Currently, high schools generally must offer at least three artistic disciplines (visual arts, music, theatre, dance, literary arts, or media arts), and multiple years of coursework in each, to be rated as Excelling. This has been a very challenging benchmark for the vast majority of high schools to achieve.
Disciplines & Depth at High Schools
Highlights
High schools generally struggle with the Disciplines & Depth metric on the CSC.
- 22% of high schools rated as Excelling on Disciplines and Depth
See CSC rubric for more details on how this element is scored.
High schools continue to struggle with providing a breadth and depth of artistic disciplines on the current rubric. School size is one of the biggest factors regarding whether a student has access to at least three artistic disciplines. There are a number of reasons why schools with a larger student population are more likely to offer a breadth of disciplines, such as the per-pupil budgeting model within the District. With offering a wider variety of disciplines, schools may also need additional dedicated art spaces, such as for dance or theatre programs. While many high schools met the benchmark for staffing, there is still room for growth on the Disciplines & Depth measure.
Strategies
- In collaboration with high school leaders and teachers, update the current Creative Schools Certification metric on Disciplines & Depth to better align to course breadth and depth requirements for high school graduation.
- Analyze district trends, and provide customized reports to encourage high schools to expand the types of courses offered to students. This includes specific recommendations and examples from other similar schools, in order to increase the types of available courses.
- Expand access to advanced arts learning opportunities to increase AP and dual-credit arts courses, investigate alternative credit pathways such as waivers and exemptions to increase arts course feasibility, and review the CPS Graduation Policy arts requirements.