Texas Trends in Art Education, Volume 3, Number 1, Fall 1985 Page: 6
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Legislative Concerns
'V
/6 T he general state of health and well-being
I of visual arts education in Texas has im-
proved considerably over the past few years.
Most of the major changes have come from
the mandates of House Bill 246 (translated
by the State Board of Education in RULES
FOR CURRICULUM, PRINCIPLES, STAN-
DARDS, AND PROCEDURES FOR THE
ACCREDITATION OF SCHOOL DIS-
TRICTS) which requires that all Texas
school districts provide instruction in the
fine arts in Grades K-6 and identifies specific
essential elements of instruction in art
through Grade 12. Minimum time allotments
are also designated in the Bill for instruction
in the fine arts in Grades K-6. At the middle
school and high school levels, art is classified
as an approved elective. In Grades 9-12,
one full unit of fine arts is required for gradu-
ation in the advanced and advanced honors
degree programs. The mandates of the Bill
establish only the minimum requirements;
school districts are urged to exceed the pro-
visions wherever possible. Some districts
are meeting this challenge by adding honors
courses in art history and appreciation and
by requiring credit in fine arts courses for all
students.
We can take pride in the fact that Texas
has set many precedents in educational re-
form and that many of the changes have
enhanced the status of the fine arts as a
component of basic education. According to
the NAEA News ("Some Results," 1985)
Texas is one of eighteen states that has re-
cently passed legislation requiring credit in
the fine arts for graduation. In addition to
the major benefit of H.B. 246, there are sev-
eral indirect benefits. Better textbooks and
curriculum guides correlated to the Essen-
tial Elements specified in Chapter 75 of the
Bill are now being written. Many districts
are also beginning to experience increases in
enrollment at the secondary level, greater
involvement with academically talented stu-
dents, and greater respect in offices of coun-
selors and administrators.
Another major piece of legislation deal-
ing with public education in Texas is House
Bill 72. The bill resulted from the Perot
Committee findings and has restructured
the system of state financing to the publicschools. It has also brought about many
changes affecting public education in general
through an increased emphasis on academic
achievement. This legislation, too, has had
some indirect influence on the status of the
visual arts programs in our schools. Un-
doubtedly teacher education and staff devel-
opment programs will undergo some greatly
needed improvements in order to meet the
requirements of the Career Ladder and test-
ing included in the Bill. Since H.B. 72 re-
quired a 45-minute conference period for
elementary teachers, some school districts
are filling the void with specialists and al-
locating the time to art instruction.
Rejoicing over these recent develop-
ments is definitely in order, but before we
convince ourselves that our progress is com-
pletely satisfactory, we need to examine
some of the areas that are still in need of
attention. House Bill 246, for instance, does
not specify that the Essential Elements of
Instruction be provided by certified art spe-
cialists. The bill addresses only minimum
time and basic content for instruction. Ob-
viously, the quality of the instruction will not
be adequate until it is provided by a person
with the special abilities, insights, and train-
ing appropriate to this unique subject area.
Specialists in art are no less essential than
they are in music, physical education, or
reading.
We also must question the implication of
House Bill 246 that the necessity for instruc-
tion in visual expression, communication,
and interpretation appears to cease at the
conclusion of Grade 6 and only reappear for
a year in an unspecified form for a portion of
the students sometime between Grades 9
and 12. Is it conceivable that we have taught
people all they need to know in this subject
area in Grades K-6? Or, perhaps after Grade
6, the various aspects of visual expression
and communication will cease to be an im-
portant factor in our students' lives.
Speculation in either direction is equally)
ridiculous. Even if we choose not to concern
ourselves with the increasing need for inclu-
sion of computer graphics, electronically
produced images, and design and interpreta-
tion of visual communications in the visual
arts curriculum, the traditional aspects of
art education and the important part they
play in conceptual development remain con-
stant, though often neglected, factors in our
daily existence. Those skills do not cease to
be important when we reach the age of 12.
On the contrary, continuing technological de-
velopments indicate that the orientation of
our civilization will become increasingly
visual as we enter the latter part of this
century and the beginning of the next. Con-
sequently, if we are to prepare people to
function productively in the future, continu-
ing education in all aspects of visual commu-
nication becomes crucial. One of our major
goals, therefore, must be to develop an ex-
panded visual arts curriculum that is consis-
tent in scope and sequence in Grades K-12
and to attain recognition that instruction in
all aspects of visual communication is as nec-
essary at every grade level as instruction in
the many aspects of verbal communication.
Those of us who have monitored enroll-
ment in foreign language courses are aware
of the influence that college entrance re-
quirements exert upon the status of various
subject areas at the secondary level. Thus,
another of our major goals should be to es-
tablish an entrance requirement for visual
arts at the college and university level.
In addition to these broad considera-
tions which affect art education in general,
we need to deal with some equally important
concerns of individual teachers. Unfortu-
nately, too many of us still fight the daily
battles of insufficient funding, inadequate
and/or unsafe equipment and facilities, and
large, undifferentiated classes. It is difficult
for a secondary classroom art teacher who
just ran out of white paint to be concerned
with whether or not the district employsTRENDS / fall 1985
O
H
B
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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/m1/8/?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.