State education officials are trying a new way to encourage schools to teach about the arts, believing such courses improve a student's academic performance.
Students can soon earn a fine arts diploma seal upon graduating high school.
Students must successfully complete three courses in one of the fine arts subjects — which include dance, music, theater, visual and media arts. They must also perform at least 20 hours of arts-related community service. Officials discussed the fine arts effort during last week’s state school board meeting.
State education leaders argue there’s a correlation between students involved in fine arts and strong classroom performance. Superintendent Richard Woods has repeatedly said about one-half of Georgia Tech students have a music background.
In 2013, the percentage of Georgia elementary schools with visual arts classes who met standards in the state’s annual assessment in science was five percentage points higher than for elementary schools without such classes, according to a state report. High school students who take fine arts courses typically fare better on the SAT.
The number of Georgia public schools with students taking fine arts courses has increased by about 50 percent since 2010, according to state education department data. Yet, state data show there are fewer arts teachers. There were 105 fewer teachers listed under the fine arts category during the 2014-15 school year than five years earlier, state education officials said.
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