School Data

Measuring quality of arts education in schools

The Arts for All School Arts Survey is the first large-scale instrument designed to track the equity of student access to arts education and measure the quality of available instruction within the context of Los Angeles County. The survey is part of a data collection and reporting system created to help school districts assess the status of their school arts programs based on 16 indicators of quality, access and equity.

Building the system, piloted in the 2009-10 school year, included developing a way to measure the quality indicators; testing survey items; constructing a user-friendly, Internet-based data reporting tool; and establishing an index for comparing schools. Five Arts for All school districts, selected based on demonstrated interest, location, size and demographics, participated in the pilot survey: Burbank Unified School District, Culver City Unified School District, Montebello Unified School District, Paramount Unified School District, and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. A total of 92 schools completed the survey, with a 97% response rate across the five districts. The Quality-Access Equity report contains complete survey results and observations.