Arts education advocates are convincing states to add new arts Common Core State Standards to their curriculum. 

Last year, a number of art groups "unveiled their new National 'Core Arts Standards', for the teaching of music, visual art, dance, and drama," according to an article on EducationByTheNumbers.org.

"There’s a new emphasis on making cross-disciplinary connections with, say, math or literature — not just learning the notes on your flute," the article said. "They’ve even added a fifth art category: media arts."

Three Midwestern states, Arkansas, Kansas and Nebraska, the article said, "have adopted or are moving to adopt versions of the new standards," the article said. According to Narric Rome, vice president of Government Affairs & Arts Education at Americans for the Arts in Washington, D.C., "ten more states are considering it."

“We’re spending our time on the state level,” said Rome, who says he used to spend more of his time lobbying Capitol Hill and federal agencies. “That’s where we see action for arts education.”

According to the article, "this state activity is catching the attention of the data geeks over at the National Center for Education Statistics, which released a table of Art Education Policies by State in December 2014."

The table, the article said, "makes clear that all 50 states already have art standards. Some of them are believed to be 20 years old. But implementation varies considerably. Some states require schools to offer art. Others don’t. In many cases, only a small percentage of students take art classes."

“We make the argument that a complete education isn’t complete without the arts. One way to have that is to have a graduation requirement,” said Rome. Rome, the article said, "admits that high school requirements are an imperfect way to promote arts education. California, for example, doesn’t require art for graduation. And yet, Rome says that California has 'very good' art education programs in many of its public schools."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor