The Qualities of Quality: Excellence in Arts Education and How
to Achieve ItDecember 17, 2008 at 2:00 PM EST, 1:00 PM CST,
12:00 PM MST, 11:00 AM PST Many children in the United States
have little or no opportunity for formal arts instruction so
access to arts learning experiences remains a critical national
challenge. Additionally, the quality of arts learning
opportunities that are available to young people is a serious
concern. Understanding this second challenge – the challenge of
creating and sustaining high quality formal arts learning
experiences for K-12 youth, inside and outside of school – is
the focus of a recent research initiative, The Qualities of
Quality: Excellence in Arts Education and How to Achieve It,
commissioned by The Wallace Foundation and conducted by Project
Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The study
focuses on the character of excellence itself and asks three
core questions: (1) How do arts educators in the United
States—including leading practitioners, theorists, a