This paper presents a critical policy analysis of how anti-political education reforms impact arts education. I consider examples of educational policies--both within arts education and outside the arts--to analyze how arts education may be impacted by anti-politics. I argue that many arts education policy outcomes can be understood as indirectly…

This study investigated teachers' perception of building-level authentic leadership and its effect on teachers' perception of change. A survey comprised of a pre-STEAM questionnaire, the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ), and Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) sent through Qualtrics was used to collected data and was analyzed using…

This review focuses on a subset of literature on the arts and arts education that explores how learning is conceptualized and enacted in the context of out-of-school time (OST) arts education environments that primarily engage Black, Indigenous, and young People of Color in the United States. The review is grounded in principles of critical…

State boards of education rely on educators and researchers for evidence about the value of approaches in arts education--as in all other disciplines-- to help them weigh needs against the investment and the opportunities for good outcomes for all students and their communities. Yet there is only a modest body of rigorous research to inform…

Dance educators will be pleased to know that there is new legislation at the federal level that supports arts education. Seven years after Congress was due to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known for eight + seven years as No Child Left Behind [NCLB]), the lawmakers, suddenly and surprisingly, came through with a new…

Solid, well-grounded teachers can be instrumental in solving the problems facing our schools and students because it is successful teachers who are the most valuable, in-school contributors to our students' success. The importance of teacher preparation programs (TPPs) in developing quality teachers has been reinforced by researchers who have…

The shift from the No Child Left Behind Act to the recently authorized Every Student Succeeds Act could beckon a renaissance of K-12 arts education in the U.S. Over the past decade, NCLB's increased emphasis on accountability testing in core subjects has coincided with a notable decline in school-based arts exposure. Recognizing this trend and…

Changes in education policy--particularly at the federal and state levels--during the current era of ideologically and profit-driven "education reform" threaten balanced education in general and music/arts education in particular. Emerging answers to a number of pivotal questions will determine the future of the arts, arts education, and…

Federal education legislation over the past ten years has increasingly focused on high-stakes testing in the areas of science, technology, English, and math. The resultant decrease in time and funding for the arts has caused administrators to reconsider the role of the arts in education. Although a great deal of literature has been written about…

The United States and much of the world is struggling with what "education" and being "educated" mean. Daily media are replete with debates on issues ranging from gender and class rights to the ideological and practical purpose of education. Prominent among these debates are discussions about whether education should be geared…

Teacher professional development is a chief concern of states, districts, and schools in the wake of high-stakes accountability measures such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The goals and practices of professional development are often disconnected, and this misalignment affects art teachers in unique ways. Art teachers are often "left…

In December 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and, with it, ushered in a new era of education policy in America. Leaving behind many of the most criticized aspects of its predecessor, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), this newest incarnation of the primary federal legislation guiding K-12 education provides state and…

As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, many school districts have reduced instructional time for the arts in order to focus on reading and mathematics. Accordingly, fine arts programs across the nation have become subject to budget cuts or elimination in order to meet federal accountability measures. Hit especially hard are…

Although education has seen trends of progressive ideologies that promote student and teacher empowerment (Ayers, 2011; Lyons, Catallozzi, & Benson, 1998; Spring, 2008), the dominant educational discourse mirrors a business model of efficiency expressed by the social economist Lester Frank Ward (1872). Evidence of contemporary education…

The last few decades have seen many attempts to "reform" education across the world. Those reforms have been spurred on by the perceived low standards, by the number of young people who are seen to be educational failures, and by the need for a "skilled workforce" if our respective countries are to compete successfully in an…