ARTS EDUCATION: ASSESSMENT AND ACCESS -- ARTS EDUCATION: ASSESSMENT AND ACCESS -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- 2008 ARTS EDUCATION ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK -- DEVELOPMENT OF THE NAEP ARTS EDUCATION FRAMEWORK -- The National Assessment of Educational Progress -- The Arts Education Framework and Assessments -- The Framework Development Process -- NAEP and National Standards: Cooperation and Coordination -- Development of the Framework -- Issues -- National Hearings -- Next Steps -- Recent Changes in the Assessment Schedule -- Guidelines for the Project -- NAEP ARTS PROJECT STAFF AND COMMITTEES -- Steering Committee -- Planning Committee -- Management Team -- 1. THE ARTS IN U.S. EDUCATION -- The Importance of NAEP to Arts Education -- The Role of Arts Education -- The Shape of the Arts Education NAEP -- 2. THE CONTENT AND PROCESSES OF THE ARTS -- Definitions -- Processes -- Content -- Content Specific to Each of the Four Arts -- Dance -- Creating in Dance -- Performing Dance -- Responding to Dance -- Knowledge and Skills -- Music -- Creating -- Performing/Interpreting -- Responding -- The Artistic Process of Music as a Whole -- Knowledge and Skills -- Creating and Performing -- Theatre -- Responding -- Knowledge -- Skills -- Visual Arts -- Creating -- Responding -- Knowledge and Skills -- 3. DESIRED ATTRIBUTES OF THE ASSESSMENT -- Sample of Students -- The Authenticity of Exercises -- Characteristics of the Assessment Exercises -- Forms of Student Response Used in Exercises -- Exercise Formats -- Student Responses -- Length of Performance Exercises -- Physical Environment for the Assessment -- Resources -- Attributes of Assessment Facilitators -- Special Studies -- An Exploration of Interdisciplinary Assessment -- A Portfolio Study -- Comparing Arts Education Programs -- Background Information -- Ethical Responsibilities to Students.

Issues and Strategies Specific to Each Art Form -- Dance -- Repertoire -- Use of Videotape -- Space -- Time -- Class Design -- Music -- Repertoire -- Stimulus Materials -- Theatre -- Videotaping -- Facilitators -- Group Work -- Stimulus Materials -- Electronic Media -- Visual Arts -- Inferring Understanding from Student Responses in the Visual Arts -- Time -- Raters or Scorers -- Desired Emphasis for Each Arts Area -- Dance -- Music -- Theatre -- Visual Arts -- 4. PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS -- APPENDIX A. THE CONTENT OUTLINES -- Dance Content Outline -- Dance, Grade 4 -- I. Creating -- II. Performing -- III. Responding -- Dance, Grade 8 -- I. Creating -- II. Performing -- III. Responding -- Dance, Grade 12 -- I. Creating -- II. Performing -- III. Responding -- Music Content Outline -- Music, Grade 4 -- I. Creating -- II. Performing -- III. Responding -- Music, Grade 8 -- I. Creating -- II. Performing -- III. Responding -- Music, Grade 12 -- I. Creating -- II. Performing -- III. Responding -- Theatre Content Outline -- Theatre, Grade 4 -- I. Creating and Performing -- II. Responding -- Theatre, Grade 8 -- I. Creating/Performing -- II. Responding -- Theatre, Grade 12 -- I. Creating and Performing -- II. Responding -- Visual Arts Content Outline -- Visual Arts, Grade 4 -- I. Creating -- II. Responding -- Visual Arts, Grade 8 -- I. Creating -- II. Responding -- Visual Arts, Grade 12 -- I. Creating -- II. Responding -- APPENDIX B. PUBLIC HEARINGS -- Report on the February Public Hearings: The Issues Paper -- San Francisco National Hearing -- February 4, 1993 -- Orlando National Hearing -- February 9, 1993 -- New York City National Hearing -- February 24, 1993 -- Report on the October Public Hearings -- National Review of the Assessment Framework Draft Seattle, Washington, Hearing -- October 1, 1993 -- Chicago, Illinois, Hearing.

