New Jersey § 18a:54g-2

§ 18a:54g-2.

The Legislature finds and declares that: a. Although there currently exists support for the arts in education within the public

schools of this State, there is a vast difference in how local school districts implement

arts education and a significant number of students graduate from New Jersey schools

without any exposure to the arts; b. The Literacy in the Arts Task Force, created in 1987 by the Legislature to examine

the state of arts education in New Jersey, recommended that schools include both intensive

arts experiences and integration of the arts across an interdisciplinary curriculum

and urged districts to adopt a curriculum framework using the arts as a means of providing

all students the tools for an effective and more enriched learning experience; c. Since the Literacy in the Arts Task Force completed its work, there have been a

number of other developments at the State and national level which have affirmed the

value of incorporating the arts into the school curriculum as a strategy to engage

and challenge students and thus advance their motivation and level of academic achievement; d. The value of infusing the arts into the public school curricular core has been

supported and advanced through the revision of New Jersey's State Goals for Education

in 1992, the Department of Education's draft of Core Curriculum Standards, the Department

of Education's Strategic Plan for Systemic Change, and the national education reform

effort embodied in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, all of which have pointed

to the arts as a mechanism to improve the ability of students to think critically

and to solve problems; and e. In an era in which states and the federal government are searching for ways in

which to advance the educational achievement of at-risk students, research has indicated

that an arts-based curriculum offers a powerful tool to effectuate student academic

achievement by increasing the motivation of students who may be disaffected from the

learning process. There is empirical evidence that academic disciplines such as reading, writing,

languages, social studies, science and math are reinforced through an arts-infused

curriculum. The Legislature further finds, therefore, that a program which provides for the development

of arts-infused model schools can serve an important public policy function by determining

if the strategies utilized by the model schools are effective and can be successfully

replicated in districts throughout the State to enhance overall student performance.