Data is a powerful tool for arts ed advocates. Quantifiable data helps to answer the question of need. Decision makers want proof that policy is warranted and dollars are needed.*
Enter Arts Education Data
Like the explosive ice skaters’ move pictured above, compelling data can propel your arts ed advocacy forward.
Over the past 15 years, advocates have been working to quantify who has access to arts education and who does not. We know that great inequities exist within states and districts. While having enormous repositories of data, school districts and states need help in parsing the information to show a true picture of access to and participation in arts education.
Bob Morrison, CEO of Quadrant Research, has been on a mission to answer these questions. Working in partnership with State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE), state departments of education, state arts councils and private philanthropy, the Arts Ed Data Project is live in eight states– Arizona, California, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin– with plans to expand to eight additional states in the coming year.
If you look at the Tennessee Arts Education Data Project, for example, you will find a searchable dashboard that enables advocates to look up access and participation data by year, county, district, school type, and locale and break it down by discipline, % of free/reduced lunch, and % enrollment by grade level. In Tennessee, for example, 70% of students are enrolled in at least one arts course in 2016/17. 30% are not. Go ahead, give it a test run.
The issues of equity, access, participation and teacher quality are also the focus of a new initiative from the National Endowment for the Arts and Education Commission of the States/Arts Education Partnership. They are working with other national partners to build statewide repositories of arts ed data, by identifying key metrics that are most likely to inform decision-making, building on data that is readily collected, and ensuring access for every state—”turning data into metrics that matter.” For more information, see the Statewide Data Infrastructure Project for Arts Education.
Stick the Landing
With ice skaters, a perfectly executed throw is a success only if the skater makes a clean landing. So, in our case, we can “land” data effectively by having trained advocates who can use the information in local and state contexts. We cannot simply post the data, walk away and expect to see change.
For example, Create/CA | California Arts Education Data Project developed a robust website for users with a research summary, exploration of the dashboard, a roadmap for districts in evaluating the data, a webinar, and communications toolkit for partners.
Further, Create/CA developed a trainer’s model or Data Walk process that enables country arts coordinators to work locally with district staff to better understand and evaluate the data. They also offer workshops in parts of the state without designated county arts leaders.
From Data to Strategic Arts Plan
In one California county, 21 districts attended a training workshop, resulting in the creation of a first-ever county arts plan and 3 district plans with more to come. As noted by Pat Wayne, program director of Create CA, “In areas that want to move forward, looking at their data is a critical component of their strategic arts plan process to determine where they focus first. It’s happening all over the state.”
In New Jersey, Bob Morrison noted, “the data has inspired districts to conduct a “strategic review” of arts programs and develop a plan for arts education. One county (Middlesex) is in the process of developing a countywide plan for arts education. A first for our state.”
Data is essential to local arts planning. It’s the first step in identifying gaps in access and participation. (See my earlier post on strategic planning.)
Driving Policy Change
States participating in the Arts Education Data Project also report impacts on state policy and budgets as a result of strategic use of their data. For example, New Jersey is on track to become the first state in the country to provide universal access to arts instruction by 2020. Also, a new law has gone into effect that requires equal weighting of arts courses with other courses of equal rigor. North Carolina reports increased budgets for arts programming and efforts to add an arts graduation requirement. Ohio and North Carolina are moving to add arts to the school report card.
Funders Like It 
Arts funders use qualified data as a way to understand local context and inform grant making. VH1 Save the Music (STM), for example, requires prospective applicants to provide comprehensive data around who has access to and participates in music instruction. Understanding where gaps exist makes STM a more effective and responsive funding partner.
Data, together with a thoughtful evaluation of what the data is actually saying, is a powerful tool for advocates. Whether your goal is strategic planning, public policy development, or funding, the use of data can propel your advocacy forward.
*(Note: For purposes of discussion, data refers to quantifiable information that answers questions about who, what, where and when. This post will not address the importance of research studies, which can help to answer questions about how and why.)
Featured Image: Pairs figure skaters Keyton Bearinger (Midland), left, and Isabelle Goldstein (Bloomfield Hills) practice at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills on Jan. 16, 2019.
