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Public Opinion Fact Sheet
All data below from “To Educate the Whole Child, Integrate the Arts,” a national poll,
developed in consultation with Douglas Gould & Company and conducted in April 2005
by opinion research firm Belden, Russonello & Stewart. The survey sampled 1068
Americans, age 18 and over, including an over-sample of 152 K-12 parents.
Arts as a Priority
- 48% of the American public say there is too little emphasis of arts and music at
the elementary school level.
- 36% of the American public say there is too little emphasis of arts and music at
the high school level.
- On a scale of one to 10, arts and music as a high priority for public schools rate a
seven through ten by 60% of the public.
- Arts and music is given a higher priority in public schools than
standardized tests (56%), athletics (52%) and foreign languages (48%).
Who Supports Arts Education?
46% of Americans are core supporters of arts integration. This includes:
- Arts-active parents (60%)
- Teachers (57%)
- Liberals (56%) and Independents (54%)
- Well educated (college grads, 54% and graduate-level experience, 56%)
- Young women under the age of 50 (53%)
Professionals (53%)
Support for arts integration increases with more information about how it
functions. At the end of the survey, there is an increase of 12 percentage points
among those who believe arts integration is an extremely high or high priority.
Increased support for integrating arts education in schools from the beginning of
the survey to the end of the survey was noted in African-Americans (+24%) and
Hispanics (+17%).
Why Is Integrating Arts in Education Valuable?
- 41% of Americans say that arts integration is valuable because it educates the
whole child.
- 22% say that arts integration is valuable because it inspires creativity.
What Are Perceived Barriers To Arts Education?
- 63% of Americans say the biggest barrier to arts integration is teacher training.
- 35% feel that it will take away too much time from the core curriculum.
- Only 20% feel that arts education would distract from standardized tests.
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