Nice but not necessary? Educational leaders' stories of the arts in an era of accountability

The problem that this research explored was how exposure and participation in the arts in a child's education are being affected within the current climate of standards and accountability driving public schools. Utilizing the qualitative methodology of narrative non-fiction story, narratives were collected in person-to-person interviews with six purposively selected public school administrators. The participants, from the state of Alabama, were either directors for curriculum and instruction or fine arts coordinators in their schools. Findings from this study reveal that elementary students are most at risk for limited exposure to fine arts instruction in schools. Because the state of Alabama does not fund educational units in the arts at the elementary level, if a school includes fine arts in their elementary curriculum (i.e. has a teaching staff certified in and dedicated to arts instruction) it is accomplished through local funding and likely the result of leadership at the superintendent level. Additionally, school systems which have long been strong in the arts continue to flourish in their arts instruction but not without battling for the place of the arts in their schools' curriculum. Further, if a school system has not had an elementary arts curriculum prior to this time it is more difficult than ever to establish one due to the pressures on instructional time propagated by a high level of accountability to testing.