We’ve come a long way from what education used to look like, and these days there is ample research about the amazing benefits of STEAM and the Arts involvement in k-12 education. But what does that look like in the classroom? What are our current standards of education for STEAM and Art related topics?

In the state of Oregon, while the public push for STEAM in schools is pretty large, the actual engagement is pretty low. The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) reported, in a research paper detailing the Arts education in k-12 Oregon schools, that most examples of good Art education and STEAM happened rarely and only because of non-profits filling in the funding gaps. The OCF found it was difficult for some students to engage in the available Art programs provided because of ‘student body fees’ or other costs to join in the classes that aren’t deemed necessary for their education. This means Oregon’s current standards of Art education aren’t accessible.

But it isn’t just Oregon. All over the United States, students are struggling to take part in offered Art courses for a variety of reasons. The Arts Education Data Project found in their survey of the US’s Art education standards that in big cities, remote towns, and rural areas, students have significantly less access to Art. Their research also shows that schools on indigenous reservations have extremely limited access to the Arts and that 26% of their students never interact with the Arts inside the classroom, in clubs, or on fieldtrips. Their data also tells us that over 5,000 schools in the US don’t have reliable access to the Arts.

So, what’s up with the gaps? If so many researchers and schools claim that STEAM and Art education greatly improve community and academic achievement, why are schools all over the country unable to present their students with the Arts? The answer comes down to funding and accessibility. Public schools already have a difficult securing funding to preform regular duties, like paying for lunches, keeping the school clean, and getting enough supplies for each classroom. So, when researchers tell schools to ‘just introduce more STEAM’ without the schools getting more funding, the projects revolving around the Arts get left behind because they’re deemed ‘less important’ despite all the data proving otherwise. The schools that are able to provide Art and STEAM education typically put a price tag on it that the students and families must pay so the school can financially cover the cost of Art. This price means students unable to find enough money get left behind academically. So, while our schools are headed in the right direction by generally presenting more Art and STEAM in their education, we have a lot of work to do to ensure all students have equal access to these programs.