RESEARCH ON MUSIC EDUCATION

Governor's Commission on the Arts in Education: Findings and Recommendations,
July 2006
Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas, ESC Chair 2004-2006

Champions of Change
The Impact of the Arts on Learning

OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN STANDARDS FOR MUSIC INSTRUCTION: GRADES PreK-12

"Throughout the debate on standards in education it has been widely acknowledged that there should be standards for schools as well as standards for students. In its 1992 report, Raising Standards for American Education, the National Council on Education Standards and Testing called for national standards and a system of assessment, and it specified "School Delivery Standards" as a necessary component of national standards. 1

The standards referred to in 1992 as school delivery standards are labeled "Opportunity to Learn Standards" in the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act," which writes arts education into Federal law, but their purpose remains the same: to ensure that no young American is deprived of the chance to meet the content and performance, 2 or achievement, standards established in the various disciplines because of the failure of his or her school to provide an adequate learning environment. The opportunity-to-learn standards in music are intended to specify the physical and educational conditions necessary in the schools to enable every student, with sufficient effort, to meet the voluntary national content and achievement standards in music."

Web Resources Rich in Information on Music Education and Its Benefits: