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Reinvestingin Arts EducationWinning Americas Future Through Creative Schools

Presidents Committee on the Arts And the humAnities


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Created in 1982 under President Reagan, the PresidentsCommittee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) isan advisory committee to the White House on cultural issues.

The PCAH works directly with the Administration and the

three primary cultural agencies National Endowment or

the Arts (NEA), National Endowment or the Humanities

(NEH) and the Institute o Museum and Lirary Services

(IMLS) as well as other ederal partners and the private

sector, to address policy questions in the arts and humanities,to initiate and support key programs in those disciplines

and to recognize excellence in the eld. Its core areas o

ocus are arts and humanities education, cultural exchange,

and community revitalization. The First Lady serves as the

Honorary Chairman o the Committee, which is composed o

oth private and pulic memers.

Through the eorts o its ederal and private memers, the

PCAH has compiled an impressive legacy over its almost

30-year tenure, conducting major research and policyanalysis, and catalyzing important ederal cultural programs,

oth domestic and international. These achievements rely

on the PCAHs unique role in ringing together the White

House, ederal agencies, civic organizations, corporations,

oundations and individuals to strengthen the United States

national investment in its cultural lie. Central to the PCAHs

mission is using the power o the arts and humanities to

contriute to the virancy o our society, the education o our

children, the creativity o our citizens and the strength o

our democracy.

Michll Om, Hny Ch

Co-CHairGorg Stvs, Jr.

Co-CHairMrgo Lio

ViCe CHairDr. Mry Schmidt Cmpll

exeCutiVe direCtorRchl Goslis


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With major support rom the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Additional support provided y:

Memers o the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities; and

the Stephen and Myrna Greenerg Philanthropic Fund o the Jewish Communal Fund

Reinvestingin Arts EducationWinning Americas Future Through Creative Schools

Presidents Committee on the Arts And the humAnities


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My 2011

Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 526

Washington, DC 20506

Telephone: 202-682-5409

Prepared y M. Christine Dwyer, RMC Research Corporation,

Portsmouth, NH

Produced y the Presidents Committee on the Arts

and the Humanities

Designed y Fletcher Design, Inc./ Washington, DC

Front Cover Photo: Michele Kraus

Printed in the United States o America

This pulication is availale ree o charge atwww.pcah.gov, the

wesite o the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Individuals are encouraged to cite this report and its contents. In

doing so, please include the ollowing attriution:

Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities,Reinvesting

in Arts Education: Winning Americas Future Through Creative

Schools, Washington, DC, May 2011
http://www.pcah.gov/http://www.pcah.gov/http://www.pcah.gov/http://www.pcah.gov/


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TabLe O COnTenTS

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................v

Foreword y Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary o Education.............................................1

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 7

The Case: Arts Education Outcomes ............................................................................... 15

The Need: Education System in Crisis ............................................................................27

The Opportunity: Point o Infection ...............................................................................37

Conclusion and Recommendations: A Vision o Arts-Rich Schools..................47

Appendices ...................................................................................................................................57

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................74

Memers o the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities ........76


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eXeCUTIVe SUMMaRY

IN OCTObER OF 2008, THEN-SENATOR ObAMA released a powerul Plat-orm in Support o the Arts. In it he argued or reinvesting in American artseducation, and reinvigorating the creativity and innovation that has made thiscountry great. Taking up this charge, over the past eighteen months the Presi-dents Committee on Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) has conducted an in-depth review

o the current condition o arts education, surveying recent research aout its documented

enets and identiying potential opportunities or advancing arts education. While we

ound a growing ody o research to support positive educational outcomes associated with

arts-rich schools, and many schools and programs engaged in such work, we also ound

enormous variety in the delivery o arts education, resulting in a complex patchwork with

pockets o visionary activity fourishing in some locations and inequities in access to arts

education increasing in others.

At this moment in our nations history, there is great urgency around major trans-

ormation in Americas schools. Persistently high dropout rates (reaching 50% or more in

some areas) are evidence that many schools are no longer ale to engage and motivate their

students. Students who do graduate rom high school are increasingly the products o nar-

rowed curricula, lacking the creative and critical thinking skills needed or success in post-


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

secondary education and the workorce. In such a climate, the outcomes associated with

arts education which include increased academic achievement, school engagement, and

creative thinking have ecome increasingly important. Decades o research show strong

and consistent links etween high-quality arts education and a wide range o impressive

educational outcomes. This is true even though, as in most areas where learning is complex,

the research ase does not yet estalish causal proo. Arts integration models, the practice

o teaching across classroom sujects in tandem with the arts, have een yielding some par-

ticularly promising results in school reorm and closing the achievement gap. Most recent-

ly, cutting-edge studies in neuroscience have een urther developing our understanding o

how arts strategies support crucial rain development in learning.

At the same time, due to udget constraints and emphasis on the sujects o high

stakes testing, arts instruction in schools is on a downward trend. Just when they need it

most, the classroom tasks and tools that could est reach and inspire these students art,

music, movement and perorming are less availale to them. Sadly, this is especially true

or students rom lower-income schools, where analyses show that access to the arts in

schools is disproportionately asent.

One promising development is that, nationally, arts education is nding new allies.Policymakers and civic and usiness leaders, as refected in several recent high level task

orce reports, are increasingly recognizing the potential role o the arts in spurring inno-

vation, providing teachers with more eective classroom strategies, engaging students in

learning, and creating a climate o high perormance in schools. Another development is

the enthusiasm among educators and memers o the arts community or expanding arts

integration and the use o well-trained teaching artists in schools. Arts integration has een

used in a numer o very successul long term programs to expand arts opportunities, en-

gage students more deeply in learning content, and as an eective school reorm strategy.

Teaching artists also represent an underutilized resource pool, many o whom are oth ea-

ger and well qualied to serve in long- term assignments in schools.

The PCAH recognized at the outset o this research that many diverse stakeholders

have an interest in arts education. Any signicant advancement in the eld will require un-

precedented unity o purpose and the coordinated actions o local, state, and ederal gov-

ernment agencies, educators and proessional associations, and the arts community. The


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

common purpose is expansion o access to arts education so that more students in Ameri-

can schools, especially those in underserved schools, have the enets o a comprehensive

education. based on what we learned over the past year aout needs and opportunities, the

PCAH is making ve recommendations or actions to e undertaken y dierent stakehold-

ers to advance arts education. Those actions are designed to clariy the position o the arts

in a comprehensive, well-rounded K-12 education that is appropriate or all students; uniy

and ocus eorts to expand arts education oerings to underserved students and communi-

ties; and strengthen the evidence ase or high quality arts education.

1. Build collaborations among dierent approaches. The PCAH urges leaders o

proessional associations to work with ederal and state agencies to uild and dem-

onstrate connections among dierent educators in the arts: art specialists work-

ing on standards-ased approaches; classroom teachers trained in arts integration;

and project-ased teaching artists. The PCAH elieves that collaorations among

national leadership organizations should move eyond internal deates in the arts

education eld aout modes o delivery o arts instruction in order to address the

more pressing issues o equitale access and inusing more schools with a

creativity-rich environment.

2. Develop the feld o arts integration. The second recommendation ocuses on an

expansion o arts integration. The PCAH encourages urther development o the eld

o arts integration through strengthening teacher preparation and proessional devel-

opment, targeting availale arts unding, and setting up mechanisms or sharing ideas

aout arts integration through communities o practice. In this recommendation

we identiy roles or regional and state arts and education agencies as well as private

unders.

3. Expand in-school opportunities or teaching artists. We strongly elieve that

working artists in this country represent an underutilized and underdeveloped re-

source in increasing the quality and vitality o arts education in our pulic schools.

The PCAH recommends expanding the role o teaching artists, in partnership with

arts specialists and classroom teachers, through sustained engagements in schools.

