State of the Arts in Chicago Public Schools Offers Unprecedented Look at Arts Access in CPS

CHICAGO, July 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ingenuity, a Chicago-based arts advocacy organization, released State of the Arts in Chicago Public Schools today detailing the level of arts instruction, staffing, partnerships, and funding in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) during the 2012-13 school year. The data collected examines how schools match up to the goals and recommendations set forth in the City's first-ever CPS Arts Education Plan which was approved by the Chicago Board of Education in November of 2012.

"Through a public-private partnership with the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools, we've compiled quite possibly the most comprehensive set of data on arts education provision of any major urban school district. This report sets the baseline by which the District, schools, community arts organizations, parents and others can track progress going forward, and represents the next step in ensuring an arts education for every CPS student," said Paul Sznewajs, Ingenuity Executive Director. 

Report findings for the 2012-13 SY include:

• 94% of the 577 District-run schools have at least one full- or part-time credentialed arts instructor
• Less than 25% of elementary schools provide the recommended 120 minutes of weekly instruction;
• 56% of schools, meet the recommended arts instructor to student ratio of 1:350 or less;
• Total arts education funding is over $120 million annually, but there is need for additional investments from the District if it is to meet the goals of the Plan;
• 82% of District-run schools have both an instructor and at least one community arts partner;

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CPS schools compare favorably to other urban schools in a number of ways including a lower student to instructor ratio and an ambitious minimum weekly instruction requirement of 120 minutes per elementary grade student. The new CPS Creative Schools Certification's "Excelling" schools are among top schools nationally for the provision of dedicated arts staffing and instructional minutes.

The release of State of the Arts marks the first time a data set this extensive has been compiled for Chicago's public schools and is the first in a series of Ingenuity reports—a progress report will come in October—which will track progress toward student access to the arts. Data was reported through multiple sources including individual CPS schools and hundreds of community arts partners, all of which feed www.artlookmap.org.

Contact: AmySue Mertens
312-583-7463 [email protected]
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SOURCE Ingenuity