2022-23 SOTA Released with a New Interactive Data Tool

Ingenuity’s 11th annual State of the Arts (SOTA) report is released with a new interactive data dashboard tool designed to increase CPS arts education advocacy and strategy

The State of the Arts (SOTA), along with Ingenuity’s other publications and programming, is designed to push Chicago to fulfill its promise for a quality arts education for every Chicago Public Schools (CPS) student and close the gap in arts education access. 

This year’s report includes ten new analyses, providing the city of Chicago, the District, CPS schools, arts partners, and funders in the sector with a bird’s-eye view of 2022-23 arts education data in Chicago Public Schools. The report highlights findings from metrics on the Creative Schools Certification (CSC), the school-level arts indicator.

Our 2022-23 report shows clear trends of recovery since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are disparities in arts access by school governance structure (district-managed, charter, contract, etc.) and by student demographics. Additional metrics that continue to challenge progress include instructional minutes in elementary schools and the breadth and depth of disciplines offered in high schools. 

While sector-level findings can propel District and city strategy, such as with the forthcoming new CPS Arts Education Plan, stakeholders like arts partners and advocates are also interested in the arts education data for a subset of schools, such as within a given CPS school network or Chicago community area. 

This is why we harnessed Ingenuity’s mission for arts education access, quality, and equity and developed a new tool, the State of the Arts (SOTA) Dashboard. The SOTA Dashboard is an interactive data visualization tool that allows stakeholders to explore the CSC data and download a custom PDF summary report based on specific filters such as school type (elementary or high school), school governance, enrollment, student demographics, CPS networks, community area, ward, and CSC ratings. 

By allowing stakeholders the ability to explore the data through an individualized lens, it can be used for advocacy or data-informed decision-making. Our goal is not just to elevate new opportunities for equity, but to empower stakeholders like you to continuously evaluate and take action to improve arts education outcomes for every student, in every grade, at every CPS school. Visit the link below to review our SOTA report and dashboard, critical pathways to arts education equity, access, and quality. 

2022-23 State of the Arts

Ingenuity develops and deploys three data products in an ecosystem that facilitates transparency across the arts education sector: 1.) The State of the Arts report provides sector-level findings, 2.) The SOTA Dashboard allows individuals to distill data into a medium grain-size such as community area and CPS school network, and 3.) artlook^® displays the smallest grain-size with school-level and partner-level data.