This should include supporting high quality proessional development in pedagogy


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

and curriculum. We see an opportunity or leadership in this rom the regional and

state arts agencies, as well as a national service program similar to the Artists Corps

idea articulated in President Oamas Arts Policy Campaign platorm.

4. Utilize ederal and state policies to reinorce the place o arts in K-12 education.

This recommendation ocuses on the need or ederal and state education leaders to

provide policy guidance or employing the arts to increase the rigor o curriculum,

strengthen teacher quality, and improve low-perorming schools. building capacity

to create and innovate in our students is central to guaranteeing the nations competi-

tiveness. To do this it is necessary or ederal and state governments to move eyond

merely allowing the arts as an expenditure o a comprehensive education.

5. Widen the ocus o evidence gathering about arts education. Finally, while the

evidence ase or the enets o the arts is compelling, there is room to expand sys-

tematic data gathering aout the arts, specically in developing creativity and enhanc-

ing engagement in school. Educators need practical tools to measure the progress o

student learning in the arts an investment that dovetails with the ederal education

agencys investments in more authentic assessments o complex learning. From a ed-

eral perspective, policymakers should help stakeholders make inormed arguments

and decisions regarding impact and equitale access. This requires policies that sup-

port ongoing data gathering aout availale opportunities, including teacher quality,

resources, and acilities at the local and state level.

The PCAH envisions schools in cities and towns across our nation that are alive with the

energy o creative thinking and resh ideas, ull o art, music and movement. All o our re-

search points to the success o schools that are arts-rich, in which students who may have

allen y the wayside nd themselves re-engaged in learning when their enthusiasm or

lm, design, theater or even hip-hop is tapped into y their teachers. More advanced stu-

dents also reap rewards in this environment, demonstrating accelerated learning and sus-

tained levels o motivation.

PCAH stands ready to partner with pulic agencies and the private sector to urther

develop and implement these recommendations.


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OReWORDar Duc, U.S. Scrtry o eductio

EDUCATION IN THE ARTS is more important than ever. In

the gloal economy, creativity is essential. Todays work-

ers need more than just skills and knowedge to e productive and

innovative participants in the workorce. Just look at the inven-

tors o the iPhone and the developers o Google: they are innovative as well as intelligent.

Through their comination o knowledge and creativity, they have transormed the way we

communicate, socialize, and do usiness. Creative experiences are part o the daily work lie

o engineers, usiness managers, and hundreds o other proessionals. To succeed today and

in the uture, Americas children will need to e inventive, resourceul, and imaginative. Theest way to oster that creativity is through arts education.

Reinvesting in Arts Education makes a compelling case or arts education and the es-

sential role it will play in preparing students or success in the knowledge and innovation

economy. This report shows us the link etween arts education and achievement in other

sujects. It documents that the process o making art whether is it written, perormed,

sculpted, photographed, lmed, danced, or painted prepares children or success in the

workorce not simply as artists, ut all proessions. Most importantly, it makes a compelling


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FOREWORD

argument or creating arts-rich schools and engaging artists in ways that complement the

study o other sujects such as literature, history, science, and mathematics.

I elieve that all students should have the opportunity to experience the arts in deep

and meaningul ways. The opportunity to learn aout the arts and to perorm as artists is an

essential part o a well-rounded curriculum and complete education. The study o drama,

dance, music, and the visual arts helps students explore realities, relationships, and ideas

that cannot e conveyed simply in words or numers. The aility to perorm and create in

the ne arts engenders innovative prolem-solving skills that students can apply to other

academic disciplines and provides experiences working as a team. Equally important, arts

instruction supports success in other sujects. Visual arts instruction improves reading

readiness, and learning to play a musical instrument or to master musical notation helps

students to succeed in math. Reading, math, and writing require students to understand

and use symols and so does assemling shapes and colors in a portrait or using musi-

cal notes to learn ractions. Experiences in the arts are valuale on their own, ut they also

enliven learning o other sujects, making them indispensale or a complete education in

the 21st Century.

As a parent, I have witnessed the aility o one arts educator to enrich the learning omy daughter and son, who attend a pulic elementary school that weaves science through-

out the curriculum. The schools music teacher writes and teaches songs to the kids aout

science. In his music room, children sing aout gravity, sedimentation, rocks, and the plan-

ets. Students sing, clap, and dance aout solids, liquids, and gases. On holidays celerating

American heroes, Mr. Puzzo writes songs or the students aout them. Years later, when

students sit down to take their SATs, they report humming Mr. Puzzos songs to recall his-

torical and scientic content. These musical experiences provide more than a memori-

zation tool to master acts. They provide opportunities to experience learning in creative

ways. They engage students in musical experiences that introduce them to the power and

eauty o the creative process or its own enjoyment and enrichment.

Ive also seen the power o arts education as an education leader. When I was the

CEO o Chicago Pulic Schools, I ecame convinced that arts education is an integral part

o school reorm. Working with the Chicago Arts Partnership in Education (CAPE), we

rought local artists and teachers into the schools to integrate arts curriculum with other


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FOREWORD

academic sujects. Studies showed that students at the CAPE schools perormed etter on

standardized assessments than students who attended schools that did not integrate arts

and sciences. Perhaps as important, researchers ound that schools working with CAPEs

artists made positive changes in the schools culture, creating environments where stu-

dents thrive academically, socially, and artistically.

Its an unortunate truth that many schools today are alling ar short o providing stu-

dents with a ull experience o the arts that helps them engage and succeed in other academ-

ic areas and uild skills that would serve them well in the innovation economy. Too oten,

students are saddled with oring textooks, dummied-down to the lowest common denom-

inator. Todays curriculum ails to spark student curiosity or stimulate a love o learning. As

this report documents, the arts signicantly oost student achievement, reduce discipline

prolems and increase the odds that students will go on to graduate rom college. It dem-

onstrates that arts education can play an important role in narrowing the achievement gap

etween minorities and whites. And it oers examples o arts-rich schools where teachers

and visiting artists use the magic o the arts to illuminate literature, social studies, math,

science, and other sujects.

President Oama has made a convincing case that innovation and education are go-ing to help America win the uture. He rmly elieves that arts education uilds innovative

thinkers who will ecome our nations leaders in government, usiness, and the nonprot

sectors. For todays students to e the innovators and economic leaders o the uture, they

will need to have experiences as musicians and dancers, painters and sculptors, poets and

playwrights in short, they will need to e creative innovators who will uild our nations

economy or the uture. They also will sustain a rich and virant culture to nourish the heart

and soul o the American people, and to communicate with our neighors around the gloe.

InReinvesting in Arts Education, the Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Hu-

manities explains why American schools are alling short in providing students the oppor-

tunity or a well-rounded curriculum and a rich arts education that will prepare them or

success in the uture. I encourage educators, school oard memers, usiness, and philan-

thropic leaders and artists to read this report and to see it as a call to action.


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INTRODUCTION

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When young peopleare involved withthe arts, something

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INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

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InTRODUCTIOn

THE PRESIDENTS COMMITTEE on the Arts and the Humanities(PCAH), ounded in 1982 y Executive Order, advises the WhiteHouse on cultural policy and collaorates with the three primarycultural agencies, the National Endowment or the Arts (NEA), theNational Endowment or the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute or Museum and Lirary

Services (IMLS). PCAH also works with other ederal agencies and the private sector to

initiate and support projects in the arts and humanities. The First Lady serves as Honorary

Chair o the Committee, which is composed o oth private and pulic memers. Private

memers appointed y the President include prominent artists, philanthropists, entrepre-

neurs, and state pulic ocials who have a demonstrated commitment to the arts and hu-

manities. Its ederal pulic memers include the Chairman o NEA, the Chairman o NEH,

the Director o the IMLS, the Lirarian o Congress, the Secretaries o the U.S. Departments

o Interior, State, and Education, and the heads o other ederal cultural institutions, such

as the National Gallery o Art, the John F. Kennedy Center or the Perorming Arts, and the

Smithsonian Institution.

