Research

The Arts and Human Development

by National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The convening showcased new research and evidence-based programs that identified the cognitive, social and behavioral outcomes of arts interventions. In response to calls to address “the whole person” in health and education policies, this paper proposes a framework for long-term collaboration between NEA, HHS and other federal agencies to align the arts with specific human developmental outcomes over a person’s lifespan.

Investigating Causal Effects of Arts Education Experiences

by: RICE | Houston Education Research Consortium

The report encourages policymakers to be mindful and considerate of these multifaceted educational benefits when assessing the opportunity costs that come with decisions pertaining to the provision of the arts in schools.

Engaging the Arts Across the Juvenile Justice System

by Education Commission of the States and the Arts Education Partnership

This Special Report explores research and programs that employ the arts along the juvenile justice continuum: in prevention, intervention, transition and healing.

Visual Arts Matter

by Arts Education Partnership and National Art Education Association

Visual arts can be a powerful discipline to support success throughout a student’s education, both within and outside of school settings. We experience visual arts each day, whether through our own creativity or everyday objects, such as the design of a cereal box or logo of a favorite sports team. For students, engaging with visual arts might take place during an art class, through a trip to an art museum or by participating in an arts-integrated English class. As students learn to create, respond and connect to their surroundings, experiences with visual arts help them to gain skills that positively impact their school experience.

A Population-Level Analysis of Associations Between School Music Participation and Academic Achievement

by Journal of Educational Psychology

This large-scale study identified evidence of positive relationships between school music participation and high school exam scores in English, mathematics, and science using population-level educational records for over 110,000 students in British Columbia, Canada. Participation in school music (especially instrumental music) was related to higher exam scores, and students with higher levels of school music engagement had higher exam scores.

The Arts and Dropout Prevention: The Power of Art to Engage

by National Drop Out Prevention Center/Network

Arts education is associated with lower dropout rates, as well as better academic outcomes. Studying the arts promotes academic selfefficacy and school engagement (predictors of persistence to graduation), and it enhances socioemotional skills valued in social relationships, the workplace, and education settings. As research continues to clarify those connections, and dropout prevention strategies are consciously integrated into arts education, arts education should be considered more intentionally as a dropout prevention strategy.

Arts-Based Programs and Arts Therapies for At-Risk, Justice-Involved, and Traumatized Youths

by U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

The study found that, among children and teenagers from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, those with high levels of arts engagement showed more positive outcomes on indicators such as school grades, test scores, and high-school graduation rates, compared with youths with low levels of arts engagement.

The Role of Arts Participation in Students’ Academic and Nonacademic Outcomes

by Journal of Educational Psychology

This longitudinal study draws on positive youth development frameworks and ecological models to examine the role of school-, home- and community-based arts participation in students’ academic (e.g., motivation, engagement) and nonacademic (e.g., self-esteem, life satisfaction) outcomes. The study is based on 643 elementary and high school students from 15 schools conducted over the course of 2 academic years.

A Call for Jacksonville Employers to Embrace STEAM

by Cathedral Arts Project

Why should you support arts education? Because it is the difference-maker. For the underserved, STEM graduates and top executives alike, arts education makes the difference and paves the way for socioeconomic success.

The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies

by National Endowment for the Arts

This report examines the academic and civic behavior outcomes of teenagers and young adults who have engaged deeply with the arts in or out of school.

A Snapshot of Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 2009–10

by US Department of Education and National Center for Education Statistics

This report provides selected national data on the status of arts education in public elementary and secondary schools. The findings are based on information collected through a set of seven surveys. Using its Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) conducted the surveys during the 2009–10 school year. The elementary and secondary school surveys collected data on student access to arts education and the resources available for such instruction. The teacher surveys collected information on academic preparation, work environments, and instructional practices of elementary school teachers (classroom teachers, music specialists, and visual arts specialists) and secondary school music and visual arts specialists.

A Portrait of the Visual Arts: Meeting the Challenges of a New Era

by RAND Corporation

The third in a series that examines the state of the arts in America, this analysis shows, in addition to lines around the block for special exhibits, well-paid superstar artists, flourishing university visual arts programs, and a global expansion of collectors, developments in the visual arts also tell a story of rapid, even seismic change, systemic imbalances, and dislocation. Using the performing arts as a comparison, this book shows that the visual arts appear better suited to the changing consumption and life styles of American consumers.

Arts Education Benefits Literacy Skills

by Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The study found that students in the program performed better in six categories of literacy and critical thinking skills — including thorough description, hypothesizing and reasoning — than did students who were not in the program. The children were assessed as they discussed a passage in a children’s book, Cynthia Kadohata’s “Kira-Kira,” and a painting by Arshile Gorky, “The Artist and His Mother.”

Study: Arts education has academic effect

by Arts Education Partnership

Schoolchildren exposed to drama, music and dance may do a better job at mastering reading, writing and math than those who focus solely on academics, says a report by the Arts Education Partnership.

The Well-Rounded Curriculum

by US Department of Education

If there is a message that I hope you will take away from today’s conference it is this: The arts can no longer be treated as a frill. As First Lady Michelle Obama has said, “the arts are not just a nice thing to have or do if there is free time or if one can afford it… Paintings and poetry, music and design… they all define who we are as a people.”

Learning, Arts, and the Brain: The Dana Consortium Report on Arts and Cognition

by The Dana Foundation

The research includes new data about the effects of arts training that should stimulate future investigation. The preliminary conclusions we have reached may soon lead to trustworthy assumptions about the impact of arts study on the brain; this should be helpful to parents, students, educators, neuroscientists, and policymakers in making personal, institutional, and policy decisions.

Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement

by The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies

This article describes in nontechnical terms what the research says about how study of the arts contributes to academic achievement and student success. It offers impartial, to-the-point reporting of the multiple benefits associated with students’ learning experiences
in the arts. In short, it “makes the case for the arts” based on sound educational research.

Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning

by The Arts Education Partnership and The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

As a result of their varied inquiries, the Champions of Change researchers found that learners can attain higher levels of achievement through their engagement with the arts. Moreover, one of the critical research findings is that the learning in and through the arts can help “level the playing field” for youngsters from disadvantaged circumstances.

Theatre Counts – How Theatre Education Transforms Students’ Lives

Arts Education Partnership

People have long recognized the benefits of theatre education for academic outcomes in both theatre and other subjects, but did you know about the benefits it has for learners’ identity development, peer relations and self-awareness? This new special report from the Arts Education Partnership explores the impacts of theatre education on students and their development, as well as outcomes for educators as they strive to create empowering learning environments.