Arts Education

The United States and many other countries seem to be obsessed with STEM (Science,
Technology, Mathematics, and Engineering) education. President Obama himself has led
the charge to sway more students into pursuing STEM-related careers. Of course, the
merits of STEM education are fairly self-evident: what would our society be without
biologists, chemists, doctors, and surgeons? Where would society be today without
Einstein, Bohr, and Watson and Crick?
And yet, STEM education seems, to many, all too academic. Many professionals are now
pushing for an emphasis on STEAM (where the A stands for Arts) education, since the
arts ostensibly cultivate a broader skillset. STEM education is undoubtedly necessary for
the United States to lead in technological innovation, but what is lost by the de-emphasis
on arts education that takes place as more and more students move to study STEM?
Given the merits of an arts education, it is worth examining the implications of this
movement away from the arts and toward STEM.
Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of
thinking about the decreasing focus on arts education in the United States.
Perspective One
Art is born through the
solving of problems. How
do I turn this clay into a
sculpture? How do I
portray a particular
emotion through dance?
How will my character
react in this situation?
Kids that participate in the
arts are consistently being
challenged to solve
problems. All this practice
problem solving develops
childrens skills in
reasoning and
understanding. This will
help develop important

Perspective Two
Obtaining harder skills
such as those applicable
to many STEM careers is
surely critical yet even
those working in the most
highly technical fields can
benefit from the wellrounded advantages that
the liberal arts can
provide. Likewise, those
schooled in the liberal arts
must have at least basic
skills in the sciences and
mathematics. Its not
either-or. Only a
combination of STEM and
arts programs will meet

Perspective Three
Students in the United
States must focus more on
STEM education in the
coming decade. In South
Korea, 37.8% of students
graduate with degrees in
STEM fields; in China that
number is 46.7%. In fact,
the United States ranks
52nd worldwide in STEM
education, and more than
65% of students who get
engineering degrees in
the U.S. arent even U.S.
citizens. How are we to
remain competitive in a
STEM economy without

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple

perspectives on the decreasing focus on arts education in the
United States. In your essay, be sure to: