Ingenuity State of the Arts Progress Report 2015-2016 | Page 35

As important as having an arts instructor in a school is the extent to which that instructor is able to reach the school’s student body; it helps to illuminate students’ actual exposure to the arts. Teacher-student ratios impact schools’ abilities to bring the arts to all students, This success at the district level has helped to ensure that an increasing share of schools within the district meet the desired ratio for their students. In 2015-16, 73 percent of schools met or exceeded the goal of a teacherstudent ratio of 1:350, an increase from 68 offer appropriate levels of arts instruction, and provide greater depth of programming and coursework (e.g., Music I, Music II, etc.). Additionally, ratios account for the size of a school’s student population, and, thus, are comparable regardless of school size. percent in 2014-15, and consistent with the improvement that has occurred in each of In 2015-16, CPS enrolled approximately 370,500 K-12 students.15 In order to meet the recommended arts instructor-to-student ratio of 1:350, the district would have to employ 1,059 arts instructors. With 1,402 identified arts instructors working in CPS schools, overall, the district has a strong arts instructor-tostudent ratio of 1:264. While this ratio is strong, it does not indicate adequate staffing levels in all schools. With respect to student access, the largest challenge remains the equitable distribution of these certified arts instructors across schools regardless of school geography, demographics, or economics. the arts in CPS / staffing STAFFING RATIOS In 2015-16, 73 percent of schools met or exceeded the goal of a teacherstudent ratio of 1:350, an increase from 68 percent in 2014-15, and consistent with the improvement that has occurred in each of the four years these data have been collected. the four years these data have been collected. An additional 15 percent of schools had a ratio between 1:351 and 1:500, 8 percent had a ratio between 1:501 and 1:750, and 1 percent had a ratio greater than 1:750. Note that a lower ratio indicates more arts instructors per student. As of the 20th day of the 2015-16 school year. 15 35