Descriptions of the districts in this written report are used to illustrate a major finding, crucial strategy, or outstanding practice. A complete list of districts nominated for inclusion in the study, including individuals to be contacted in each of the districts, are provided in the database on this Web site. Before the first interviews were conducted or sites visited, it was possible for the researchers to make a number of generalizations about school districts with strong arts education based upon the 500 district recommendations and the completed surveys and applications of the 300 respondents. Through data and description, the districts provided information about student performance, breadth and depth of arts education offerings, staffing, access, innovation, community involvement, resources, leadership, and use of guidelines such as local, state, or national standards. A few of the districts and their states assess student achievement in the arts.
Most districts participating in the study offer visual art and music in most of their schools.
A few districts offer dance separately from physical education. Some districts mention special writing courses and activities above and beyond creative writing as part of an English course. Districts usually have more specialists in music than in other disciplines. Stronger districts have specialists in the elementary schools. Medium-sized to large school systems with support for arts education usually have at least one district arts coordinator.