October 5, 1993 -- Washington, DC, Hearing -- October 7, 1993 -- APPENDIX C. PLANNING: SCHEDULES AND TIMELINES -- Significant Dates for the Steering and Planning Committees -- Steering Committee Meetings -- Planning Committee Meetings -- THE NATION'S REPORT CARD: ARTS 2008 - MUSIC AND VISUAL ARTS -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY -- Racial/Ethnic and Gender Gaps Evident in both Music and Visual Arts -- Frequency of Arts Instruction Remains Steady -- EXAMPLES OF WHAT STUDENTS KNOW AND CAN DO IN THE ARTS -- Music -- Visual Arts -- More Students Writing Down Music and Writing about Their Artwork in Arts Classes -- INTRODUCTION -- The Eighth-Grade Arts Assessment -- The Arts Framework -- Assessment Design -- Scoring Students' Work in the Arts -- Reporting Arts Results -- Comparisons between 1997 and 2008 -- Accommodations and Exclusions in NAEP -- Interpreting Results -- MUSIC -- Eighty-Nine-Point Score Gap between Lowest- and Highest-Performing Students in Music -- Racial/Ethnic, Gender, and Socioeconomic Gaps in Music Scores -- Race/Ethnicity -- Gender -- Eligibility for Free/Reduced-Price School Lunch -- Music Scores Vary by Type and Location of Schools -- Type of School -- School Location -- Context for Arts Education in Music -- Frequency of music instruction remains steady -- More students writing down music in music class -- About one-third of students participate in musical performance activities at school -- What Eighth-Graders Know and Can Do in Music -- Sample Question: Identifying the Texture of a Musical Example -- Grade 8 NAEP Music Responding Item Map -- Sample Question: Reading Musical Notation -- Sample Question: Identifying the Sound of an Instrument -- Sample Question: Identifying Origin of a Musical Style -- VISUAL ARTS -- Eighty-Nine-Point Score Gap between Lowest- and Highest-Performing Students in Visual Arts.

Responding and Creating Results Related -- Patterns in Score Gaps by Student Characteristics Similar for Responding to and Creating Visual Arts -- Race/Ethnicity -- Gender -- Eligibility for Free/Reduced-Price School Lunch -- No Significant Difference in Responding Scores between Public and Private School Students -- Type of School -- School Location -- Context for Arts Education in Visual Arts -- Frequency of visual arts instruction remains steady -- More students writing about their artwork -- Fewer students visit art museums with class in 2008 -- What Eighth-Graders Know and Can Do in Visual Arts -- Sample Questions for Visual Arts -- Sample Question: Recognizing a Technical Similarity between Two Self-Portraits -- Sample Question: Characteristics of Charcoal -- Sample Question: Relationship between Technical Approach and Meaning -- Sample Question: Creating a Self- Portrait -- TECHNICAL NOTES AND DATA APPENDIX -- Sampling and Weighting -- School and Student Participation Rates -- Interpreting Statistical Significance -- National School Lunch Program -- School Location -- The Creating Task Score -- Comparing Results between the 1997 and 2008 Assessments -- U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION -- THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD -- SUGGESTED CITATION -- ACCESS TO ARTS EDUCATION: INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS IN EDUCATION'S PLANNED RESEARCH WOULD HELP EXPLAIN WHY INSTRUCTION TIME HAS DECREASED FOR SOME STUDENTS -- WHY GAO DID THIS STUDY -- WHAT GAO RECOMMENDS -- WHAT GAO FOUND -- ABBREVIATIONS -- RESULTS IN BRIEF -- BACKGROUND -- NCLBA Provisions and Funding Related to Arts Education in Public Schools -- Research on Arts Education in Public Schools.

OVERALL TIME SPENT ON ARTS EDUCATION CHANGED LITTLE BETWEEN THE 2004-2005 AND 2006-2007 SCHOOL YEARS, BUT DECREASES WERE MORE LIKELY AT SOME SCHOOLS AND THE REASONS FOR THE DIFFERENCES ARE UNCERTAIN -- Teachers at Schools Identified as Needing Improvement and Those with a Higher Percentage of Minority Students Were More Likely to Report a Decrease in the Amount of Time Spent on Arts Education -- Teachers at Schools with Higher Percentages of Low-Income or Minority Students Reported Significantly Larger Average Decreases Compared with Other Teachers -- Education's NLS-NCLB Survey Does Not Currently Ask Questions That Might Explain the Disparities in Changes in Instruction Time across Different Types of Schools -- WHILE BASIC STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR ARTS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS HAVE REMAINED CONSTANT IN MOST STATES, STATE FUNDING LEVELS FOR ARTS EDUCATION CHANGED -- The Basic Requirement for Arts Education Stayed about the Same in Most States and Additional States Have Established Funding for Some Type of Arts Education -- Levels of State Financial Support for Arts Education Varied among the States, and States Reported That State Budget Changes rather than NCLBA Were the Major Factor Prompting the Funding Changes -- SINCE NCLBA, DISTRICT OFFICIALS AND SCHOOL PRINCIPALS HAVE USED SEVERAL STRATEGIES TO PROVIDE ARTS EDUCATION -- HOWEVER, SOME STRUGGLED WITH DECREASED BUDGETS AND COMPETING DEMANDS ON INSTRUCTION TIME -- District Officials and School Principals Have Used Several Different Strategies to Provide Arts Instruction -- Officials Report That the Main Challenges to Providing Arts Instruction Have Been Decreased State or Local Funding and Competing Demands on Instruction Time -- Officials Report That When Trade-Offs Involving Funding or Instruction Time for Arts Education Had to Be Made, the School Principal Made the Decision.

OVERALL RESEARCH ON THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ARTS EDUCATION AND STUDENT OUTCOMES IS INCONCLUSIVE.