Assessment Board Announces Plan to Eliminate Nation’s Arts Report Card

August 5, 2019

In late July, the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) announced its intention to narrow the breadth of subjects assessed by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), eliminating the next Nation’s Arts Report Card, the only nationally-reported measurement of what students know and are able to do in the arts. Data about the status of arts education is critical for closing gaps in access to arts learning, the assessment framework supports state and local assessment efforts, and the results also fuel broad support for arts learning from parents, educators, and policymakers across the country. The League has helped to lead efforts by national arts organizations to quickly collaborate on a unified response (PDF), calling on NAGB members to immediately reinstate the scheduled arts assessment and begin next steps to implement the 2024 Arts NAEP. Arts advocates can join in this call by urging their elected officials to support FY20 funding for arts education, which includes funding the NAGB and directing it to fully administer the Arts NAEP.