The goal of the Arts Now Campaign is to establish the expectation that every district is responsible for providing their students with a high quality, comprehensive education that includes a strong arts program, complete with instruction by credentialed arts teachers as well as arts integration strategies being implemented across the curriculum. But how do we measure our progress toward this goal?

This fall we are launching a new, more robust set of metrics that includes both quantitative measures such as number of participants and event survey results as well as qualitative tools such as open ended responses to surveys and interviews.

With the launch of the Arts Education Data Project, arts enrollment data for every school in the state is widely available and easy to use. This provides us with a clear baseline as we begin our work with individual districts and counties. In addition, the Alliance has developed a rubric called the State of Arts Education Survey to measure a district’s capacity to deliver arts education. The survey includes seven components essential to standards aligned, high quality arts learning:

1. Curriculum, Student Assessment & Professional Development
2. Resources & Facilities
3. Partnerships, Collaborations and Community Engagement
4. Teaching Personnel
5. Funding
6. Leadership and Planning
7. Advocacy and Communications

The State of Arts Education Survey is scored through an interview process between a member of the Alliance Arts Now team and a local leader. This format provides an opportunity for a fruitful conversation and learning opportunities on both sides. This summer, the Alliance has completed scoring for our current Arts Now Communities and will update our findings annually to track progress and understand common challenges and trends among the groups. We have also incorporated the State of Arts Education Survey into the planning process undertaken through our Arts Now Planning Initiative. These two tools, along with our annual LCAP scan and narrative reports from the districts we work with, will enable us to better track our year-to-year progress and set specific program goals for the coming years.

If you would like more information about arts planning or Arts Now Community development, please contact the California Alliance for Arts Education. Peggy Burt, peggy at artsed411 dot org for the Arts Now Planning Initiative and Robin Hampton, robin at artsed411 dot org for Arts Now Communities.