| The Recreative and Cultural Project (RCP) of Puerto Rico — known as COPANI — was the first program ever established in Puerto Rico to enhance the artistic skills of students in junior high and high schools, especially in dance and musical performance. The federally funded RCP, which has been in operation continuously since its inception in 1979, is a free-standing program that is competitively structured. Students who have skills in dance or music performance and the interest to pursue these skills more intensely audition for the RCP program and compete with each other for acceptance, as there is limited enrollment (see Chapter 3 for a detailed description of the characteristics and history of the RCP). Thus, many students with artistic performance skills and interest have auditioned for the RCP since 1980, but were not admitted to the program. Given the above, the main research question of interest to the study was,“What has been the impact of the RCP on the music and dance performance behaviors of students who have attended the program after they have graduated from high school?” Stated declaratively, the purpose of the evaluative study was to attempt to determine if the students in the RCP program have pursued professional or nonprofessional pursuits in their chosen artistic area, dance or music, either as performers or in other ways related to their artistic area, e.g., as choreographers, band leaders, or teachers, among other possibilities. If the RCP has had a particular impact on the students in the program, then one would expect their rate of professional activity in dance and music should be significantly greater than the rate of professional activity of those students who auditioned for the RCP but were not admitted to the program. Thus, closely related general research questions to that posed above were, a)“What has been the impact on the nonprofessional pursuit in music and dance of participants in the RCP program in contrast to nonparticipants, following graduation from high school”? and b)“How do the participants in the program differ from the nonparticipants in terms of professional involvement in music or dance, following graduation from high school?” I was interested in answering these questions because I wanted to know if the arts program was helping the students or not, and whether the arts could be a valid occupational choice for Puerto Rican youth after graduation from high school. In addition to these studies, another significant body of research, more closely related to the current study, has focused on the individual level rather than the organizational level. These studies have looked at students in arts programs, especially music programs, and asked, among other things, what factors affect their self-esteem, their performance, their enrollment, and their attrition from the arts programs? Despite the relatively large number of studies which have been conducted on arts programs in schools, very few have focused on dance; and, most important so far as the current study was concerned, no studies that I have been able to locate evaluated the post-graduate careers of students who participated in arts programs in high schools. The RCP was initially located, as it still is, in a former military base, Ramey Base, in the town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Each year the RCP has a maximum total of 350 students in the two programs, music and dance. Because some students are in the program for many years, from 7th grade through 12th grade, only a small number of new students may be admitted in any given year, to replace those who graduated or dropped out of the program. From 1980 through 1991, a total of 1,297 students have been in the RCP for one semester or more. A much larger number than this, 2,174 students, auditioned for the RCP but were not accepted into the program. Most of those who audition for the RCP are in the lower to middle socioeconomic classes. The age range of the students is 12 to 18 years. The students in the RCP attend their regular school during the week, the same as all other students, and only attend the RCP during weekends and summers, when they stay over. The Recreative and Cultural Project has three large buildings which contain, among other things, dormitories where students and staff live. The male and female students are segregated in different dormitories and buildings. At the RCP the special purpose of teaching students to take responsibility for their own learning permeates school life. Each teacher in the Project develops his or her own curriculum. Teachers are free to make decisions as to what material to use and what skills to teach. There are no courses given like those one would find in a regular, conventional, or traditional school curriculum. Instead of courses, at the RCP there are simply skills to be learned by the students that are taught by the teachers. As regards the formal leadership structure of the RCP, the educational department chairman is the highest administrative position. The Fine Arts Division of the Puerto Rican Department of Education is the direct link between the Recreative and Cultural Project and the Chairman. The Director is the project leader who motivates the staff members to achieve goals. The just-mentioned Chairman of the Department of Education and Directors of the RCP form the primary network of decision-making. In addition, there are five teachers with responsibility for carrying out the annual plan and helping the project director with such things as student