Music and the arts are specific subject areas that are considered to be a vital part of a well-rounded K-12 education, which the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 have explicitly included. A report outlined the status of music education in public schools in the United States in 2017, providing insight from school district and building-level administrators, as well as music educators, to gain insight on the state of the countrys music programs in schools.
Status of Music Education Programs in 2017
Based on the results obtained from 392 public schools, 90.91% of schools employ at least one full-time music teacher, while 37.89% employ at least one part-time music teacher. Three-quarters of these schools have the part-time teacher work in conjunction with full-time teacher(s). Nearly all schools with music programs (94.95%) employ teachers who are certified by the state to teach music, while roughly 42% of the schools have educators who teach specific specialization of music. Elementary and middle schools have an average of two teachers, while high schools have an average of 1.5 teachers.
The most common music course offered at elementary schools is (or something similar to) General Music (98%); for middle schools, its band (91%) and choir or chorus (83%), which are similar to the most common music courses taught in high school, with a wider breadth of course programs offered, such as orchestra or string ensemble (36%), smaller ensembles, and additional music courses like music theory, music appreciation, music technology, vocal lessons, and more.
Curriculum and financing
On curriculum, most elementary schools (52%) followed a written curriculum guide for music courses. Slightly fewer middle schools (48%) and high schools (46%) reported that they followed a written curriculum guide for music. Music teachers reported that most of these curricula (53%) were written at the district level, while 23% were written at the state level, and the remaining 24% were written either at the school, classroom, or another level.
When it comes to financing, elementary music programs received support from district-wide (69%) or building-based (57%) school budgets, while only 7% reported no allocation either district or building budget. Middle school music programs received support from district-wide (70%) or building-based (66%) budget allocations, 10% of middle schools reported receiving no allocation from either sources. High schools received allocations from districtwide (66%) or building-based school budgets (57%), and only 8% of high schools reported receiving no allocation from the two sources. It must be noted that the report outlined other sources of financial support, such as fundraising (student and parent), donations (family and outside entities), and sponsorships.
Music and arts integration
Based on the report, integration of music and art instruction are not present in most schools (74%), which can be attributed to several factors. For example, elementary schools presented with the most integration, with 30% of the schools reporting integrating music with other arts, while 29% reported integrating music with non-arts subjects. Middle schools reported an unexpected lower integration, with 18% for music with other arts and 20% for music with non-arts subjects despite traditionally having content specialists for all content areas, as opposed to elementary schools having a more generalized scope, with the exception of art, music, and PE. Lastly, high schools reported 22% for integration with other arts and 19% for integration with non-arts subjects.
Music education is an essential part of ensuring students have a well-rounded education. Live Music Tutor works closely with schools and other educational institutions to advocate each childs right to arts education. Visit our page to learn more about our efforts.