PCAH has compiled an impressive legacy over its liespan, rom major policy reports

and convenings in the eld to initiating or creating successul ederal programs, such asSave


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INTRODUCTION

Americas Treasures, TheNational Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards (ormerly

Coming Up Taller)andFilm Forward. Each o these initiatives is a partnership involving two

or more ederal agencies and oth pulic and private support. The eectiveness o the Presi-

dents Committee is due to its unique position as a nexus o ederal cultural agencies, the arts

and humanities communities, and the private sector. The leadership o successive First La-

dies has een instrumental in ocusing the nations attention on critical cultural issues.

The PCAH elieves that the arts and humanities are essential to our pulic school

curriculum, oth in and o themselves and as a way to engage students more ully in their

education. PCAH has joined with diverse partners in arts and education to research these

areas.1 Under the current Administration, the Committee continues to support arts and hu-

manities education, oth during the school day and in ater-school and out-o-school time,

as a means to connect with at-risk students, create a culture o excellence and collaoration,

and encourage creativity and innovative thinking in young minds. It is with this approach

that the present memers o the Presidents Committee addressed the issues in this Report.

Th Prsidts Chrg

President barack Oama created an Arts Policy Council during his 2008 campaign made

up o artists, cultural leaders, educators and advocates, to advise on policy matters related

to the arts. The group was co-chaired y George Stevens, Jr. and Margo Lion, current Co-

Chairs o the Presidents Committee and included many present memers o the Commit-

tee. The Platorm in Support o the Arts stated:

Reinvest in Arts Education: To remain competitive in the gloal economy,

America needs to reinvigorate the kind o creativity and innovation that has made

this country great. To do so, we must nourish our childrens creative skills. In ad-

dition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in

the new gloal context, we should also encourage the aility to think creatively

that comes rom a meaningul arts education. Unortunately, many school dis-

tricts are cutting instructional time or art and music education.

1 For example, in 1999, the Department o Education provided pulication support or two PCAH/Arts Education Part-

nership research reports: Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons rom School Districts that Value Arts Education and

Champions o Change: The Impact o the Arts on Learning . These reports conrmed the value o arts in education, espe-

cially or at-risk students, who have limited access to cultural resources in their lives. Other PCAH pulications regard-

ing arts education can e ound at www.pcah.gov.


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INTRODUCTION

A susection o the Platorm specically recommended creating an Artists Corps de-

signed to ring artists into low-income schools and their communities.

It is essential to understand oth the challenges and the opportunities present in the

current state o the eld i we are to reinvest eectively in arts education, and yet it has een

well over a decade since the PCAH or any ederal entity examined these issues in depth. 2

Thereore, the PCAH undertook an examination o the enets o arts education and the

needs o underserved pulic schools across the country. This analysis is ollowed y a set

o general recommendations or ederal policymakers and other stakeholders to urther the

enets and reach o arts education in our nations schools that are consistent with Presi-

dent Oamas Arts Policy Platorm and with Mrs. Oamas determination to give all Ameri-

can children access to the advantages that lead to success in lie.

Rsrch d Dlirtio Procss

The PCAH has sought inormation over the past eighteen months rom a variety o sources

aout the est ways to expand arts opportunities or underserved schools. An independent

consultant and researcher was retained to guide the PCAH through this process, and also to

review existing studies and data in the eld.

The PCAH reviewed past ederal eorts supporting employment o artists in schools

and communities, rom the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to the Comprehensive

Employment and Training Act (CETA) and evaluated seminal and recent research ndings

aout arts education results and est practices.3 Simultaneously, working groups, ocus

groups, and inormation-sharing conversations were held across the country, along with

interviews with stakeholders and experts rom numerous elds. These included ederal

agencies, regional and state arts organizations, proessional associations, advocacy groups,

and local programs with innovative approaches to education, service, and the arts. The

2 Although not wide-ranging in scope, studies rom several ederal agencies have looked at discrete aspects o arts educa-

tion during this time, e.g. the National Assessment o Educational Progress study o 8th grade arts perormance, the U.S.

Government Accountaility Oce report on access to arts education, and most recently, the National Endowment or

the Arts analysis o the relationship etween arts education and arts participation.

3 Examples o past eorts are included in Appendix C, summaries o key studies in Appendix A, and descriptions o sam-

ple model programs in Appendix b.


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INTRODUCTION

PCAH has also conducted site visits to model arts programs around the country. While it

was impossile to speak with everyone who had expertise in the eld, the knowledge accu-

mulated y the Committee was impressive, and represented a diverse range o viewpoints,

perspectives, and experiences.

Perspectives aout the est way to meet the Presidents charge evolved over the

months o consultations and many o the PCAHs initial assumptions were reinorced. Re-

spondents repeatedly emphasized the value o a national platorm or ringing visiility to

the central role that arts can play in transorming teaching and learning. They agreed that

this time o educational crisis and transormation is the optimal moment or the ederal

government to make a major statement aout the value o ringing high quality arts teach-

ing to more schools.

Two themes emerged that the Committee ound compelling. First was the diver-

sity and dynamism o the dierent approaches to providing arts education four-

ishing in pockets o the country, oten through the comined support and leadership

rom nonprot community arts organizations, visionary school principals, private phi-

lanthropy, and parent groups. Almost every community indeed, almost every school

that tries to address the vexing challenge o how to get more arts into schools does sodierently. A complex patchwork o arts education services across the country is the

result,4 representing a mix o delivery models that includes standards-ased sequen-

tial arts curricula taught y arts specialists5; ormal and inormal arts integration strate-

gies6; and short and long term teaching residencies or artists.7 It also involves a wide ar-

ray o organizations, school and state ocials whose roles and initiative vary rom place to

4

Some even argue that the very complexity o arts education works against road understanding o its value (Driver,2010).

5 Art specialists (sometimes called arts education specialists) are proessionals certied and qualied to teach in the

various arts disciplines in the K-12 setting. Their preparation includes child development, pedagogy, and classroom

management in addition to training in their art orm.

6 Arts integration is the practice o using arts strategies to uild skills and teach classroom sujects across dierent dis-

ciplines, including reading, math, science, and social studies. In recent years, it has ormed the asis or several success-

ul school reorm initiatives, and has generated a lot o enthusiasm rom classroom teachers, school administrators and

policy researchers or its aility to increase student engagement and overall learning.

7 Teaching artists are proessional working artists who also teach in schools. They serve to oth supplement uneven arts

oerings and to provide short or long term instruction, ringing with them real world experiences and oten project-

ased learning.


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INTRODUCTION

place. There is no one model that works est or every community, and no single solution or

the host o economic, pedagogic and logistical challenges aced y arts education advocates.

However, in many cases, even in this dicult economy, some communities and schools

have crated arts education models that are working well or their students and delivering

impressive results. We certainly learned that while national leadership and more ederal re-

sources or arts education are critically important, a singular new national program would

not necessarily e the most eective way to advance arts education. Many advised PCAH

to ring visiility to and uild on existing eorts to strengthen the quality o arts education

and extend their reach to serve more students.We were also cautioned not to unintention-

ally undermine ongoing eorts designed to hire more arts specialists and implement se-

quential arts curricula.

The second theme was the need to address the persistent inequities in the distri-

bution o arts education so that more students experience the enets o arts-rich school

environments. Recent analyses revealed that the schools with students who could most

enet rom the documented advantages o arts strategies are oten those that either do

not recognize the enets o arts education or do not have the resources to provide it to their

students. Current udgetary crises as well as the narrowing o curricula have orced someschools to curtail arts programs when they are most needed. This situation highlights the

growing disparity etween those who are ale to take advantage o the enets o arts edu-

cation, and those who are not.

