Arts Education Legislation & Policy
The North Carolina State Board of Education (SBE) is responsible for "supervising and administering the free public school system and the educational funds provided for its support." Board members include the Lieutenant Governor, the State Treasurer, and 11 other members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Legislature in joint session. Eight of the eleven Board members appointed by the Governor represent each of the state's eight education regions, and three are at-large appointees. The eleven gubernatorial appointees serve eight-year terms; the two ex-officio members' terms coincide with the term of their respective offices. The policies developed by the North Carolina State Board of Education set the direction for all aspects of the Department of Public Instruction and local public school organization and operations.
The Board is also served by seven advisors (non-voting), as specified in General Statute. They include a local superintendent appointed by the State Superintendent, the NC Principal of the Year, the Raleigh Dingman award winner (local board member), two NC Teachers of the Year (each serving a two-year term), and two high school students (a high school junior and a high school senior, each serving a two-year term beginning in the junior year).
For More Information
Please reach out to the NCDPI Arts Education Team:
Brandon Roeder - brandon.roeder@dpi.nc.gov
Laura Stauderman - laura.stauderman@dpi.nc.gov
Lori Carlin - lori.carlin@dpi.nc.gov
Session Law SL2020-78: Arts Ed Graduation Requirement
Printable version of this information
Introduction
S681 passed in June of 2020 and became Session Law SL2020-78 in July.
This law directed the State Board of Education (SBE) to modify graduation requirements, which previously included an option to include an arts education credit, to require one credit of arts education to be completed at any time during grades six through twelve. The new requirement. begins with students entering Grade 6 in 2022-23 and, subsequently, in Grade 9 in 2025-26.
To provide the clearest guidance on the SBE’s recent passage of the new graduation policy language and what that means for K-12 education, we have compiled the most current information.
Updated SBE Policy (GRAD-004)
The NC Department of Public Instruction has been working diligently to ensure the systems are in place to support districts and schools with the implementation of this legislation.
The updated language for NC SBE Policy GRAD-004 is reprinted below. Please note: The total number of credits required to graduate is not changing. The new requirement is embedded as part of the 6 elective credits of the 22 required credits for graduation.
8. Beginning in fall 2022, students entering Grade 6 and subsequently entering Grade 9 for the first time in 2025-26 shall have at least one arts education course in grades 6-12.
- Students must complete the standard course of study (no local electives) for a given arts education course in its entirety to satisfy this requirement. After school activities or partial courses do not fulfill this graduation requirement.
- Students who transfer into a public school unit beginning in the ninth grade or later may be exempt, if such a requirement would prevent a student from graduating with the graduation cohort to which the student was assigned when transferring.
NC-SIS: PowerSchool
At this time, a NCDPI working group is engaged in ensuring that every student’s completion of the arts education graduation requirement will be followed through course codes in PowerSchool as part of the established graduation plan process (NCSBOE Policy GRAD-004).
Students will be able to complete this graduation requirement at any time within their grades 6-12 education. Arts Education courses in grades 6-8 that follow the SCOS for their assigned grade level will count towards the graduation requirement.
It is Imperative to code courses correctly: Only those courses with officially recognized course codes (those starting with a “5”) will be automatically tracked in PowerSchool. DO NOT use course codes beginning with “9”. You can learn more about the NCDPI Arts Education Course Coding structure at bit.ly/NCArtsEdCourseManual.
The NC Standard Course of Study must be taught: Only those courses which teach the entire Standard Course of Study in an Arts Ed subject will satisfy the Arts Education Graduation Requirement. There are no requirements about the length or duration of a course. Local courses which do not teach the entire Standard Course of Study in an Arts Ed subject would not satisfy the Arts Ed Graduation Requirement and should be coded as local electives.
For more information, you can visit the NCDPI SIS Resources webpage or visit the Arts Ed Course Manual.
Exceptions
Students moving from another state to North Carolina in the ninth grade or later may be exempt from the arts education graduation requirement if requiring them to do so would keep them from graduating with the cohort to which they are assigned.
For More Information
Please reach out to the NCDPI Arts Education Team with any questions:
Brandon Roeder - brandon.roeder@dpi.nc.gov
Lori Carlin - lori.carlin@dpi.nc.gov
In North Carolina, we teach within the Comprehensive Arts Education framework. The Three components of CAE - Arts Education, Integration, and Exposure - are interdependent and were found by the Comprehensive Arts Education Task Force to all be necessary.
