Georgia: Arts Learning Task Force Recommendations for Georgia

For the first time, Georgia has benchmark data about the availability, accessibility and quality of K-12 arts education in the state, as well as a set of recommendations for how to foster arts education and arts integration to improve students’ overall academic achievement. The Georgia Arts Learning Task Force, created by a June 2014 executive order from Governor Nathan Deal, is responsible for this year-long effort to strengthen public schools. The group, overseen by the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA), makes 16 recommendations regarding access to arts education, quality of arts instruction, support of effective arts learning, and resourceful and innovative approaches. In addition, GCA examined the state’s arts education ecosystem in comparison with regional and national benchmarks, delving deeper into and expanding upon data collected from school principals in nine states by South Arts. In its research report, Arts Education in Georgia: Public School Data and Principal Perspectives, GCA concludes that while access to arts learning in the state is comparable to regional and national averages, it varies significantly across individual schools based on arts subject area, school level, geography, population density and poverty rate. To learn more, contact GCA Arts Education Manager Allen Bell.