Texas Trends in Art Education, Volume 3, Number 1, Fall 1985 Page: 32
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name as middle or junior high schools and
were limited to grades six through nine were
considered. These schools were grouped ac-
cording to three school district sizes: under
2,000 students (131); 2,000 to 5,000 stu-
dents (124); and over 5,000 students (374).
The sample contained two hundred
schools which were randomly selected from
the population and were stratified according
to the size of the school districts. Forty-one
schools from school districts with under
2,000 students, forty schools from school
districts with 2,000 to 5,000 students, and
119 schools from districts of over 5,000 stui-
dents were selected.
Procedures for Collecting the Data
Information related to the programs of study
was obtained through a questionnaire devel-
oped by reviewing current trends in art edu-
cation and studying questionnaires in art
education and other fields. Based upon this
information, a draft of the questionnaire was
formulated. This was then submitted to sev-
eral middle/junior high school art teachers
for response as well as critique. The ques-
tionnaire was revised based upon their re-
sponses and a final form was drafted. The
questionnaire contained closed form ques-
tions which could be answered by checks or
numbers. Several of the questions had places
for comments provided. The questionnaire
was mailed with a cover letter and an ad-
dressed, stamped return envelope. The non-
respondents to the first mailout were sent
another questionnaire with a new cover
letter several weeks later.
The questionnaires were mailed during
the Spring of 1981. Seventy-seven per cent
of the 200 schools responded. Each of the
three strata had similar percentages of re-
sponses. Seventy-four per cent of the 119
schools from districts of over 5,000 re-
sponded. Eighty-eight per cent of the forty
schools from districts with 2,000 to 5,000
responded, and seventy-three per cent of
the 42 schools from districts with under
2,000 students responded. The analysis of
the data was done in relationship to the
school district size, the grades comprising
the schools, and the size of the school en-
rollment. The size of the school district
seemed to influence the responses more
than the other variables. Most of the schools
were from school districts with over 5,000
pupils, contained grades six, seven, and
eight and had school enrollments of 550 to
1,219 pupils.
Of the 806 schools listed in the 1979-
1980 Texas School Directory, and referred/
to by name as middle or junior high schools
and limited to grades six through nine, six
hundred and twenty-nine (78.0%) had art
programs in August, 1980, according to
the lists prepared by the Texas Education
Agency. The survey confirmed that most of
the schools on the lists (97.4%) had an art
program. Even though the schools were se-
lected from two lists of schools which were
supposed to have art programs, 2.6% of the
schools surveyed did not have an existing art
program. School size did not seem to relate
to whether a school had an art program or
not. Over half of the schools had 100 to 199
pupils enrolled in art in school districts with
2,000 to 5,000 pupils and school districts
with over 5,000 pupils. However, school dis-
tricts with under 2,000 pupils differed with a
majority of its schools having fewer than 100
pupils enrolled in art.
Courses, Programs and Curricula
Information
The composition of the art program as re-
lated to general courses, general and inde-
pendent courses, specialized courses, or
other styles of courses was examined. Over
half of the schools (57.5%), regardless of
school district size, had art programs com-
posed of a succession of general courses, in
which each course included several media.
The popularity of the general survey type
course seemed to indicate that the pupils
preferred a variety of media over a con-
centration in one medium.
An explanation of the content of the
specialized courses when offered in the art
program revealed that specialized courses in
drawing and painting, general crafts, ceram-
ics, printmaking, and weaving were most
often offered. However, the majority of the
schools did not offer any specialized courses,
but offered the general survey-type course.
The areas of emphasis in the general courses
were examined and rated according to their
importance. Drawing (71.2c) and design
(49.7%) were considered very important,
while painting (38.6%), sculpture (29.4%)
and ceramics (27.5%) were considered im-
portant in the general course by the majority
of the respondents. Art heritage, printmak-
ing, weaving, commercial art, other textiles,
general crafts, and career educations were
of average importance. Of minor importance
were architecture and environmental design.
Photography, metal and jewelry were consid-
ered of no importance. This is possibly be-
cause they are often taught in other subject
areas, or due to the cost of the equipment
needed to teach these areas. The emphasisTRENDS / fall 1985
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Texas Art Education Association. Texas Trends in Art Education, Volume 3, Number 1, Fall 1985, periodical, Autumn 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth279681/m1/34/?q=architectural+drawings: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Art Education Association.