As we continue our celebration of National Arts in Education Week 2026, we are turning today’s post over to the arts ed experts at the Arizona Department of Education (AZDOE). As the Arizona State Board of Education requires the inclusion of arts education in the minimum course of study for Arizona students, AZDOE tracks student access to and participation in arts courses throughout the state. These data are accessible to the public through the Arts Education Data Dashboard. With intuitive controls and myriad visualization options, the Arts Education Data Dashboard allows users to venture deep into the state’s arts education data, including statewide geographic comparisons; county-, district-, and school-level reporting; and year-over changes in enrollment.
Below, AZDOE Arts Education Specialist Kelly Montaño offers a synopsis of key findings from the most recent data. Thanks, Kelly!
Overview
The Arts Education Data Dashboard includes K-12 enrollment data that has been self-reported by district and charter schools across the state. Information included in the dashboard may be used to compare district- and school-level arts education programs with the State Board’s Arizona Arts Education Requirements, evaluate the effectiveness of arts education programs and answer questions frequently asked by Arizona parents regarding arts education programs. In addition, users may explore discipline-specific access and enrollment information, as well as participation in the Arizona’s State Seal of Arts Proficiency program.
Because the data used for the Arizona Arts Education Data Project were self-reported, it may not reflect a complete account of student enrollment or access.
Arts Education Access
The new Arizona Arts Education Dashboard documents student access to arts education courses more precisely. Rather than reporting arts education access based on reported arts enrollments per school, access numbers are based on reported arts enrollments per grade level, per school. Using this more precise measurement, we see that in 2024-2025:
- 83.22% of Arizona students had access to courses in at least one arts discipline (Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts), and 72.6% of Arizona schools reported student enrollments in at least one arts course.
- Only 33.84% of Arizona district and charter schools servicing students in grades K-8 reported meeting the minimum course of study requirement of Arizona Administrative Code R7-2-301 that requires K-8 students to demonstrate competency as defined by academic standards in two artistic disciplines.
- Of schools whose arts course offerings did not meet the requirement, lack of funding for arts teaching staff was the most common barrier cited by school leaders when surveyed. The most common professional development topic requested by these school leaders was “Funding options for arts education staff and programming.”
- 190,441 students – 16.78% – had no reported access to arts courses in their grade level at school.
- 572 schools – 27.4% – reported no arts enrollments.
Arts Education Enrollment
In 2024-2025 Arizona schools reported:
- Arts course enrollments for 672,659 students in grades K-12. That’s 59.26% of Arizona students.
The highest percentage of enrollments in grades K-5, with 74.01% of students enrolled in at least one arts course. - 63.29 % of students in grades 6-8 and 37.58% of students in grades 9-12 were enrolled in at least one arts course.
- The most enrollments in visual arts courses, with 468,492 students enrolled. This represents 41.27% of all arts enrolled students.
- 459,489 students enrolled in music courses, followed by 35,341 in theatre courses, 28,343 in dance courses, and 19,344 in media arts courses.
