User:Lorainethompson/Art education in the United States

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Art Education in the United States refers to the practice of teaching art in American public schools. Before the democratization of education, particularly as promoted by educational philosopher John Dewey, apprenticeship was the traditional route for attaining an education in art. Alongside John Dewey, Elliot Eisner was a leading advocate for the inclusion of art in modern curriculum. Since the first introduction of art in public schooling in 1821, art education in the United States has faced many changes and many stages of growth

Early art education in the United States
Art education was first introduced to public schooling in 1821 as a result of the need for architectural designers during the Industrial Revolution. As public schooling began to grow nationwide, so did subjective interest in art instruction. In the 1870's, some states began to provide funds to their public schools in pursuit of developing art curriculum. Around this time, art materials, like paint and paper, began to improve in quality, allowing art instruction to expand beyond classic methods.

Art apprenticeships began to lose commonality in the 19th century, and independent art schools became the main path for pursuing a career in art.

Art education since the 2000s
Current art education widely varies from state to state. As of 2018, 29 of the 50 states consider art a core academic subject. 41 states, however, require that art classes be offered at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. "Art magnet schools", common in larger communities, use art(s) as a core or underlying theme to attract those students motivated by personal interest or with the intention of becoming a professional or commercial artist.

Despite state requirements, budget cuts and increasing test-based assessments of children, as required by the federal government's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, are credited for the reported loss of art instruction time in schools. The NCLB retains the arts as part of the "core curriculum" for all schools, but it does not require reporting any instruction time or assessment data for arts education content or performance standards, which is reason often cited for the decline of arts education in American public schools.