The Committee has endeavored to ring into ocus highlights rom arts education re-

search and approaches o the last decade, and to illustrate how schools and communities

are successully ringing arts into pulic schools in todays economic and pedagogical cli-

mate. This report includes a description o key ndings aout current critical education

needs, the actors that are converging to create opportunities or ringing more arts into

schools, and the potential measurale enets o arts initiatives. We also provide specic

recommendations or action. PCAH memers have added their own ormative educational

experiences to the mix o ideas. Pulic school experiences with the arts changed the course

o the lives o many PCAH memers, usiness people and government leaders as well as

practicing artists. We all share a passionate commitment to ringing the arts to under-

served students and schools.


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INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

The frst step in winning theuture is encouraging Americaninnovation. None o us can predictwith certainty what the next big

industry will be or where thenew jobs will come rom. Thirtyyears ago, we couldnt know thatsomething called the Internet wouldlead to an economic revolution.What we can do what America

does better than anyone else isspark the creativity and imaginationo our people.

But i we want to win the uture

then we also have to win the raceto educate our kids And so thequestion is whether all o us ascitizens, and as parents are willingto do whats necessary to give every

child a chance to succeed.

Psn obm, S h unn ass, Jny 25, 2011

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THe CaSearts eductio Outcoms

AREMARKAbLY CONSISTENT PICTURE o the value o thearts in a comprehensive PreK grade 12 education emerges roma review o two decades o theory and policy recommendationsaout arts education. Over the past decade, the National Gover-nors Association, the Education Commission o the States, the National Association o State

boards o Education, the SCANS Commission (Department o Laor), and the Council o

Chie State School Ocers8 proessional groups with a road education interest have

egun promoting the value o arts eduction using the same arguments as traditional arts

advocates such as the National Endowment or the Arts, the Arts Education Partnership, the

National Assemly o State Arts Agencies, and Americans or the Arts. Last years U.S.

Conerence o Mayors, which represents the mayors o over 1200 cities nationwide, urged

school districts to use ederal and state resources to provide direct instruction in the arts

and integrate the arts with other core sujects.9

While there is support or the intrinsic value o developing cultural literacy and teach-

8 See Appendix D, the iliography, or reerences to reports rom major task orces and national groups. Perhaps the

strongest evidence o road education policy support or the place o arts education in the K-12 pulic education system

is represented in standards or the arts adopted y 48 states and arts requirements or high school graduation in place in

40 states (Education Commission o the States; NASAA).

9 USCM 2010 Resolutions section on Arts Education.


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16 rnvsng n as ecn

THE CASE: ARTS EDUCATION OUTCOMES

ing artistic skills and techniques, leadership groups typically emphasize instrumental out-

comes derived rom high quality arts education in one or more o the ollowing categories:

Student achievement, typically as represented y reading and mathematics

perormance on high stakes tests, includingtranser o skills learning rom the

arts to learning in other academicareasor example, the spatial-temporal rea-

soning skills developed y music instruction;

Studentmotivation and engagement, including improved attendance, persis-

tence, ocused attention, heightened educational aspirations, and intellectual

risk taking;

Developmentofhabits o mind including prolem solving, critical and creative

thinking, dealing with amiguity and complexity, integration o multiple skill

sets, and working with others; and

Developmentofsocial competencies, including collaoration and team work

skills, social tolerance, and sel-condence.

Each category o outcomes is composed o many distinct ehaviors that have een descried

with a variety o laels and supported y ndings rom research studies and evaluations.

below we highlight examples o landmark research ndings and more recent evaluations

related to the outcomes associated with arts education; reer to Appendix A or examples

o the well-known studies and compilations o research that have een requently cited as

support or arts education.

oudtiol Studis

The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) has een instrumental in compiling research studies

related to academic outcomes. Its initial research synthesis, Champions o Change (Fiske,

1999) reported seven correlative studies that show the pattern o linkage etween high lev-

els o arts participation and higher grades and test scores in math and reading. Included was

the well-regarded Catterall study that rst examined data rom the National Educational

Longitudinal Survey (NELS)10 aout the relationships etween involvement in the arts and

10 The NELS data ase included national data rom 25,000 students over a ten year span.


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academic perormance. The quantitative results (e.g., standardized test scores, academic

grades, and dropout rates) showed that the proaility o having more arts experiences in

school was greater or economically advantaged students than or low-socioeconomic sta-

tus students. However, students with high involvement in the arts, including minority and

low-income students, perormed etter in school and stayed in school longer than students

with low involvement, the relative advantage increasing over the school years. Low-income

students involved in and and orchestra outscored others on the NELS math assessment;

low-income students involved in drama showed greater reading prociency and more posi-

tive sel-concept compared to those with little or no involvement.

AEP ollowed up its original compilation o research with Critical Links: Learning in

the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development(Deasy, 2002) that reported on 62

separate research studies, including several meta-analyses, many o which ound transer

o skills rom the arts (visual arts, dance, drama, music, multi-arts) to learning in other su-

ject areas.11 Other studies report positive outcomes such as haits o mind, sel-motivation,

and social skills, including tolerance and empathy and positive peer interaction, rom arts

engagement.

Two highly regarded studies are especially relevant to consider in light o the poten-tial o the arts to reduce dropout rates y increasing motivation and engagement in learn-

ing. Long eore aterschool programs ecame a national initiative, anthropologist Shirley

brice Heath studied non-school youth organizations in low-income neighorhoods. Her

research showed that those students who were involved in arts education or at least nine

hours a week were our times more likely to have high academic achievement and three

times more likely to have high attendance (Heath, 1998). Heaths ndings are especially

credile ecause she was not specically studying arts education; the ndings were an un-

expected outcome o another investigation. Along the same lines, education researcher

Milrey McLaughlin, while conducting a longitudinal study o the lives o youth in low-in-

come neighorhoods ound that those who participated in arts programs were more likely

to e high academic achievers, e elected to class oce, and participate in a math or science

air (McLaughlin, 2000).

11 The document includes studies connecting arts to asic reading skills, literacy and language development, writing,

mathematics, and science.


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Rct evlutio idigs

The studies cited aove have long ormed the core arguments used y advocates to make the

case or arts education. Some o the oundational research aout the outcomes o arts edu-

cation was later questioned as merely descriptive in nature and lacking in adequate analy-

sis o the eatures o the arts education treatment responsile or outcomes.12 However,

recently there have een a numer o developments, including updates o earlier studies,

application o techniques used in rain research to understand more aout how learning

in the arts aects the rain, and mounting evidence aout the school-wide eects o arts

integration.

Longitudinal ollow-up.In 2009, James Catterall was ale to ollow the original co-

hort o NELS students into their mid-twenties and ound the persistence o strong connec-

tions etween arts learning in earlier years and overall academic success (doing well) and

pro-social outcomes (doing good). The advantages in perormance o the arts-involved

students relative to other students have increased over time. Most strikingly, arts-engaged

low-income students are more likely than their non-arts-engaged peers to have attended

and done well in college, otained employment with a uture, volunteered in their commu-

nities and participated in the political process y voting. In the many types o comparisons

that Catterall tracks, arts-engaged low-income students tend to perorm more like average

higher-income students. Catteralls research continues to suggest that the role o arts in de-

veloping competency may e especially important or students who otherwise eel isolated

or excluded, e.g., English learners. The ndings are compelling ecause it is rare in educa-

tion research to encounter the longitudinal comparisons with such sizeale dierences

across groups (Catterall, 2009).

Several studies have associated student engagement in school and motivation or

learning with arts participation. A U. S. Department o Justice study reported participation

in arts programming led to decreased delinquency and drug use, increased sel-esteem, and

12 In the year 2000, an article in The Journal o Aesthetic Education generated controversy among arts education advo-

cates when it urged caution aout making instrumental claims ased on correlational rather than causal links etween

arts education and learning outcomes. The article set the stage or more clarity in reporting arts outcomes and sparked

interest in more in-depth research. In 2004, the Arts Education Partnership developed a research agenda to invite re-

searchers rom a variety o disciplines to study the complex cognitive developments involved in the arts and their impli-cations or education.