discipline, tutorials, and selecting and evaluating students for the program. The RCP program has never been refused funding by the government, and over the years has received on average approximately $230,000 per year to cover operating costs. The Arts in Education Dance and music are disciplines with aesthetic, perceptual, creative, and intellectual dimensions. They foster students’ abilities to create, experience, analyze, and reorganize. The arts provide a balance in the curriculum that is particularly important for the development of the whole person. They assist students in realizing their full potential by providing avenues for self-discovery and for harmonizing the mind, body, and spirit, thus leading toward an integrated personality. The arts broaden expressive capacity by increasing avenues of nonverbal expression and contribute to the total learning process in numerous ways (California State Board of Education, 1982). For all students, study of the arts can increase self-discipline and motivation, contribute to a positive self-image, provide an acceptable outlet for emotions, and help to develop creative and intuitive thinking processes not always inherent in other academic pursuits. In addition, for students who learn best through nonverbal modes, the arts provide additional opportunities for successful learning experiences. Moreover, the arts can create a meaningful context for learning and foster improved retention through multisensory approaches. The study of the arts can also contribute to the appreciation of historical and multicultural understandings and the development of problem-solving ability (California State Board of Education, 1982). Careers in the Arts In addition to experiencing dance and music in the educational setting, a student gains future benefits from learning arts as a profession. A wide range of careers exists in the field. Throughout the grade levels, a curriculum in dance and music would sustain the student’s ability through student involvement, progress, and growth (California State Board of Education 1982). Arts and General Education in Puerto Rico Historically, the conception of education in Puerto Rico as a public function of the State grew slowly under the regime of Spain until 1865, when it was formally recognized as such. Much of the education effort was manifested in what might be called secondary and professional education, with the demand for this coming from the wealthier classes, who basically neglected popular education (Osuna, 1949). The real public school system in Puerto Rico was established by the United States early in the 20th century. Its original objective was the“Americanization” of the people of Puerto Rico, as“. . . the emphasis in the school was placed on the study of English and on patriotic exercises” (Osuna, 1949, p. 134). Due to the efforts of some persevering Puerto Ricans, who were tied to the strong elements of the Hispanic culture, and the problem of finding teachers who could teach in the English language, the United States did not persist strongly in its objective of Americanization. During the last few decades of the 19th century, as a result of the failures of the local boards of education, which were established by the military and civil governments of the United States to perform their duties, education was centralized under an executive department,“The Department of Education.” The Department of Education of Puerto Rico is responsible for the planning and administration of public elementary and secondary education and the licensing of private educational institutions. Free educational services are given at the elementary and secondary levels and in academic and vocational schools. There are also other special adult educational programs, including evening courses, extension courses, educational radio and television programs, and community education services. The Puerto Rican educational system is centrally funded, rather than funded through local property and other tax levies or local issues, and uses over 25 percent of the Government’s general funds. It operates through three levels: the central office, seven regional offices, and one hundred local school district offices (Departamento de Instruccion Publica, 1985). Brief History of Dance Education The first effort to introduce dance education into the Puerto Rican education system was made by including it as a part of the physical education program, in 1909. Even though it became part of the physical education program, little emphasis was given to it. In addition, music departments and theater departments have developed dance in informal ways to complement the former (Otero, 1992). Other avenues for the development of dance programs were implemented between the years 1971-73. They were the Arts Festivals, which included dance as part of their activities. Several schools were represented by groups, but the majority of them were organized by academic teachers with little knowledge and experience in dance (Bravo, 1992). In the school year 1973-74, the Escuela Tecnica de Artesania Escenica (ETAE) was established. It included dance as part of its curriculum. Dance courses on folk, modern jazz, and ballet were taught for eight consecutive years until the entire program was eliminated in 1981. Another program was started in 1983-84, called Ballet School of Puerto Rico. It offered instruction and training in dance to students from 5th grade to 12th grade. This program admitted students from San Juan only. In the beginning this school was funded by the school system