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Arts & Culture

Increasing


Percent of Students Taking an Arts Course by Subject, 2023

What does this measure?

The number of students completing at least one arts course in grades K to 12 by subject.

Why is this important?

Participating in arts allows students to explore different perspectives, reflect on emotions and foster creativity and innovation. Studies have shown that arts educational experiences can lead to more positive social and academic development outcomes among students. Taking a variety of arts courses in school allows students an opportunity to gain the benefits from arts experiences in an accessible way.

How is our region doing?

In 2023, 75.7% of students in MetroWest were taking a visual arts course, followed by music with 68.7%. Dance had the lowest percentage of students taking a course at 0.9% followed by Theatre at 4.7% and Media at 9.7%. At the state level, a lower percentage of students were taking visual arts courses (71.3%) and music courses (62.4%) than in MetroWest but a higher percentage were taking dance (2%) and theatre (6.3%).

Notes about the data

After 2019, the arts course list was updated to include a new arts subject category of "Media Arts" and several arts courses were reclassified from the "General Arts" category to "Visual Arts" to more closely align to the industry standard. In 2022, courses were no longer assigned to the "General" category.

Percent of Students Taking an Arts Course by Subject, 2023
All SubjectsDanceMediaMusicTheatreVisual
Massachusetts81.4%2.0%7.4%62.4%6.3%71.3%
Region83.0%0.9%9.7%68.7%4.7%75.7%
Middlesex County85.2%1.3%11.5%71.6%6.1%77.8%
Norfolk County78.3%0.0%6.4%63.6%2.6%71.5%
Worcester County83.4%0.2%6.7%62.7%0.3%74.2%
Bedford School District82.6%0.0%2.2%65.8%6.4%72.4%
Holliston School District92.2%0.0%4.3%76.4%0.9%85.9%
Hopkinton School District86.9%0.0%25.3%71.7%22.0%80.1%
Marlborough School District92.8%0.0%23.4%83.0%0.0%87.2%
Medfield School District88.2%0.0%9.8%70.5%0.0%81.2%
Westford School District85.2%0.0%4.2%64.2%8.6%77.3%

Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education




Number of Students Taking an Arts Course by Subject, 2023
All SubjectsDanceMediaMusicTheatreVisual
Massachusetts3,140,14078,506286,6792,407,905241,6512,749,001
Region399,1484,22446,543330,61222,828364,091
Middlesex County264,4744,17735,603222,27118,850241,519
Norfolk County117,07009,53095,1143,906106,912
Worcester County17,604471,41013,2277215,660
Bedford School District7,54202046,0065836,609
Holliston School District8,97804147,439918,360
Hopkinton School District12,74103,71610,5143,22511,753
Marlborough School District22,10605,56419,765020,754
Medfield School District7,56608416,04706,968
Westford School District14,179070110,6891,42612,868

Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education




Percent of Students Taking an Arts Course by Subject, 2018
All SubjectsDanceGeneralMusicTheatreVisual
Massachusetts79.3%1.6%62.7%62.3%7.6%7.8%
Region83.4%0.2%67.9%69.0%9.1%8.0%
Middlesex County81.9%0.4%65.8%68.2%12.2%9.1%
Norfolk County84.8%0.0%69.8%69.0%5.4%6.4%
Worcester County87.7%0.0%74.6%75.8%3.8%7.8%
Ashland School District87.7%0.0%65.2%69.2%19.8%6.9%
Framingham School District87.2%0.0%74.6%71.7%16.4%7.9%
Franklin School District88.7%0.0%62.4%61.3%10.8%7.2%
Harvard School District82.3%0.0%61.5%59.5%10.5%9.6%
Sherborn School District100.0%0.0%100.0%100.0%0.0%0.0%
Walpole School District84.5%0.0%67.6%70.5%5.1%8.7%
Wayland School District84.3%0.0%48.2%76.8%24.2%26.7%

Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education




Number of Students Taking an Arts Course by Subject, 2018
All SubjectsDanceGeneralMusicTheatreVisual
Massachusetts3,153,11663,4942,491,6382,475,422300,559311,538
Region316,236804257,547261,77134,34430,416
Middlesex County173,758804139,580144,69225,79619,324
Norfolk County119,621098,53097,3207,5679,060
Worcester County22,857019,43719,7599812,032
Ashland School District9,41006,9917,4262,126741
Framingham School District34,201029,27128,1286,4173,097
Franklin School District18,282012,87612,6352,2371,490
Harvard School District3,43302,5662,481436402
Sherborn School District1,53201,5321,53200
Walpole School District12,42509,93510,3757541,277
Wayland School District9,28205,3108,4562,6672,942

Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education




INDICATORS REGIONAL TREND


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