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more positive interactions with peers and adults. Students who experience success in arts

appreciate the results o eort and persistence, and are more motivated to apply themselves

to other learning tasks (Israel, D., 2009). In a study released last year, DallasBig Thought

program ound that sustained engagement in a ne arts discipline gave high school stu-

dents a sustantial advantage in reading achievement when compared to students who took

ewer arts courses, and that all students who participated in clus or groups that ocused

on creative activities had an advantage in reading and math achievement (bransom et

al., 2010).

Evidence or arts integration. The documented enets o arts integration have also

een accumulating over the past decade, although only recently have researchers egun to

understand why arts integration may hold unique potential as an educational reorm model.

While the term arts integration takes on dierent meanings to dierent people, it can e

loosely dened as teaching through and with the arts, creating relationships etween

dierent arts disciplines and other classroom skills and sujects (burnaord, 2007). In re-

cent years, it has ormed the asis or several successul school reorm initiatives, and has

generated a lot o enthusiasm rom classroom teachers, school administrators and policy

researchers or its aility to produce results. Studies have now documented signicantlinks etween arts integration models and academic and social outcomes or students, e-

cacy or teachers, and school-wide improvements in culture and climate. Arts integration

is ecient, addressing a numer o outcomes at the same time. Most important, the great-

est gains in schools with arts integration are oten seen school-wide and also with the most

hard-to-reach and economically disadvantaged students.

Earlier studies aout the enets o arts integration (Fiske, 1999) reported that arts

integration approaches were successul in producing etter attendance and ewer disci-

pline prolems, increased graduation rates, and improved test scores; motivating students

who were dicult to reach otherwise; and providing challenges to more academically suc-

cessul students. Studies rom Minnesota (Ingram and Reidel, 2003; DeMoss and Morris,

2006) demonstrated particular enets rom arts integration or economically disadvan-

taged students and English learners in the orm o reading achievement gainsnot surpris-

ing given the similarities etween eective language instruction techniques and visual arts

and theater skills.


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School-wide achievement gains have een oserved when arts integration has een

applied as a school reorm and improvement strategy. Secretary o Education Arne Duncan

has noted his positive experience with arts in the Chicago Pulic Schools, a centerpiece o

which is the Chicago Arts Partnership in Education (CAPE).13 The 19 Chicago elementary

schools operating the CAPE arts integration model showed consistently higher average

scores on the districts reading and mathematics assessments over a six year period when

compared to all district elementary schools (Catterall and Waldor, 1999). Moreover, in the

CAPE schools there were associated positive changes in school climate, e.g., leadership, o-

cus on instruction, teacher colleagueship, and participation in decision making.

CAPE researchers also egan tackling questions aout how arts integration supports

student engagement in learning (DeMoss and Morris, 2002). Compared to traditional in-

structional experiences, arts-integrated units consistently engaged students in complex an-

alytical cognitive activity, including those students who struggle with academic tasks. Stu-

dents who were learning through arts-integrated units expressed no eelings o oredom

or discouragement with the learning methods and showed interest in independent

learning. Ater working through the non-arts units, students oten sel-descried as dis-

couraged; ater arts-integrated units students demonstrated increased interest in the su-ject matter.

Proaly the most extensive and systematic study o the enets o arts integration is

associated with North Carolinas network o A+ Schools (which now have een estalished

also in Oklahoma and Arkansas). A+ Schools are a comprehensive education reorm model

that is ased on using arts-integrated instruction, incorporating Gardners theory o mul-

tiple intelligences, recent rain research ndings, and dance, drama, music, visual art, and

creative writing. More than twelve years o research aout the A+ Schools in North Caroli-

natracked consistent gains in student achievement, the schools engagement o parents and

community, and other measures o learning and success. Most notaly, the A+ Schools with

higher proportions o disadvantaged and minority students perormed as well on statewide

13While we highlight here CAPE ecause o its associated research, there are other notale programs in Chicago that

ring arts into the pulic schools. One good example is Project AIM, the Center or Community Arts Partnerships arts

integration project which rings teaching artists into classrooms to work with students and teachers. Another major

provider is the 50 year old Uran Gateways program, which has ocused a numer o its programs on arts integration

with promising results.


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rnvsng n as ecn 21


reading and mathematics assessments as students rom more advantaged schools. This is

douly impressive considering that while other schools have ocused on asic skills in re-

sponse to high stakes testing, the A+ Schools have een ale to achieve reading and math-

ematics gains on statewide accountaility tests without narrowing the curriculum (Coritt,

McKenney, Nolit, and Wilson, 2001).

An evaluation o Oklahomas A+ Schools underscores the school-wide value o arts

integration. The study ound signicant dierences in students attitudes (more likely to

nd school challenging, interesting, and enjoyale) in schools where the A+ model was em-

edded in school policy and daily instructional practicein contrast to schools where arts

integration was treated as an add-on. The Oklahoma state report cards Academic Peror-

mance Index data show statistically signicant advantages or A+ students compared to state

and district averages; this is true even though, as in North Carolina, the Oklahoma A+ schools

typically serve higher percentages o minority and economically disadvantaged students

(barry, 2010).

Last year, a Montgomery County, Maryland study with a rigorous evaluation design

provided a more ne-grained look at the results o arts integration; the study compared

three arts integration-ocused schools (AIMS) to three control schools over a three year pe-riod. During that time AIMS schools sustantially reduced the achievement gap etween

high-poverty minority students and other students. The AIMS school with the highest

percentage o minority and low-income students reduced the reading gap by 14 percent-

age points and the math gap by 26 percentage points over a three year period . In the

comparison schools, the numer o procient students actually decreased y 4.5% over the

same time period (RealVisions, 2007). The AIMS schools with the lowest numer o pro-

cient students in reading and mathematics at the outset o the study experienced a 23%

increase in the numer scoring procient over a three year period.

The Montgomery County evaluation also closely tracked the experiences o classroom

teachers as they learned how to integrate the arts. Almost all teachers (79%) agreed that

they had totally changed their teaching and (94%) that they had gained additional ways

o teaching critical thinking skills. Montgomery Countys arts integration results prompt-

ed the Maryland State Department o Education to invest in tracking arts integration and


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developing assessments o arts learning (ExCLAIMS, 2010).14

Brain research. In just the last ve years, researchers have egun to tackle the ques-

tion o arts educations enets with a scientic approach, proing the ways in which spe-

cic practices within arts disciplines infuence learning and skill transer. The eld o neu-

roscience in particular is eginning to unpack the complex ways that certain types o arts

experiences aect cognitive developmentresearch that will have major implications or

the eld o education, including helping to shape arts experiences or maximum enet to

students.

Through the leadership o the Dana Foundation, which supports rain research, cog-

nitive neuroscientists in seven universities have undertaken ormal studies o the connec-

tions etween arts training and academic perormance using advanced techniques includ-

ing rain imaging (Asury & Rich, 2008). Increasingly, researchers are nding evidence

that early arts education is a uilding lock o developing rain unction. Examples o nd-

ings, some o which corroorate earlier ndings, include:

Musictraining iscloselycorrelatedwithdevelopmentofphonologicalaware-

ness one o the most important predictors o early reading skills.15

Childrenwhoweremotivatedtopracticeaspecicartformdevelopedimproved

attention and also improved general intelligence. Training o attention and ocus

leads to improvement in other cognitive domains.

Linkshavebeenfoundbetweenhighlevelsofmusictrainingandtheabilityto

manipulate inormation in oth working memory and long-term memory.

