The arts not only feed the spirit, they feed the intellect and bring beauty into our lives.

New Mexico Secretary of Education, Dr. Veronica Garcia

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Young people who perform 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, an Americans for the Arts monograph, 11/98.)

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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 socioeconomic 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, 1/98)

˜ 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, US Department of Justice, National Endowment for the Arts, and Americans for the Arts)

˜ Enables students of the arts (for four or more years) to outperform their non-arts peers on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).
(The College Entrance Examination Board)

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Business understands
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

(Business Circle for Arts Education in Oklahoma, "Arts at the Core of Learning 1999 Initiative,")

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Many thanks to the New Mexico Advisory Council on Arts Education and the New Mexico Alliance for Arts Education for supplying this information

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Arts Education Research

Arts Education Partnership Web Site This web site contains a wealth of information. Some of the items are listed here.

Champions of Change: Leading educational researchers examine the impact of arts experiences on young people in this report from the Presidents Committee on the Arts and Humanities and the Arts Education Partnership.

Gaining the Arts Advantage: This document makes the case for district-wide arts education by documenting lessons from school districts that value arts education, such as Las Cruces Public Schools. This report is from the Presidents Committee on the Arts and Humanities and the Arts Education Partnership.

Learning Partnerships: A Guide to Arts Education Collaboration that aims to improve learning in schools by working with arts partners in the community. This reports it from the Arts Education Partnership.

National Assessment of Educational Progress
An assessment of what our nation's eighth grade students know and can do in the arts released by the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics. http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ -- new web address

Keep Art in the Schools
In September, results of a project for the Ford Foundation by Douglas Gould & Company were released. The study presents messages and results of opinion research that show us how best to frame arts education for advocates who seek to build a constituency for lasting change. KeepArtsInSchools.org features the work they have executed to date on this project and seeks to arm advocates with the tools and resources they need to be more effective in their work and in their communications to keep arts education in public schools.

 

 

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