Testimony given by Jane Berzner and Jessica Bayer
Response to Alternative Approaches for Implementation of the Regents Policy
Statement on Middle Level Education
My name is Jane Berzner, and I am presenting this testimony as a parent, a resident of the state of New York, an art educator, and on behalf of the New York State Art Teachers Association, as the current President. Our members include elementary and secondary art educators, school administrators, museum educators, university faculty, and school districts.
New York has amazing Visual Art programs and has invested tremendous time, effort, and resources to ensure that high-level instruction is delivered to our students in this area. As defined by No Child Left Behind, and our own New York State Learning Standards, the arts are an essential part of the core curriculum.
Visual Art contributes significantly to a standards-focused Middle Level educational program that fosters "...the intellectual development and academic achievement of all students, and the personal and social development of each student." It is our purpose today to discuss Visual Art in terms of the critical conceptual areas of Middle Level education and alternative approaches.
In all of the conceptual areas put forth by the State Education Department, the range of regulations that ensures the maximum degree of oversight, and thereby a high degree of standardization, appears to best meet the needs of all of the students in New York State, across the curriculum, and particularly in the arts. The prospect of minimal regulation, with a maximum of local variation and flexibility, has the potential to impact negatively on the arts in some districts, but not in others. With minimal regulation, programs are likely to be maintained in districts with higher socio-economic status, whereas programs in economically disadvantaged districts may be cut back or completely eliminated. This possibility would raise legal issues of equity and access, as well as undermine New York's commitment to a thorough and comprehensive education for all students.
Below are the areas of the six conceptual categories put forward by SED that we feel will have the greatest impact on Visual Art education.
Grade Span--In this case, while we agree that changes in the span of grade levels for the middle level may be appropriate, we emphasize that the concept of sequential and uninterrupted instruction be carefully examined. Students should be engaged in activities that are appropriately designed for their abilities, skills, maturity, and interest levels. What is appropriate for 7th and 8th graders, is not the same as what is appropriate for 5th and 6th graders. Furthermore, research shows that sequential instruction and the accompanying student educational growth is essential to provide students the opportunity to grow cognitively. Studies confirm that when students have sporadic and/or truncated education in the Arts, they lose the capacity to fully achieve their potential in this area. Therefore, we urge that appropriate sequential and uninterrupted learning experiences take place throughout the Middle Level, at each grade, and not be sandwiched into a term or year of the continuum of grades as locally determined.
Course of Study -- We do not support any lessening of any instructional requirement in Visual Art. While the current regulations are by no means perfect, they at least provide some assurance that students receive adequate arts instruction to enable them to meet the Standards . If new regulations provide flexible instructional requirements with no assessment oversight, there will be neither assurance that students received essential opportunity for education in Visual Art, nor standard documentation of student "achievement" of the Learning Standards for the Arts. We are in favor of maintaining and strengthening regulations for the arts.
Time Requirements--At best, the prescriptive regulation, or at least, the more flexible regulatory model, will ensure parity across the state. The Local Regulation model, for 900 hours of instruction per year across all 28 Standards would in all likelihood have a negative impact on arts instruction in districts with limited budgets and high AIS needs. Who and what will determine if students have met the standards in any subject area, especially an area without exit exams? How will the 900 hours be apportioned across the curriculum?
Career Exploration--Our position, to provide uninterrupted, sequential, Standards-based instruction in the arts at each grade level, will ensure that students are provided with career exploration in the arts. This is imbedded in various performance indicators of the Learning Standards for the Visual Art at every level, and is a significant component of best practices across the state. In addition, if there are interruptions at the Middle Level, this may significantly impact on high school course selection and the ability to attain a sequence in the arts in preparation for post-secondary education and/or employment in the art field.
Acceleration--In this case, the flexible regulation would suffice. Districts should be allowed, when appropriate, to offer high school courses for acceleration to exceptional art students, but not use this strategy as a means to accelerate all students in a particular grade. Acceleration should be determined (as it is now) by the individual student's ability and maturity. The capacity of a Middle Level school's ability to accelerate a particular student (for example, into Studio in Art, typically the high school foundation level class) should also be determined by the school's ability to deliver the same instruction that would be available at the higher level.
Providing Students with Learning Supports (Also Conceptual Area #6--Providing for Local Flexibility/Performance-Based Regulation)--While we acknowledge the importance of literacy and mathematics, we must remember that the arts are part of the Core Curriculum and should not be negatively compromised by the delivery of AIS. It is very important to remember that students have different learning styles that are accommodated through arts instruction. In the process of making and learning about art, students develop and employ the higher level thinking skills that are basic to learning in all subjects. Whichever regulatory model is finally accepted, AIS should be not impact on a student's access to instruction in all of the 28 Learning Standards.
Staff Assignment/Teacher Certification--It is our position that students are best served by the most highly qualified and duly certified teachers at every level. To ensure the same level of staff in all localities, regulatory guidelines should be consistent across the state.
Administrative Certification--As per above, highly qualified and certified building level, and subject area, administrators should be employed at every level.
Providing Staff With Teaching Supports--In each of these categories, Resources, Professional Learning, and Planning Opportunity, our position is that the more restrictive regulation will again provide for consistency across the state. Standardized support models will require that all districts provide the same basic level of teaching supports, and these supports should be provided to all teachers equally, in all content areas.
Now more than ever, the children of New York State need sequential, uninterrupted Standards-based instruction in Visual Art. Art is the visual history of ancient and present civilizations and cultures that enables students to understand their relationship with the present and the past. Former United States Secretary of Education, Ernest L. Boyer stated, "Art is humanity's most universal language. It is not a frill but a necessary part of communication. The quality of civilization can be measured through its music, dance, drama, architecture, visual art and literature. We must give our children knowledge and understanding of civilization's most profound works." Students use the language of art to communicate their thoughts, feelings, ideas, emotions, and imaginings. Visual Art education provides the perfect opportunity to blend academic content and the opportunities for personal growth and development, the foundation of the Middle Level philosophy. A high level of regulatory oversight by the New York State Education Department will continue to ensure that our children have equal access to this most important component of the Middle Level curriculum, Visual Art education.