Outcomes rom arts integration in particular have intrigued neuro-scientists in address-

ing the question o transer o learning in other sujects. Neuro-Ed Initiative researchers

at Johns Hopkins hypothesize that arts integration, which emphasizes repetition o inor-

14 While delivering impressive outcomes or students, arts integration also shows great promise as a method to involve

and engage a community in arts education. In Dallas, Big Thoughthas demonstrated how arts integration can e the

catalyst or linking schools, community partners, amilies, and unders around a learning system coordinated in and out

o school. As a result, the Dallas school district has een ale to provide visual art and music or every elementary stu-

dent in the district every week while also increasing out-o-school arts opportunities or thousands o students.15 Phonological awareness is correlated with music training and the development o a specic rain pathway. Phonologi-

cal awareness, the aility to hear and produce separate sounds, has een ound to e important in helping children learn

to read words and to spell (National Reading Panel, 2000).


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mation in multiple ways, provides the advantage o emedding knowledge in long-term

memory. The rain prioritizes emotionally-tinged inormation (again, a possile additional

advantage or learning through music or theater, or example) or conversion to long-term

memory. The rehearsal and repetition o inormation emedded in multiple domains may

cause an actual change in the physical structure o neurons (Rudaclie, 2010). The ini-

tiative is one o several research projects that are looking more systematically at how arts

instruction supports learning transer. Such scientic research may also help to uncover

the reasons or the oservations that many teachers have made aout how students learn

dierentlysome seem to learn est kinesthetically, others respond est to visual or aural

approaches.

beyond arts-specic research, education researchers have produced rigorous studies

and meta-analyses that have egun to illuminate the workings o complex learning process-

es in other content areas. Studies that are not specically aout arts education have identi-

ed types o learning experiences that have implications or arts education. For example,

reading researchers have ound that visualization can produce signicant gains in reading

comprehension (Shanahan, et al., 2010). Visualization means that children can create men-

tal images as they readclearly a skill that could e supported y helping students draw orpaint pictures or demonstrate with movement or acting what they imagine rom a story.


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INTRODUCTION

Nothing nothing ismore important in the long-run to American prosperitythan boosting the skills andattainment o the nations

students. . . Closing theachievement gap and closingthe opportunity gap is the civilrights issue o our generation.One quarter o U.S. high school

students drop out or ail tograduate on time. Almost onemillion students leave ourschools or the streets eachyear. That is economicallyunsustainable and morally

unacceptable. u. S. Scy ecn an dncn

24 rnvsng n as ecn Pho

toby

donu

sn


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INTRODUCTION

rnvsng n as ecn 25


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INTRODUCTION

26 rnvsng n as ecn


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THe neeDeductio Systm i Crisis

THE URGENCY FOR MAJOR education reorm expressed y Sec-retary o Education Duncan has een echoed y President barackOama and leaders in all sectors. It is widely agreed that the U.S.pulic education system is not adequately serving a signicantportion o our nations children and that pulic K-12 schools must change dramatically to

achieve the Administrations goal that the United States ecome a gloal leader in post-

secondary attainment y 2020. School leaders and teachers will need to step up to the chal-

lenge o nding new ways to engage many more students in meaningul learning to meet the

goal at a time when schools are grappling to reach a roadly culturally diverse student ody

and gure out how to harness inormation technologies to reshape learning.

Dropout Rts

The most ovious expression o education ailure is the alarming national high school

dropout rate, which continues in the ace o evidence aout the severe detrimental conse-

quences in earning power associated with leaving school eore graduation.16 The national

16 In 2007, the median income o persons who had not completed high school was $24,000 compared to $40,000 or those

who completed high school, including those with GED certicates (National Center or Education Statistics, 2009).


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THE NEED: EDUCATION SYSTEM IN CRISIS

dropout rate has fuctuated etween 25-30% since 2001, and or some demographic groups

and geographic areas, the statistics are ar worse. by some estimates, approximately 50%

o male students rom disadvantaged minority groups leave school eore graduation (EPE

Research Center, 2010; Swanson, 2009). An estimated 2 million students attend a high

school in which ewer than 50% o students graduateschools that have come to e known

as dropout actories (balanz, 2010). In recognition o the seriousness o the current situ-

ation in education, the National Conerence o State Legislators has included improvement

in dropout rates and student achievement as one o its top issues or 2011. The recent small

up-turn in graduation rate (to 75% in 2008 ater several straight years o decline) provides a

glimmer o hope that policy changes can reverse a negative trend.17

Studies aout the reasons or these trends provide a remarkaly consistent picture:

students report eing ored, almost hal saying that classes are not interesting (this is true

even o those with high grades who drop out), and over two-thirds say they are not inspired

to work hard and that too little was expected o them (bridgeland et al., 2006). Students

show the signs o risk or dropping out as early as sixth grade in the orm o high rates o a-

senteeism, low levels o student engagement, ailing grades, and disruptive ehaviors (Child

Trends Databank, 2010; Pytel, 2008).

nd or nw Skill Sts

The dropout statistics are distressing, ut policymakers and usiness leaders are also very

concerned aout the skills level o students who do graduate rom high school. The nar-

row ocus on only teaching the asics clearly has not een the answer. Many high school

graduates lack the skills to make them successul in post-secondary education and later in

the workorce. These are sometimes reerred to as 21st Century Skills, or haits o mind,

and include prolem solving, critical and creative thinking, dealing with amiguity and

complexity, integration o multiple skill sets, and the aility to perorm cross-disciplinary

work.

17 The year 2008 is the most recent year or which national data are availale. The projection is or approximately 1.3

million dropouts rom the class o 2010 (EPE Research Center, 2010). Americas Promise Alliance calculates that the

nation will need a veold increase in graduation rates rom those achieved in the past six years to achieve the Presidents

90% goal y 2020.


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Leaders worry that the United States is losing its competitive edge in creativity and

innovation, and that the call or ever more rigorous academic standards is insucient with-

out a concomitant ocus on developing creativity and imagination. The recent nancial

crisis has ocused an unprecedented amount o attention to the changing demands on the

workorce to maintain gloal competitiveness. Numerous and varied national task orces

have produced reports aout the need to reorm schooling to develop those critical skills:

InAre They Really Ready to Work, the Conerence board, the Partnership or 21st

Century Skills, and others noted that employers are placing value not just on a-

sic ut also applied skills, such as prolem solving, collaoration and creativity,

as critical or success in the workplace (Conerence board, 2006).

AJuly2010Newsweek cover story titled The Creativity Crisis drew attention

to a growing creativity gap ased on the signicant decline in tested creativity

scores o American students over the past twenty years. The report looked at al-

most 300,000 Torrance test scores in children and adults, and noted that down-

ward scores are more pronounced in younger children in America, rom kinder-

garten through eighth grade.18

InTough Choices or Tough Times, the New Commission on the Skills o the

American Workorce calls or rethinking schooling so that America does not lose

its place in the gloal economy (New Commission on the Skills o the American

Workorce, 2006).

The implications or educators are daunting. They must nd ways to reach and motivate

more students and, at the same time, teach more challenging content and 21st Century

Skills. The expectation is that they must create an exciting climate o relevant learning

tasks or students who are increasingly turning to digital devices and not teachers, texts, or

each other or learning new inormation and expressing ideas. For teachers and principals

who continue to e constrained y rigid curricula, the pressures o standardized testing and

ever-increasing udget cuts, the demands seem overwhelming.

18 The report also drew attention to the lack o nurturing o creativity in the U.S. as compared to other countries (e.g.,

Great britain, memers o the European Union, and China), which are now making eorts to inuse curriculum and

teaching practice with ideageneration, prolem-ased learning, real world inquiry, and innovation (bronson & Merry-man, 2010).


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The nations governors, school oards, and even proessional teacher unions have e-

gun to re-think the structure and governance o schools, the content students should learn,

and how est to prepare and support teachers or accelerated demands.19 This reorm e-

ort is qualitatively dierent rom the school improvements o recent decades. Reormers

are calling now or transormationo learning, that is, undamental change in what and how

students learn. The magnitude o the changes envisioned will require commitment and

participation rom all sectors o American lie.

