The arts promote development of analytical skills, particularly
high level transfer (using an understanding in a new situation)
Expression in the arts helps students to develop cognitive
and physical skills
Through exercising their imaginations, the arts help students
to make new connections, transcend previous limitations and
think ‘outside of the box’
Each art form brings special ways of perceiving the world
and mentally organizing and retrieving information, utilizing
critical thinking and problem solving skills
The arts give students the opportunity to represent what
they have learned, thus achieving greater comprehension and
retention of the material being covered
Art criticism helps students develop observation, analysis,
interpretation and evaluation skills that can be transferred
to other areas of study
Learning in individual art forms as well as in multi-arts
experiences engages and strengthens such fundamental cognitive
capacities as spatial reasoning (the capacity for organizing
and sequencing ideas); conditional reasoning (theorizing
about outcomes and consequences); problem solving; and the
components of creative thinking (originality, elaboration,
flexibility). - Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and
Student Academic and Social Development, Arts Education Partnership
2002
Arts education increases interest in academic learning,
cognitive and basic skills development and the development
of academic achievement skills. - Konrad, R.R., Empathy,
Arts and Social Studies, 2000
Exposure to and participation in the arts has been demonstrated
to enhance students’ creativity, critical thinking, and
problem-solving abilities, as well as improving student performance
in other core subject areas, goals often not met through other
means.
Attendance
The arts increase teacher attendance
The arts increase student attendance and help children stay
in school
Creativity
The arts promote creativity and stronger writing skills
Today it is recognized that to be truly well educated one
must not only learn to appreciate the arts, but must have rich
opportunities to actively participate in creative work.
Culture/Diversity/Multiculturalism/
The arts encourage openness to diversity and multicultural
issues (cultures based on ethnicity, learning styles, and disciplines)
Always among the highest expression of every culture, the
arts teach us much about every historical period through its
form of literature, visual arts, music, dance, and drama.
The arts are languages that most people speak, cutting through
individual differences in culture, educational background,
and ability.
A strong, sequential arts education program in schools promotes
cultural literacy in our society
With ever-expanding diversity, the arts serve as an essential
bridge across language and cultural differences and build linkage,
both within and between communities.
In our media-driven society, knowledge of the arts is a necessary
part of cultural literacy. Each of us is exposed daily to a
myriad of images, which we must be able to read and discern
if we are to make informed choices as consumers and as citizens.
Interest In Learning
The arts lead to increased interest in historical and geographical
topics
The arts can bring every subject to life and turn abstractions
into concrete reality.
The arts help to provide experiences for students to continue
to become lifelong learners after they reach adulthood, creating
an awareness that learning is a never-ending process
Teaching through the arts motivates children and increases
their aptitude for learning. - Eric Jensen, Arts With the
Brain in Mind, 2001
By 2006 all students entering the UC/CSU system must satisfy
a new visual and performing arts requirement by completing
an appropriate single course in a year-long sequence in dance,
music, theatre or the visual arts. - University of California
/ California State University
Motivation / Discipline / Work Ethic
The arts are a strong motivator for students to develop self-discipline
and social skills.
The arts require focus and persistence
Participation in the arts builds a strong work ethic
Parent Involvement
The arts lead to increased parental involvement in schools
and their student’s education
Performance / Success
The arts engage all students in education, from those who
are already considered successful and are in need of greater
challenges, to those who would otherwise remain disconnected
and be at risk of not being able to realize their own potential
for success
The arts encourage self-directed learning, helping to develop
the capacity of students to strive for greater success
The arts provide an ethic of high performance and collaboration
School Environment
The arts help to transform the school environment to one
of discovery and learning, breaking down barriers between disciplines
and improving the conditions of learning
Self Expression / Personal Growth
The arts provide an avenue for students to be able to express
themselves and connect with their peers through personal growth
and cooperative learning experiences
The arts integrate mind, body, and spirit.
The arts provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing
the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality.
Students At Risk
The arts engage all students in education, from those who
are already considered successful and are in need of greater
challenges, to those who would otherwise remain disconnected
and be at risk of not being able to realize their own potential
for success
Students of lower socioeconomic status gain as much or
more from arts instruction than those of higher socioeconomic
status. - James Catterall, 1999
Students who participate in school band or orchestra have
the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol,
tobacco and illicit drugs among any group in our society.
- H. Con. Res. 266, United States Senate, June 13,2000
The arts provide a reason, sometimes the only reason, for
students who have been disengaged from schools and other
community institutions to re-engage in educational and other
community organizations. - Champions of Change: The Impact
of the Arts on Learning, Edited by Edward B. Fiske, published
by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities,
March 2000
Young children who engage in dramatic enactments of stories
and text improve their reading comprehension, story understanding
and ability to read new materials they have not seen before.
The effects are even more significant for children from economically
disadvantaged circumstances and those with reading difficulties
in the early and middle grades. - Critical Links: Learning
in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development,
Arts Education Partnership 2002
An 11-year national study that examined youth in low-income
neighborhoods found that those who participated in arts programs
were much more likely to be high academic achievers, be elected
to class office, participate in a math and science fair,
and win an award for writing an essay or poem.
Academic Achievement /Test Scores
The arts lead to increased test scores
According to the College Board, SAT scores in 1995 for
students who studied the arts for more than four years were
59 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the
math portion than students with no coursework or experience
in the arts.
In a national sample of 25,000 students, those with high
levels of arts learning experiences earned higher grades
and scored better on standardized tests than those with little
or no involvement in the arts, regardless of socioeconomic
status.
Learning through the arts has significant effects on learning
in other disciplines. Students consistently involved in music
and theater show higher levels of success in mathematics
and reading.
Workplace Skills
Education in the arts helps students to acquire those skills
that will be essential to their being successful in the new
millennium
The nation's top business executives agree that arts education
programs can help repair weaknesses in American education and
better prepare workers for the 21st century. - The Changing
Workplace is Changing our View of Education, Business Week,
Oct 1996
Research shows that children who study the arts demonstrate
stronger overall academic performance. These young people are
the creative thinkers that employers need in our increasingly
complex workforce.
Arts education aids achievement of “core competencies” needed
for employment such as thinking creatively, problem solving,
exercising individual responsibility, sociability, and self-esteem.
Workers with arts-related skills are critical to the industries
of the new economy: software development and web design; advertisings
firms; automobile design companies; architectural and engineering
firms; and other fields seeking employees with high-level communication,
computer, and creative problem-solving abilities.
Support of the arts is a workforce issue for companies—the
arts develop the kind of thinker and manager that businesses
must have more of if they are to remain competitive in the
global marketplace.
Quality arts education for every student in every school every day
