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California Arts Council

II. Catalyst for Better Education

The value of arts education is widely accepted by the people of California. Arts education helps build academic skills, increase academic performance, improve behavior, reach kids who are at risk of dropping out of school, improve self-esteem, and build the kind of creative skills that are required of people in the workforce of the new century. In a public opinion survey conducted by the California Arts Council last year, 100% of the random sample of 593 parents stated that the arts should be part of every child's school experience.

Besides the information below, members of local school boards should see the information developed by Americans for the Arts and the National School Boards Association: http://www.nsba.org/
II.a. IMPROVING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Enhanced Learning
Numerous major studies by known researchers outlined below and referenced by the publication, Critical Links, provide evidence of enhanced learning and achievement when the arts are an integral part of students' in-school and after-school experience. It recommends to researchers, funders and the general public promising lines of inquiry and study suggested by recent, strong studies of the academic and social effects of learning in the arts. http://www.aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/CriticalLinks.pdf

"Why the Arts Change the Learning Experience When well taught, the arts provide young people with authentic learning experiences that engage their minds, hearts, and bodies. The learning experiences are real and meaningful to them. While learning in other disciplines may often focus on development of a single skill or talent, the arts regularly engage multiple skills and abilities. Engagement in the arts--whether the visual arts, dance, music, theatre or other disciplines--nurtures the development of cognitive, social, and personal competencies When the arts become central to the learning environment, schools and other settings become places of discovery." (Executive Summary from Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Arts Education Partnership.)

Edmund B. Fiske, ed., Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning
http://www.aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/CriticalLinks.pdf

" Essayists and commentators find support in the body of work for the role of arts learning in assisting in the development of critical academic skills, basic and advanced literacy and numeracy among them. Catterall and other commentators powerfully detail the use of drama in the preschool and early grades as a technique for teaching and motivating children to develop higher-order language and literacy skills. Karen Bradley, Catterall, and Scripp each discuss studies where linking writing exercises and arts experiences yields deeper and more complex understandings and articulations by students the essayists place themselves--and the arts--firmly within current discussions and debates about the education policies and practices that will best bring about school reform and improvement, and high achievement for students." ("Themes and Variations: Future Directions for Arts Education Research and Practice," by Richard J. Deasy in Critical Links, Arts Education Partnership.)

Arts Help Teachers Teach
"Drama shows consistent positive impacts research shows consistent positive associations between dramatic enactment and reading comprehension, oral story understanding, and written story understanding. Research on the youngest subjects, 5-year-olds, kindergartners and first-graders, attends almost exclusively to story understanding. Having enacted a story (as opposed to having the story read to them in many designs), children are better able to retell the story, to recall more details, and to put the story's elements in the correct sequence. Studies of older children show impacts of drama on reading skills, persuasive writing ability, narrative writing skills, and children's self-conceptions as learners and readers." ("Research on Drama and Theater in Education" by Dr. James S. Catterall in Critical Links, Arts Education Partnership.)

Higher Test Scores
In 2000 College-Bound Seniors: A Profile of SAT Program Test Takers, (The College Board, 1987-1998) students with four years of study in the arts scored higher on their SATs. In 1995, for example, SAT scores were 59 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the mathematics portion than students with no course work in the arts. These higher SAT scores earned by students of the arts varied only a few points from 1995-98.
(http://www.collegeboard.com/splash )

* The Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena placed a full-time visual artist at Hamilton Elementary School in order to raise reading and math scores. During this period, the API Score increased five points in reading and six in math! Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland, editors, The Arts and Academic Improvement: What the Evidence Shows. http://pzweb.harvard.edu/
* Los Angeles County's Fairgrove Academy, a K-8 school of 890 students, integrated the arts into the curriculum, raising attendance and test scores. API scores rose from 480 to 670 since implementing the arts cirriculum--moreover, their attendance rate remained stable at an incredible 98%.

II.b. IMPARTING SKILLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE

The workforce is increasingly dependent on creative abilities such as: thinking out of the box, making connections and using old information in new ways. The arts also teach students how to apply other skills such as team problem-solving, considered risk-taking, respect for the work of others, focus and discipline. Through the arts, children learn the value of practicing, continuity of work and follow through--all of which are essential for job preparedness in the new global marketplace.