Dcli o arts i Schools

As detailed in the preceding section, there is growing consensus, and increasing data, aoutthe potential or arts in schools to e a orce or positive change in this transormation. 20

Yet, paradoxically, the nations pulic schools are on a downward trend in terms o provid-

ing students meaningul access to the arts. Some statistics suggest that ewer than hal o

adults report having participated in arts lessons or classes in schoola decline rom aout

65% in the 1980s. The decline ollows years o steady increases in reported participation

etween the 1930s and the 1980s.21 The declines pose concern or the health o the nations

arts economy since arts education is the strongest predictor o almost all types o arts par-

ticipation. (Rakin and Hederg, 2011).

There is great stress now on arts programs as school oards around the country wres-

tle with udget woes, aced with the question o whether they can aord to preserve arts

oeringslet alone expand what they have traditionally provided. Tight school udgets

are a major prolem ut some also lame the narrowing o the curriculum as a result o

emphasis on accountaility or asic skills. A study y the Center on Education Policy re-

ported decreased arts education instruction time in 30% o school districts with at least one

19 The U. S. Department o Educations eagerly sought-ater Race to the Top state grants required applicants to give as-

surances o state-level actions toward higher content standards or K-12 learning, preparation and proessional devel-

opment to assure quality teachers, an increased numer o charter schools and other alternative governance models.

20 The section on Case: Arts Education Outcomes descries the evidence or the eects o arts education and arts inte-

gration on valued outcomes such as student motivation, academic perormance, and teacher ecacy. Appendix A details

specic studies.

21 Rakin reached this conclusion ater reviewing the data rom the Surveys o Pulic Participation in the Arts etween

1982 and 2008.


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underperorming elementary school22 (McMurrer, 2007).

It is dicult to get an accurate current picture o arts oerings ecause there is no

consistent required data collection aout what schools oer or how students are achieving

in the arts. 23 During the research phase, almost all o the state arts agencies representatives

whom we convened reported cutacks in their arts education udgets and the arts educa-

tion residencies they oer in schools as a result o overall udget reductions. Such residen-

cies may have een the students only contacts with working artists; most states have either

drastically reduced the numer o schools that can host residencies, eliminated them en-

tirely, or reduced the scope o residencies.24

A ew states have conducted surveys to determine local arts oerings. Recent results

rom a survey in Washington State show that 33% o elementary students receive less than

one hour a week on the average o arts instruction, and almost 10% oer no ormal arts in-

struction at all. Sixty-three percent o principals are dissatised with the amount o arts

education in their schools (Arts Education Research Initiative, 2009). Other states surveys

add to this picture o constraints. Ohio reported an increase in the percent o districts in

which students receive less than an hour per week o visual arts and music instruction and a

decrease in every orm o support or proessional development or arts education teachers(Ohio Alliance or Arts Education).25 Moreover, in this climate o heightened accountail-

ity, some elieve that schools will give instructional time only to sujects that are included

in high stakes testing. While almost all states have arts standards, ewer than a third have

required arts assessmentsso there is scant opportunity to demonstrate student learning

in the arts.

22

Districts participating had at least one elementary school that had een identied as not meeting adequate yearlyprogress under the No Child Let behind Act.

23 A orthcoming report rom the Department o Educations National Center on Education Statistics (NCES) will

provide a snapshot o the availaility o arts instruction in elementary and secondary schools and the availaility o arts

specialists to teach arts classes. Future reports rom NCES will provide ndings on additional indicators aout the sta-

tus o arts education and changes over the past decade.

24 Many state arts agencies have experienced dramatic udget reductions. The Florida state agency, or example, has

less than $1 million or all state arts activities, including arts education, down rom a high o $39 million. The Michigan

state arts agency had a $29 million udget or grants in 2002 and now has $2 million or the entire state.

25 Ohio has recently conducted a new survey; preliminary results show that the majority o high schools and almost all

middle schools do not oer theater and that only a ew schools oer dance. Over 80% o classroom teachers report re-

ceiving no proessional development in the arts. Arts-related eld trips have declined and over one-third o schools have

not had an arts related assemly in three years.


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Iquity i arts Opportuitis

Even in places where arts education unding continues at some level, the opportunities are

not equitaly distriuted among schools and the students they serve. There is increasing

evidence that the students in schools that are most challenged and serving the highest need

student populations oten have the ewest arts opportunities. While this pattern is similar

to the pattern o inequities associated with other education resources, in practice it means

that the students who could enet most rom the increased motivation and lie/workorce

skills ostered y engagement with the arts in school are the least likely to have the oppor-

tunity. In response to Congressional request, the U.S. Government Accountaility Oce

conducted a survey o access to arts education and ound that there was a signicant di-erence among the percent o teachers reporting decreased time spent on arts education.

In schools identied as needing improvement and/or with higher percentages o minority

students, teachers were much more likely to report a reduction in time spent in arts instruc-

tion (GAO, 2009). O great concern, respondents to a survey o arts participation rom some

minority groups (Arican American and Latino) are only hal as likely to report having had

arts lessons or classes in school as others.26 The declines in childhood arts education since

the 1980s or those groups are sustantial49 percent or Arican American and 40 percent

or Latino children (Rakin and Hederg, 2011).

When arts achievement has een measured, the results ear out system inequities. In

the 2008 National Assessment o Educational Progress in the Arts, ocusing on music and

visual arts, students rom lower income amilies, Arican America and Hispanic students,

and students in uran schools scored signicantly lower than their counterparts in the

skills assessment (Keiper et.al., 2009).

Very telling is a recent study o New York City high schools, which compared arts re-

sources in schools grouped y graduation rate. Schools in the ottom third in graduation

rates (less than 50% graduation rate) oered the least access to arts educationewer certi-

ed arts teachers per student, ewer dedicated arts spaces, ewer arts and culture partner-

ships, and so orth. The report concludes that in New York City, the cultural capital o the

26 Rakin reached this conclusion ater reviewing the data rom the Surveys o Pulic Participation in the Arts etween

1982 and 2008.


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world, pulic school students do not enjoy equal access to an arts education. . . Where the

arts could have the greatest impact, students have the least opportunity to participate in

arts learning (Center or Arts Education, 2009).

In Caliornia, a study y SRI International o the statewide arts education picture

ound a similar pattern. While Caliornias Education Code calls or all schools to oer

courses or students in our arts disciplines, almost one-third oered no courses in any arts

discipline. When arts education was oered, there were signicant dierences y socio-

economic status; only 25% o students in high poverty settings had music compared to 45%

in low poverty. Similar patterns were ound in other disciplines. The most requently cited

reason or the lack o arts education opportunity was inadequate unding ollowed y a o-

cus on improving test scores (Center or Education Policy, SRI International, n.d.).

The results o the New York City and Caliornia studies are especially distressing ut

they were completed eore the most recent waves o unding cutacks that schools aced in

2010. The situation is undoutedly leaker now.


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INTRODUCTION

34 rnvsng n as ecn


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...the nations leadershipin technology and

innovation dependson a deep vein ocreativity and peoplewho can write books,build urniture, makemovies, and imagine new

kinds o sotware thatwill capture peoplesimagination...

Tough Choices or Tough Times, Nnl Cnn h ecn n h ecnmy

rnvsng n as ecn 35

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THe OPPORTUnITYPoit o Ifctio

WHILE THE OVERALL PICTURE can appear leak, inrecent years several actors have converged to uild astrong case or scaling up arts education opportuni-ties to reach more studentsone that is supported yeducators, usiness leaders, parents, artists, and memers o the general pulic, and which

would e successul in meeting important educational outcomes. These actors include:

new allies interested in developing students creativity and problem solving

skillsskills that are directly supported y arts education;

increasedinterestinthepotentialofarts integrationasawaytobringarts to

more young people and achieve other enets as well;

adevelopingcommunityofteachingartistswhoareeagertoserveineducation

in a systematic and dynamic way; and

a critical mass of successful arts education approaches andmodels, includ-

ing arts integration models, that can serve as the oundation or reaching more

schools.