Arts Education is the instruction of an arts discipline according to the Standard Course of Study to develop the student as artist.
Arts Integration is instruction designed to show students how non arts content connects to arts content in both areas
Arts Exposure gives students the opportunity to experience the arts as presented by professionals on a stage, in a gallery, or as a teaching artist in residence.
Just as a three-legged stool cannot stay upright without one of its legs, an arts education without one of these components is incomplete for any student.
Below are resources that support the existence of Comprehensive Arts Education:
Session Law 2010-34: AN ACT TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE ARTS EDUCATION PLAN
Report to the North Carolina General Assembly Comprehensive Arts Education Plan SB 66
Session Law 2011-30: AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE ARTS EDUCATION COMMISSION
2012 Arts Ed Commission Final Report
Session Law 2020-78: AN ACT ENACTING AGENCY POLICY DIRECTIVES FOR THE 2019-2021 FISCAL BIENNIUM, CONSISTENT WITH CERTAIN POLICY DIRECTIVES IN RATIFIED HOUSE BILL 966 OF THE 2019 REGULAR SESSION; MODIFYING STAFFING IN THE OFFICE OF RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY; AND CLARIFYING THAT PARTIES TO AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL SUPPORT AGREEMENT WITH A MAJOR MILITARY INSTALLATION THAT OPERATES A PSAP MAY USE 911 FUNDS FOR NEXT GENERATION 911 SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY. (ARTS EDUCATION GRADUATION REQUIREMENT SECTION 2.5)
What is ESSA?
ESSA is the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into federal law on December 10, 2015. The Every Student Succeeds Act reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. ESSA will take effect on July 1, 2016, and schools are projected to implement new policies and procedures by the 2017-2018 academic year.
Well Rounded Education and ESSA
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) contains specific language that allows school districts to utilize Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV, Part A) for programs and activities that support student access to a well-rounded education. The purpose of a well-rounded education is to provide an enriched curriculum and education experiences to all students. Programs and activities carried out under Title IV, Part A must be coordinated with other school and community-based services and may be conducted in partnership with institutions of higher education and other entities.
The previously listed core academic subjects, which included the arts, have been replaced by a newly defined list of subjects that are elements of a Well Rounded Education, which still includes the arts.
"The term Well-Rounded Education means courses, activities and programming in subjects such as english, reading or language arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts history, geography, computer science, music, career and technical education, health, physical education, and any other subject, as determined by the state or local education agency, with the purpose of providing all students access to an enriched curriculum and education experience." 20 U.S. Code § 7801 - Definitions
North Carolina's ESSA Plan
NC’s state plan was approved by the State Board of Education at its September board meeting and will be submitted to the USED by September 18, 2017. NC’s state plan approved by the USED takes effect during the 2017-2018 school year.
ESSA and Arts Education Funding
The ESSA and Arts Education Quick Reference Guide is meant to give a brief overview of the ways ESSA funds support the funding of Arts Education at the local level. A short note regarding ESSER III funds is at the end.
Impacting Student Success with Title IV Webinar
Impacting Student Success through Title IV, Part A will give the arts education leader insight into the the application for and uses of the flexible Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant (SSAEG) that falls under Title IV, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This presentation will focus on how arts education programs such as music, visual art, theatre, and dance can be supported through the grant and highlight the implementation journey of Davidson County Schools during the last three years. There will be an opportunity to learn about the federal landscape of this funding and a Q&A session for participants.
Accessing Federal Funding to Support NC Arts Education Webinar
Learn more about the eligible uses of funds in the ESSER III law and how NC Districts are using the funding to support Arts Education learning loss and strengthen programs regardless of declined enrollment. Guest Speakers: Lynn Tuttle (Director of Public Policy, Research and Professional Development for the National Association for Music Education), and Nate McGaha (Executive Director of ArtsNC). Panelists: James Daugherty (Davidson County Schools) and Leigh Ann Little (Guilford County Schools).
Chapter 115C of the North Carolina General Statutes governs Elementary and Secondary Education.
§ 115C-81.5 Standard course of study states:
It is the intent of the General Assembly that the focus of State educational funding shall be to ensure that each student receives a sound basic education...Instruction shall be offered in the areas of arts, communication skills, physical education and personal health and safety, mathematics, media and computer skills, science, second languages, social studies, and career and technical education.
Policies for the Arts Education Standard Course of Study can be found in the NC State School Board of Education Policy Manual.