and by the Ballet of Puerto Rico in New York. Today only the school system funds this program. All these programs have had excellent results. Quite a few students who came out of these programs are working in TV, for dance companies, or in other arts-related areas (Bravo, 1992). Brief History of Music Education Since 1898, when Puerto Rico became part of the United States, education has had a great impetus, especially the fine arts programs, which include music. Music has been part of all schools as an elective course. Today music is taught in schools with the aim of satisfying the needs of students who want to gain a more professional knowledge of music. Also, seven schools were created that were devoted solely to the instruction of music, one in each educational region (or district). These students receive training in academic subjects as well as music. Many of them, after finishing high school, go to the U.S. to continue a professional career in this field. Others go to the Conservatorio de Musica in San Juan, where they receive training to learn how to play an instrument or instruments. Theory is taught in the University (Departamento de Instruccion Publica, 1985). The overview just presented has shown that the arts have been part of the Puerto Rican curriculum for many years, but they have been developed in a narrow way. They need to be expanded in order to have courses in the performing arts in each school for all students. Although art programs have been successful in schools, there is not tangible evidence of the impact of programs like the RCP, which is one with characteristics not found in conventional art programs offered in schools. The RCP, in contrast to traditional art programs, is free-standing and competitive in nature. Given this, the basic research problem investigated in the study was to determine the impact of the RCP on the arts-related careers of the participants and to compare these outcomes to the arts-related careers of students who auditioned for the RCP but were not admitted into the program, after members of each of these groups had graduated from high school. The major research questions of the study were the following:
2. What has been the impact on the professional pursuit in music and dance of participants in the RCP program in contrast to nonparticipants, following graduation from high school? 3. What has been the impact of the RCP on the nonprofessional and professional pursuit of music and dance participants in the RCP? 4. What aspects of the program were most valued by the participants and were attributed to their sustained interest of music or dance? The population that was researched included all high school graduates in Puerto Rico between 1980 and 1991 who either were in the RCP for at least one semester or auditioned for the RCP but were not accepted into the program. A total of 600 sample subjects were initially randomly selected to receive the research instrument: 300 were in the RCP for at least one semester and 300 auditioned for the RCP but were not accepted. I ultimately analyzed a total of 200 individuals, 100 from each of the above-mentioned groups. The list of names of the population were obtained from the records of the RCP and school system. Once I had access to the records, I obtained a random sample of 600 subjects by selecting one out of every four participants and one out of every seven nonparticipants. I then mailed the research instrument along with a cover letter and self-addressed stamped envelope, to the individuals selected through the sampling procedure. The research instrument mailed to the sample subjects was a survey instrument I created. The questions asked were designed to collect data pertinent to the concerns of this study. To describe the characteristics of the sample studied, I used various descriptive statistics, including the arithmetic mean, median, mode, standard deviation, range, frequencies, and percentages. To answer the research questions, i.e., to test the hypotheses, of the study, I used a variety of inferential statistics including, as appropriate, the t-test for the difference between means and percentages of independent samples and Chi-square. For administrators, art programs can serve as another professional career option. Students can use these programs as a way of broadening their career choices, especially now that the arts have become a lucrative profession due to technological advances in television, video, movies, etc. Administrators can use art programs as a key that motivates students in acquiring a fulfilling professional career in dance or music, but more important is the fact that many art programs have been successful due to administrators’ belief and special attention to them. This has made a difference in the success or failure of such art programs. From the study, administrators will be able to learn whether or not the program described and analyzed, the RCP program, had an impact on the participants with respect to arts-related career activities, what the major characteristics of the RCP program are, and which of these characteristics participants in the program rated as most positive and most negative. Thus, it is possible that the study will provide a model that administrators can emulate or adapt to their own conditions and circumstances, and help administrators save time and aggravation, as well as costs, developing arts education programs in their schools. | Order the Book | | Customized Book Publishing & Manuscript Services | | How to Contact Us | Back to Home Page | |