Understanding more aout these actors is critical or appreciating the timeliness o astepped up national eort to ring more arts into pulic schools.


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THE OPPORTUNITY: POINT OF INFLECTION

nw allis i Crtivity

National task orce reports increasingly link the enets o arts education to the changing

demands on the workorce in the knowledge economy (National Governors Association,

2001; National Center on Education and the Economy, 2006; Conerence board, 2006).

Last years IBM 2010 Global CEO survey ound that CEOs in 60 countries elieve creativity

is the most important leadership quality and that creativity helps employees capitalize on

complexity (IbM, 2010). A recent study y the Conerence board reports that employers

rate creativity and innovation among the top ve important skills or workers and elieve

that the most essential skills or demonstrating creativity are the aility to identiy new pat-

terns o ehavior or new cominations o actions and integrate knowledge across dierentdisciplines. The same employers rank arts study as the second most important indicator o

a potential creative worker, second only to a track record in entrepreneurship (Lichtenerg

et al., 2008). Proessional graduate school programs are increasingly recognizing the role

o the arts in developing advanced workorce skills. At least 40 MbA programs now ea-

ture design courses. Design courses develop a competitive advantage in the marketplace;

innovative design comines aesthetics with environmental sensitivity, skill in creating and

manipulating symols and sounds, ergonomics and an understanding o consumer preer-

ence (NASAA, n.d.).

The European Union (EU) has recognized the critical importance o creativity in edu-

cation. As part o the European Year o Creativity in 2009, teachers in the 27 memer coun-

tries were surveyed aout their perspectives. Over 95% o teacher respondents elieve that

creativity is a undamental competence to e developed in school and is applicale to all

suject areas. Sixty percent o EU teachers indicated they had received training in innova-

tive pedagogies and 40% directly in creativity (Quintin, 2009).27

While the arts certainly do not have a monopoly on development o creativity, the ap-

proaches used in teaching the arts are very compatile with the development o alance

among the three types o ailities associated with creativity as descried in a well-known

theory o creativity development:

27 Writing in the New York Times, Thomas Freidman recently descried the U.S. Education Department as the epicen-

ter o national security, noting that we have een out-educated now or years. He goes on to quote the author o T heGlobal Achievement Gap aout the new asic skills that students need or the knowledge economy: the aility to do criti-

cal thinking and prolem-solving; the aility to communicate eectively; and the aility to collaorate (Wagner, 2008).


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syntheticabilityorgeneratingnewandnovelideas;

analyticabilityorcriticalthinkingwhichinvolveschoosingwhichideastopur-

sue; and

practicalabilityortranslatingideasintoaction(Sternberg&Williams,1996).

In Sternerg & Williams theory o creativity, it is easy to see the place or arts skill develop-

ment, the value o practice, and the importance o models o excellence. It is also evident

that many dierent types o arts education approachesstandards-ased, arts integration,

teaching artists, arts specialistscould develop those creative ailities. Other popular pro-

ponents o enhancing creativity in learners such as Sir Ken Roinson and Daniel Pink iden-

tiy similar concepts using laels even more akin to arts learning, i.e., Pinks terminology osymphony, story, design, play, meaning, and empathy.

Th Promis o arts Itgrtio

During the research phase, we encountered great enthusiasm or supporting and expanding

arts integration. Arts integration is the practice o using arts strategies to uild skills and

teach classroom sujects across dierent disciplines. When implemented eectively and

with rigor, students receive oth high quality arts instruction and suject matter instruc-

tion in reading, math, science and other sujects within an integrated lesson plan. As weve

discovered in the eld and in the news lately, the possiilities or learning other sujects

through the arts are limitless: young English learners practice English advers y ollowing

the directions o a dance instructor; algera teachers help students create digital designs

that demonstrate their understanding o mathematical relationships; and middle school

students create and play musical instruments in the process o learning aout sound and

wave orms.

The excitement aout arts integration has several roots:

themountingevidencefromwell-knownartsintegrationmodels,e.g.,A+Schools,

o gains in achievement as well as positive changes in school climate and teacher

collaoration (as detailed in a previous section o this report);

thepotential contribution to the overall improvement of teaching, including

augmenting teachers skills in prolem-centered, project-ased and inquiry-ori-


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ented learning; perormance assessment; and cross-disciplinary work with real

world application;

thecompatibilityofartsintegrationmethodswithnewerresearchndingsabout

learning, including personalization; repetition and reinorcement through mul-

tiple modalities; fuency with symol systems; and the continuum o stages rom

concrete to representational to astract; and

thepossibilityofaugmentingcurricularofferingsinanefcientandcost-effec-

tive manner.

There are many existing arts integration eorts around the country that could e strength-

ened and expanded to serve as models or other communities. Since 2002, the ederal gov-ernment has invested in arts integration programs through the Department o Educations

Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grants program. The program

has always required ormal documentation and evaluation o the strategies programs used

to integrate the arts into elementary and middle school curricula. This year, the results o

what has een learned aout eective strategies in arts integration rom the grants will e

made pulic. The eld has eagerly awaited the results o the evaluation synthesis, and its

release will likely stimulate even greater interest in the techniques and outcomes o arts in-

tegration.

Proessional development or classroom teachers, arts specialists and teaching artists

is crucial to an eective arts integration program. There are a numer o model programs

that have developed highly regarded training programs in arts integration or teaching art-

ists, classroom teachers, and school administrators over the past decade. During the re-

search phase, sta rom the Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance (AMES) shared

inormation rom the arts integration training sequences they use to meet the growing de-

mand rom classroom teachers and teaching artists or more training. STUDIO in a School,

the A+ Schools, and many organizations across the country have also een rening proes-

sional development in this area, in dierent disciplines, or a numer o years.

At a recent philanthropy orum on arts education, panelists discussed the value o

arts integration as the most signicant innovation in the eld over the last two decades

and noted the potential openness o school administrators to arts integration as the most


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easile way to increase the arts opportunities availale to students. However, they also

recognized the need or urther development o arts integration: more clarity aout the di-

mensions o quality, attention to developing systematic approaches to implementation, and

sharing o est practices (McCann, 2010).

Tchig artists s Udrutilizd Rsourc

Over the course o our research, we also came to appreciate the potential and desire o work-

ing artists to serve their communities as teaching artists. Many leaders in the eld o arts

education pointed to the value o teaching artists, especially as part o long-term residencies,

and we ound that teaching artists are essential to many model arts education programs.

28

Teaching artists are hyrid proessionals, working artists who are experts in their elds

and who also teach arts skills and lead arts integration projects. They have long had an im-

portant place in the arts education delivery system, ut have een limited y insucient

resources to work long term and systemically, a lack o inormation and structure in the

proession, and inconsistent training and certication. However, they have the potential to

play a much stronger role in the uture in expanding arts opportunities or more students.

Teaching artists perorm a unction dierent rom art specialists. Typically, art spe-

cialists are charged with delivering a systematic curriculum geared to state standards,

usually through a sequence o prescried courses. Teaching artists are usually ocused on

project-ased learning activities that engage students, e.g., creating a student ensemle or

producing a play, and they work as partners with classroom teachers to plan and deliver

lessons that integrate the arts, e.g., ringing visual arts and music into the study o world

cultures. They may supplement uneven arts oerings, especially in specialty areas such

as dance and theater. Most importantly, teaching artists introduce students to the lie o a

working artist, oten serving as role models or aspiring young artists, and connect students

and schools to community resources.

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