A new report was released today, profiling the state of the arts in one of the country’s largest school system – Chicago Public Schools. Ingenuity, an arts advocacy organization in Chicago, works closely with the school system to reinstate arts education in every school for every student. The report, is the first of its kind in Chicago, and will be the first in a set of longitudinal reports by Ingenuity which will track student access to the arts in schools. This aim is part of the larger CPS Arts Education Plan’s goal of providing every CPS student with equitable access to a quality arts education.

In a press release, the key findings of the report were issued. The following summary was provided:

“CPS schools compare favorably to other urban schools in a number of ways including a lowest student to instructor ratio and an ambitious minimum weekly instruction requirement of 120 minutes of instruction per elementary grade student. The highest category of schools on the new CPS Creative Schools Certification – 'Excelling' schools – are among top schools nationally for the provisions dedicated arts staffing and instructional minutes for students.”

Read the full release here and the full report here.