Equitable enrollment in music and visual arts coursework across middle school schedule frameworks in one U.S. school district: Examining an equity plan

School schedule structures may influence students’ equitable opportunities to enroll in music and visual arts coursework by shaping access to the curriculum. This study examined equitable enrollment opportunities to learn in music and visual arts coursework across middle school schedule frameworks in two public middle schools within the same school district in the United States over an 11-year period. We analyzed enrollment data for English as a New Language (ENL) students, students with disabilities (SWDs), gender, and ethnicity to compare several schedule frameworks and the newly-created Equity Plan schedule using a quantitative descriptive-comparative design. The Equity Plan achieved the highest overall equitable course enrollment rating and was the only framework to achieve an equitable enrollment average for both ENL students and SWDs across music and visual arts coursework.