Ingenuity State of the Arts Progress Report 2015-2016 | Page 9

The report begins with a brief overview
of the CPS Arts Education Plan. The Plan
contains six broad goals, each with three to
five specific recommendations that support
the achievement of that goal. This opening
section also provides background for the
Creative Schools Initiative and Creative
Schools Certification. The Creative Schools
Initiative was launched to move the Plan
from concept to action and includes fo ur
interlocking strategies. One of these, the
Creative Schools Certification, an indicator
of the quantity of arts resources at each
school, is the centerpiece of this report.
The opening section therefore describes
the background and process of the Creative
Schools Certification and sets the stage for
understanding the analyses that follow.

After describing these elements of the Plan,
the report turns to an investigation of the
findings from the 2015-16 school year. This
investigation opens with a discussion of Survey
participation levels, including an exploration
of differences between elementary and high
schools in the rate of Survey participation.
Then, based on the data collected from the
580 schools that completed the Survey, the
report explores in detail the state of the arts
in CPS. The Survey data are used to identify

introduction

This report is, first and foremost, intended to
illuminate the arts education environment
in CPS. It is also intended to help those with
a stake in ensuring that all CPS students
have access to the arts—parents, educators,
administrators, arts organizations, and
funders, for example—to identify gaps and
opportunities for improvement in providing
that equitable access. Each individual and
organization has a different role to fill in CPS’
arts education ecosystem; each should use
the report to help them identify where their
contributions can have the greatest impact.

each school’s placement along the Creative
Schools Certification continuum, providing

The Plan contains six broad goals,
each with three to five specific
recommendations that support
the achievement of that goal.

the best available summary measure of the
quantity of arts education available in each
school. Again, the report discusses the notable
differences between elementary and high
schools in how they are distributed along this
continuum, as well as how these ratings have
changed over time in the four years Ingenuity
has collected these data.

The Chicago Public Schools Arts Education Plan 2012-15: Bringing the Arts to Every Child in Every School. Chicago: Chicago Public Schools, 2012.

1

State of the Arts in Chicago Public Schools: Baseline Report 2012-13. Chicago: Ingenuity, 2014.

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