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JUDY WOODRUFF: Schools nationwide are implementing1 new shared standards in math and reading, but whatabout for the arts? Are those required to be taught as well? The NewsHour's special correspondent for education, John Merrow, has this report.
JOHN MERROW: Most public schools in the United States offer some sort of music instruction, but according to a federal government report, about four million elementary school students do not get instruction in the visual arts.
WOMAN: Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin.
STUDENTS: Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin.
JOHN MERROW: Ninety-six percent of public elementary schools do not offer theater or drama and 97 percent do not offer dance.
These grim numbers contradict what most states say about the arts; 46 states require that the arts be taught in elementary school, including North Carolina, which mandates2 that every student receive equalaccess to art instruction. It's a law that doesn't seem to be enforced.
Jones County, in rural North Carolina serves 1,200 students, most from low-income families. While its four elementary schools do offer music instruction once a week, not one offers instruction in dance, theater or art.
JIMMI PARKER, Maysville Elementary School: Every year we kind of joke about it and we ask, oh, are we getting an art teacher this year? I mean, I was hired into this county probably 10 years ago. AndI cannot remember having an elementary art teacher.
JOHN MERROW: With no art teacher on staff, principal Jimmi Parker of Maysville Elementary has had to rely on local talent.
JIMMI PARKER: We do our best. We have volunteers come in. All kinds of artists live in our area.
JOHN MERROW: These sixth graders remember when a professional artist came to their school for a month.
STUDENT: I liked the work we did with her, when we did the shadows with the trees.
STUDENT: Oh, this is really cool.
JOHN MERROW: Unfortunately, that was three years ago, when these students were in the third grade.
Would you like to have more art?
STUDENTS: Yes.
JOHN MERROW: Two hours west of Jones County, the picture is very different. Like Maysville, Bugg Elementary School in Raleigh serves mostly low-income families. But, unlike Maysville, Bugg has four full-time3 certified4 arts teachers in dance, music, the visual arts, and theater. I asked these fifth graders how many minutes of the arts they have in a week.
STUDENT: During the week, the calculation would be about nine hours.
STUDENT: I would say about 15 hours.
STUDENT: I would say around 10 hours a week.
JOHN MERROW: OK. So we have got seven-and-a-half, 10, nine.
MICHAEL ARMSTRONG, Bugg Elementary School: I love the idea that the kids couldn't fully5 answer that.
WOMAN: So she called up the doctor and the doctor said...
JOHN MERROW: Michael Armstrong is principal at Bugg Elementary.
MICHAEL ARMSTRONG: They definitely have 45 minutes a day with a true, trained arts teacher. And then, because all of our staff are trained in the arts, that will bleed over into more time.
MARIA EBY, Bugg Elementary School: I'm going to turn into the beanstalk now and I want you to understand the beanstalk's side of the story.
JOHN MERROW: First grade teacher Maria Eby is using the story of Jack6 and the Beanstalk to teach drama and science.
MARIA EBY: We are studying plants and what they need and what they give and how they relate to the world. What are three things that plants do for us?
STUDENT: They give us food.
MARIA EBY: They give us food, like beans. And then the drama part of it, they had to improvise7 as that character .You are the old lady that gave them the beans. And why did you let him in the castle?
STUDENT: Because...
JOHN MERROW: What's the goal? Do kids learn more?
MARIA EBY: Well, children all learn in different ways. And its our job to make sure we're presenting things in different ways.
JOHN MERROW: But nobody said dress up like a beanstalk.
MARIA EBY: Nobody made me do that, no. That was my own free will.
JOHN MERROW: This school feels rich.
MICHAEL ARMSTRONG: Yes.
JOHN MERROW: Are you?
MICHAEL ARMSTRONG: Not at all. There's two parts to that. The money is one part. Mind-set is anotherwhole thing. So if you really believe that the arts are of power, that alone can have an impact. And if you don't have that mind-set, then I don't think there's enough money in the world to pay for a strong enough arts program.
JOHN MERROW: But money makes a difference. Bugg Elementary is what's known as a magnet school. Magnetschools receive additional resources to attract a diverse student body. Bugg gets an extra $406 per child, nearly $250,000 a year. Principal Armstrong spends much of that money on the arts, and says he has watched his students thrive.
MICHAEL ARMSTRONG: Students that have been in this program from kindergarten to fifth grade have a higher self-confidence, have a higher understanding of how they learn, and are actually making higher test scores.
JOHN MERROW: In contrast, instead of the arts, Jones County has focused its efforts on improving mathand reading instruction. Over the past few years, both schools have improved, although Maysville Elementary has outperformed Bugg on most state tests.
This year, the mind-set in Jones County seems to be changing. The district hired an elementary art teacher.
CINDY O'DANIEL, Maysville Elementary: You see all the different kinds of coral.
JOHN MERROW: At Maysville Elementary, Cindy O'Daniel teaches seven art classes, back to back, with just one break and no time between classes to set up or clean up. I was looking at your schedule. It's apretty hectic9 day.
CINDY O’DANIEL: We move quickly. But the 45 minutes is a better time slot to get something accomplished10. And I have other schools that it's 30 minutes, and so it's hurry up and start, and hurry up and finish. Hey, you guys, listen up. We're running out of time.
JOHN MERROW: One of her classes is actually two kindergarten classes combined.
CINDY O’DANIEL: It is organized chaos11, and it's tough to get around to all the students in a regularclass size in 45 minutes.
JOHN MERROW: And Maysville is not her only school. How many schools do you teach in?
CINDY O’DANIEL: Four.
JOHN MERROW: How many kids do you work with?
CINDY O’DANIEL: I haven't slowed down long enough to figure it out.
JOHN MERROW: Nationwide, nearly half of elementary school art teachers work in more than one school. I asked the students at Bugg how they would feel about having only 45 minutes of art a week.
STUDENT: I guess if I had never been in this school to start with, I would think it's normal. But nowthat I'm here, I realize if I were to go to another school and it only has 45 minutes of art, I wouldn't feel like it's a real school.
CINDY O’DANIEL: I would love for it to be every other day. I would like them to have more time to think, more time to absorb, to assess information, instead of hurry up, hurry up, clean up, time is running out.
JOHN MERROW: Do the kids at your school get enough art?
JIMMI PARKER: No. They still don't get enough art.
JOHN MERROW: How much is enough?
JIMMI PARKER: I guess enough would be when the kids are satisfied. When we ask them, do you get enough art, and they can say, yes, I feel like I have art in everything I do every day. It might not ever reach that point, but when they tell us they're getting art, that will be enough.
JOHN MERROW: You're a ways from there.
JIMMI PARKER: A long ways from there, a long ways.
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1
implementing
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| v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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2
mandates
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| 托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式） | |
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3
full-time
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| adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的 | |
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4
certified
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| a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的 | |
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5
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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6
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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7
improvise
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| v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成 | |
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8
portfolio
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| n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位 | |
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9
hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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10
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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11
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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coalition
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| n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合 | |
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