A comparison of humanities curriculum in selected Iowa school districts from 1983 to 1993

The purpose of this study was to determine if there had been a decrease in humanities curriculum in public schools in the state of Iowa from 1983 to 1993. Further, if a decrease had taken place, did the variables of property wealth, income, geographic location or enrollment have a relationship to the decrease.;The study included 8 school districts. A "large" and "small" district from each geographic quadrant of the state were used. One large district had high property wealth and high income, one had high property wealth and low income, one had low property wealth and high income, and one had both low property wealth and low income. The four small districts had the same characteristics.;Two forms of information were studied. Numbers gathered from the 1983 and 1993 Basic Educational Data Survey (BEDS) documents formed the quantitative data in this study. Interviews with people from each of the eight selected districts formed the qualitative information in this study.;BEDS information showed a 5% drop in total school population in these eight districts from 1983 to 1993. The number of students taking humanities courses dropped 22%. The total number of faculty in these eight districts increased by 5.8%. The number of faculty teaching humanities dropped 22%. Total operating budgets for the combined districts showed a 62% increase. Spending on humanities increased 19%.;Wealth had an influence on a district's ability to lessen the decline of humanities offerings. The two wealthiest districts in this study had considerably less decline in humanities curriculum than the group as a whole. Related to wealth, it was discovered that enrollment trends play a major factor in humanities offerings. Greater equalization of funding would help districts overcome relatively poor property value and poor income average.;The qualitative findings showed that staff, parents, administrators, and community members, in general, did not notice a significant decline in humanities curriculum. From their interviews it was learned that because the decline in students and offerings took place over a relatively long period of time, the people interviewed were not cognizant of decline in their own district.