Instead, I want to share with you an actual exchange with a band director whose program was in an immediate crisis.

Panic Button

Two years ago I was on vacation with my family in Washington D.C. I spend so much time there on business that I rarely get to actually take in and enjoy the wonderful historic and cultural offerings this magnificent city has to offer. When I travel I carry my Treo 650 Smartphone so I can stay on top of any issue that may need a quick response.

One item linked to my email address is a "Panic Button" on our Web site that was created for someone to press if they were facing an immediate crisis and needed an immediate response. This is part of our deep commitment to help individual music supporters be as effective as possible when a music program is at risk.

After a fantastic day touring the capital, visiting where money is made, walking the Smithsonian Gardens, visiting the Washington Monument, the World War II and Lincoln Memorials, we headed back to our hotel near the White House to rest before dinner.

Checking my email the following appeared (Note: The name has been changed for privacy purposes):

On September 11, 2001, I was at my desk in Manhattan tending to the start of the day. What would transpire over the next 19 hours is something I will never forget. At the time, I sat down and wrote about what had happened on that day as I experienced it. I shared it with my family and friends. Today, in memory of this solemn day, I am sharing it with all of you. It was written on September 12, 2001 and appears exactly as it was then... errors and all!

Hi Everyone! First of all, I am fine and the family is fine. I appreciate all of the calls of concern and your thoughts for our safety and well being. Needless to say this was a day I will never forget. Like most epic tragedies there are golden tales of the incredible quality of the human spirit and the spirit of our country. I was able to witness a few of them and I thought I would share them with all of you.

The transcript and an MP3 audio file of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's conference call with the music and arts education community is now posted at the SupportMusic website.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released a letter to local superintendents and community leaders regarding use of education funds to support arts education as a core subject.

Download the PDF below:

Arts Education Letter_Secretary Duncan.pdf

You may recall my writing on the subject of "More Bully... Less Pulpit"

This is certainly a step in the right direction.

A conference call with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be held on Tuesday, August 18 at 1 PM Eastern Time. The details:

The NAMM Foundation and the SupportMusic Coalition will host a discussion with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Mary Luehrsen, Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations will moderate a live conversation with Secretary Duncan concerning his letter of August 2009 (attached) about the importance of arts education in our nation's schools. Your participation is needed to help demonstrate your concern and highlight the need for all children to have access to the arts as part of a complete and quality education.

Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Time: 1 PM Eastern, 12 Noon Central, 11 AM Mountain, 10 AM Pacific

We encourage you to forward this invitation to your local school and community leaders and urge their participation in the call.

Registration for the conference call stream is now available. Participants may use the following URL to register for the event; please register now and up to 15 minutes prior to the event

http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=78250848

Secretary Duncan will join our call promptly at 1 p.m. ET.

Quadrant Arts Education Research is a proud partner with the SupportMusic Coalition. Kudos to NAMM for providing the leadership to make this happen!

Sign up for our new Navigator e-newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and information about arts education. Click here to receive your free copy!

Stay tuned to our blog or twitter feed (bobmorrison) for additional updates and follow-up on this breaking story. And be sure to leave a comment to let us know what you think so we may share it with others!

As I complete my preparations for my trip to Seattle for advanced training in Tableau to assist us with our work for our customers and the arts education field I am reminded of an article I read recently in education week which took off on an old saw "Water, Water Everywhere but Not a Drop to Drink." Some people believe the same is true for education data:

Just as the weary seamen in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" were surrounded by a vast ocean of water yet had none to drink, educators are drowning in seas of data they cannot use.

Over the past four years, the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences has awarded $264 million to 41 states and the District of Columbia for statewide longitudinal-data systems. Foundations have contributed millions of philanthropic dollars to ensure such systems' development. And in response to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, districts have created entire departments whose sole purpose is to respond to request-for-compliance data.

Are we there yet? Do we really need more educational data? Apparently so, according to the new administration. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, another $250 million has been allocated in economic-stimulus funds for the development of state longitudinal-data systems.

Many believe we already collect too much education data. Not me.

The problem is not so much with the data being gathered... it is how it is being used. Data is not an end unto itself. It is an important step in a process of discerning real meaning. Data gathered and stored with no clear purpose or follow-up serves no one. Education data locked in state warehouses serves no purpose.

In the area of arts education we do not suffer from a flood of data... but a dearth of it. What has been made recently available is either too thin (NAEP Arts Report Card) due to a small sample (280 schools... WOW!) or downright undrinkable (GAO Arts Education Study) which was widely criticized for methodology and analysis and written off by the education field.

So what we need is... better data for arts education (a problem our company is aggressively trying to solve), and better use of existing data with tools that unlock the real meaning of the intelligence behind the numbers.

That is why I will be in Seattle for the next week... getting a good strong dose of professional development and an even stronger does of mind bending conversations to see how we can quench the thirst of those in education who are drowning in data... but parched for knowledge.

The National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) released the "National Report Card" for Arts Education.

This morning, another school district reported using stimulus funds to save music programs:

Teaching positions and librarian schedules could be spared this year in the county's largest school district. Other potential staff reductions in areas like maintenance and custodial operations also may not be necessary.

If the Roseburg Public Schools Budget Committee follows staff suggestions made Tuesday night, the district could add back $1 million of an anticipated $5 million cut, saving several items from a hotly contested list of possible reductions.

At the committee's second meeting, Chief Operations Officer Lance Colley told panel members that the Legislature's promise to add $400 million to the $5.6 billion state education allocation would give the district an unexpected $1.5 million for this year's budget.

The full story

The LA Times reports on Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's comments last week noting that public education in the state is "in crisis." The threat all education programs, including music and arts programs, is unlike anything our nation has ever seen. This is a very sobering read about a school system teetering on collapse:

Reporting from San Francisco -- As California schools brace for billions of dollars in budget cuts, the nation's top education official warned Friday that the state's students were in peril, and he challenged politicians and educators to embrace difficult reforms.

"California used to lead the nation in education," said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, speaking to dozens of mayors, superintendents and school board trustees at San Francisco City Hall.   

"Honestly, California has lost its way. The long-term consequences of that are very troubling.

Read the full story

I read this weekend the following article in the Wall Street Journal discussing the comparison between schools in India... and schools in the use. It was a fascinating read! Here is a snippet:

Last year, as a New Delhi mom desperate to get my daughter into an elite private school, I chose my interview outfits carefully: Boots and blazers for the schools known among the business class. Colorful salwar kameezes for the more cultural and political set. Taking no chances, we brought her artwork, copies of my first book, reviews of my husband's art shows. We were shameless, stopping only short of outright bribery and jockeying connections--both traits as entrenched in Delhi as sequins and seekh kebabs.

Last week, we completed a whirlwind tour of some of New York City's best public schools. We gave no thought to our appearance before each of the six tours. Who we were didn't matter at all, and not so much our daughter either. What got us in the door was her performance on a Saturday morning earlier this year, shortly after we returned to the U.S. In what any parent will recognize as a fluke (what if she had been moody, hated the proctor, wanted eggs for breakfast instead of pancakes?), she scored high enough to qualify for a magnet school.

Since then, I've lingered hours over the difference in our family's experiences with school admissions, about a year and 8,000 miles apart. It is likely just a fraction of the time that business managers in each country fret over their students' seeming ill-equippedness for the worldly work they must do.

Here, in the U.S., the argument goes that too little time is spent teaching math and science, which has led to a real talent crunch in engineering and high-technology. In India, the problem is said to be a dearth of innovative thinking. Give a set of orders and they will be executed perfectly. Offer less direction and risk being disappointed.

Enjoy the Full Story!