Under the Johnson administration in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) was implemented in schools throughout the United States. The ESEA act was established to provide equal access to quality education to all students. “ESEA is an extensive statue that funds primary and secondary education, emphasizing high standards and accountability. As mandated in the act, funds are authorized for professional development, instructional materials, resources to support educational programs, and the promotion of parental involvement.” (www.socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu) The ESEA act of 1965 also implemented arts programs and defined arts programs as “core academic subject, and, such as, arts play a significant role in the development of children and their learning process.” …show more content…
Arts integration in many public schools have witnessed a drastic improvement of parent involvement based on the arts integration provided by the school district. Parents attend musicals, arts shows and dance recitals to show their support for the arts programs. Arts programs also help with the entirety of the school culture and the rejuvenation of teachers that are experiencing issues with being burnt out on the career. Studies have shown drastic improvements on state mandated assessments between schools that have arts integrations and those that do not provide arts education on a regular basis. Student behavior and attendance are also effected by the integration of arts programs. Throughout the state of Kentucky, many school districts implement the arts in some form, however, the discrepancies fluctuate between each school district and their administrative staff. While some school districts, like Owensboro Independent schools hold the arts program to a high standard and have witnessed the benefits of implementation first-hand, other school districts have acknowledged the benefits, however, they find focus on core-classes to be their main priority. When school districts acknowledge the benefits of arts-embedded curriculum and implement the