Spring has officially sprung, bringing warmer weather, fresh blooms and a new round of updates to the ArtScan database! AEP collaborates with the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education and Education Commission of the States to update this resource to equip the field with the best available information on state policies related to arts education. This resource captures data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity. We also use this annual opportunity to examine what’s working, what could be improved and what new information should be added to the database. Here’s a look at what’s new in 2023.

Consolidated Policy Areas

We’ve heard from our partners that ArtScan at a Glance is one of the most useful resources we offer. This two-page overview of state arts education policies across the country has expanded over the last two cycles, adding both new policy areas and new territories. In the spirit of keeping this document user friendly and truly “at a glance,” we have opted to remove two policy areas from this year’s update: arts as a core academic subject, and arts ed requirements for state accreditation.

The term “core academic subject” was adopted by states to align their subject area priorities with the federal government’s language in No Child Left Behind. The re-authorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act shifted this core academic subject language to including the arts as a part of a well rounded education. This shift prompted us to remove this data point from ArtScan in 2023. For information about subject area requirements, we encourage you to check out your state’s data under arts education instructional requirements for elementary, middle and high school.

The arts education requirements for state accreditation specifies whether arts education is a requirement for schools to be accredited. Upon closer analysis, our research team noted that these polices were duplicative of other policy areas already captured in ArtScan, such as instructional requirements. Accreditation is a complex process that from varies state to state, and this data point was not capturing the nuance and process involved. For specific questions about state accreditation policies, we encourage you to reach out to AEP to get you a more detailed response.

States to Watch

Colorado: School districts and public schools are encouraged to explore and implement innovative delivery mechanisms for performing arts and visual arts courses. Mechanisms include but are not limited to using on-line education, on-site technology and software. Schools and districts are encouraged to collaborate among different levels of the education ecosystem within their regional service area.

Indiana: Arts Education Program encourages local schools to develop comprehensive plans to improve arts in education and coordinate available resources in support of arts programs to provide arts experiences for all students. It also provides leadership training in the planning, execution and evaluation of arts education programs as well as assistance to local schools in the training of educational staff, including specialists in all the arts and general classroom teachers.

Kentucky: The General Assembly aims to create a system of public education that allows and assists all students to acquire grounding in the arts so each student can appreciate their cultural and historical heritage.

We encourage you to take a deep dive into ArtScan and consider what is new in your state and how this might impact the implementation of arts instruction at the district and school level. Our team is available for any questions you have. We also welcome your insight and feedback into how we can improve this resource in future years. While we can track data surrounding policy, we look to our partners as the experts of what is happening in your states. We look forward to continuing this dialogue throughout the year!

Contact the Authors:
Mary Dell’Erba
Krystal Johnson

This post comes from the Arts Education Partnership, a national coalition of over 100 education, arts, business, culture, government and philanthropy organizations at Education Commission of the States. AEP would also like to thank their colleagues at Education Commission of the States and their partners at the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education for their support in developing the 2021 ArtScan update.