Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot): “But that is not the
question. Why are we here, that is the question. And we are
blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in this
immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for
Godot to come.” Margaret Spellings: “We measure what we
treasure.” Diane Ravitch: “How do you measure friendship,
character, integrity?” “…you do some things not for economic
reward, and not because they are utilitarian, but because they
are right.” More and more, I am hearing that since we teach what
we test, the solution to equitable distribution of arts
education, particularly at the urban school district level where
the equity issue is most pronounced, is to create arts tests.
No, not bubble-type standardized tests, but rather performance-
based assessments that include a broad range of measures,
comparable from school-to-school, from student-to-student. If
you want to see what this could look like, there is at least one
state that has put much of this in place and