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 Did You Know?
Young people who participate in the arts for at least three
hours on three days each week through at least one full year
are:
4 times more likely to be recognized for academic
achievement
- 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within
their schools
- 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science
fair
- 3 times more likely to win an award for school
attendance
- 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay
or poem
Young artists, as compared with their peers, are likely to:
- Attend music, art, and dance classes nearly three times
as frequently
- Participate in youth groups nearly four times as
frequently
- Read for pleasure nearly twice as often
- Perform community service more than four times as often
Living the Arts through Language + Learning: A Report on
Community-based Youth Organizations, Shirley Brice
Heath, Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation For the
Advancement of Teaching, Americans for the Arts
Monograph, November 1998)
The facts are that arts education...
- makes a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of
every child and has proven to help level the "learning
field" across socio-economic boundaries.
(Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School,
James S. Catterall, The UCLA Imagination Project, Graduate
School of Education & Information Studies, UCLA, Americans
for the Arts Monograph, January 1998)
- has a measurable impact on youth at risk in deterring
delinquent behavior and truancy problems while also
increasing overall academic performance among those youth
engaged in after school and summer arts programs targeted
toward delinquency prevention.
(YouthARTS Development Project, 1996, U.S. Department of
Justice, National Endowment for the Arts, and Americans for
the Arts)
Businesses understand that arts education...
- builds a school climate of high expectation, discipline,
and academic rigor that attracts businesses relocating to
your community.
- strengthens student problem-solving and critical
thinking skills, adding to overall academic achievement and
school success.
- helps students develop a sense of craftsmanship, quality
task performance, and goal-setting—skills needed to succeed
in the classroom and beyond.
- can help troubled youth, providing an alternative to
destructive behavior and another way for students to
approach learning.
- provides another opportunity for parental, community,
and business involvement with schools, including arts and
humanities organizations.
- helps all students develop more appreciation and
understanding of the world around them.
- helps students develop a positive work ethic and pride
in a job well done.
(Business Circle for Arts Education in Oklahoma, "Arts at
the Core of Learning 1999 Initiative")
Dig Deeper
Proof of the Power of Arts Education
Read highlights of key national research on the impact of arts
education on children and learning. These brief findings offer
links to publication summaries that link to full publications
online (when available).
How High Do We Reach?
What is it exactly that our kids should be able to do when they
study the arts? We're glad you asked. Standards for arts
education have been developed by arts and education experts at
the national level, and most of our states have followed suit.
How Have We Done So Far?
National Assessment of Educational Progress: 1997 Arts
Assessment Report Card
An ongoing project of the U.S. Department of Education's
National Center for Education Statistics, the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) regularly tests
students in different academic subjects, including dance, music,
theatre, and visual art,
to produce a national picture of how America's students are
doing in various disciplines.
The periodic inclusion of the arts disciplines in the
"Nation's Report Card" underscores the arts as academic
material. For the "Arts Assessment Report Card," students were
tested in their abilities to respond to (the work of others),
perform (the work of others), and create (original work) in the
arts disciplines. The results were not impressive but the study
did show that instruction makes a difference in student
achievement in all three of the tested domains of responding to,
performing, and creating in the arts. The report also describes
the frequency with which arts education is offered as reported
by the randomly sampled schools. The most recent NAEP to test
the arts was conducted in 1997 and the NAEP is scheduled to
re-test the arts in 2007. This link offers the full report
including an executive summary, a press release, and highlights
of the report in a shorter document.
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