Music Education in Charter Schools

• In Event: 58.073 - Curricular Issues in Music Education

Abstract

Charter schools have played a major role in shaping twenty-first century educational policy. While choice, accountability, and freedom from school district bureaucracy are lauded as strengths of the charter movement, what is not clear is how these choices manifest themselves in regard to access and equity in arts education. I analyzed data from two distinct state-wide surveys, a year-long study with first-year charter school teachers, and program outcomes from a collaborative endeavor between urban schools, chamber orchestra, and university school of music. Survey results suggest music instruction is limited when compared to traditional public schools. Narrative comments indicate that charter schools are challenging places to work, with unprofessional behaviors of administrators and inconsistent school policy being sources of chronic stress.

Author

• David McKinley Hedgecoth, Ohio State