Fitting the Arts into Education: An Examination of High-Stakes Testing and Mandates Stemming from an Internship in the Arts

Students have always been classified but it is a relatively new phenomenon to track students according to their score on a standardized test. This focus on SAT scores was born after World War II and reached a frenzy during President Bush’s No Child Left Behind mandate. With time as a premium in schools any subject not being tested is pushed to the sidelines; therefore, where do the arts fit in this new school structure? As the arts are devalued in our schools, they are being devalued in our communities. This book looks at the history of standardized testing and specifically at how an arts program at one theatre in Massachusetts is affected by the new focus on standardized testing.