* "The arts connect learning experiences to the world of real work. Ideas are what matter, and the ability to generate ideas, to bring ideas to life and to communicate them is what matters to workplace success." (from Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Arts Education Partnership. Edmund B. Fiske, ed., http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org )

The following two references are from Critical Links, Arts Education Partnership.
http://www.aeparts.org/PDF%20Files/CriticalLinks.pdf )

* "Dance is effective as a means of developing three aspects of creative thinking: fluency, originality, and abstractness The results suggest that, at the least, physical activities specific to dance support development of fluency by actively engaging students. This is not surprising when one considers that fluency of thinking is essentially a facility and mobility of mind, and involves the ability of the student to turn ideas around and look at them from different angles. In dance, the body does the same thing and reflection on that process is a valuable aspect of dance-making. Originality and abstractness, likewise, are valued modes of dance education, especially where improvisation and composition are taught The studies thus suggest that dance instruction may provide a means for developing a range of the creative thinking aspects of critical thinking skills." ( "Informing and Reforming Dance Education Research" by Karen John Bradley)

* "General capacities of the mind, social competencies, and personal dispositions developed through arts learning may have wide application in a variety of academic and life experiences consider that the habits of mind and personal dispositions explored in this collection are closer to the 'true' work of the arts educator than those basic competency skills measured by standardized reading and math tests. There is evidence here, for instance, of drama experiences supporting the development of self-confidence, positive risk-taking, and empathy for others--valuable and desirable outcomes, but unlikely to be measured in a pencil-and-paper exam." ("Promising Signs of Positive Effects: Lessons from the Multi-Arts Studies," by Rob Horowitz and Jaci Webb-Dempsey)

Additional Resources:

* The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation
National Governors Association
http://www.nga.org/center/divisions/1,1188,T_CEN_EDS%5EC_ISSUE_BRIEF%5ED_3680,00.html

* Employment Projections, 2000-2010
Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://ftp.bls.gov/pub/news.release/History/ecopro.12032001.news

II.c. ARTS EDUCATION AND IMPROVING CITIZENSHIP

The arts provide students with an excellent opportunity to explore ideas about themselves and their world and the role that art and culture can play in fostering civic engagement, in promoting intercultural dialogue and in developing active citizenship, both at a local and at a global level.

* "Drama is typically a social, interpersonal event... de la Cruz finds enhanced social development among special education children including generally courteous behavior, ignoring distractions, and acceptable use of free time. Fink's extensive study suggests that drama activities for kindergartners lead to development of what he call 'social perspectivism'--the ability to comprehend the various social relations inherent in a situation involving a cluster of individuals. In another study Horn explores self-confidence and self-image among at-risk secondary students who became engaged in playwriting. And Schaffner shows evidence of lasting attention to moral dilemmas as a result of drama." ("Research on Drama and Theater in Education" by Dr. James S. Catterall in Critical Links, Arts Education Partnership. p.58)

* Los Angeles Theater of Hearts provides at-risk students a theater curriculum exploring and building art skills through storytelling to elevate self-esteem and encourage positive life goals. Expanded Artists-in-Schools programs for 289 high-risk youth at seven Alternative and Camp schools included these results: at La Vida School, grades increased 10%; attendance increased 80%; teamwork increased 100%. At Alternative Academy, team building skills improved 90%; and at Alliance School, grades improved 80%.

* Dr. Shirley Brice Heath of Stanford University completed a 10-year national study, Imaginative Actuality: Learning in the Arts During Nonschool Hours, based on the records of 30,000 young people participating in non-school youth programs of various types in urban areas where students were more likely to come from families on welfare or single parent homes. The study looked at the unique aspect of the arts programs: peer critique and its contribution to fluency in language and self-confidence. Young people who participate in intensive arts programs after school stood out from the NELS control group as listed below:

• Four time more likely to win an academic award such as being named to the honor roll
• Eight times more like to receive a community service award
• Three times more likely to win a school attendance award
• Four times more likely to participate in a math or science fair

II.d. IMPROVING ATTENDANCE

When students are participating in the arts in the classroom and in extra-curricula activities, they attend school more regularly and are less likely to be tardy, skip classes or leave school early.

* "Students learning in and through the arts become their own toughest critics. The students are motivated to learn not just for test results or other performance outcomes, but for the learning experience itself--qualities regularly associated with personal success." (From Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Arts Education Partnership.)

* Los Angeles Theater of Hearts provides at-risk students a theater curriculum exploring and building art skills through storytelling, to elevate self-esteem and encourage positive life goals. Expanded Artists in Schools programs for 289 high-risk youth at seven Alternative and Camp schools included these results: At La Vida School grades increased 10%; attendance increased 80%; teamwork increased 100%. At Alternative Academy team building skills improved 90%; and at Alliance School grades improved 80%.

II.e. FORTIFYING COGNITIVE SKILLS

Cognitive development is a lifelong activity. Beginning in infancy, intelligence is demonstrated through motor activity without the use of symbols. During toddler and early childhood, intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language, memory and imagination. Elementary and early adolescence intelligence is based upon logical and systematic manipulation of symbols. In adolescence and adulthood, intelligence is the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. The arts provide an excellent landscape in which students can explore all of these stages throughout their life.

* "If a musical note can propel and reorient millions of neurons, the arts experiences described clearly impact the cognitive structures of the children and students involved. if altered neuro-function is a consequence of learning in the arts, it is reasonable to think that such neural-conditioning could enhance performance in related skills, either through improved related cognitive functioning or through positive affective developments such as achievement motivation. Thus we establish a neuro-function argument supporting learning through the arts--the cultivation of capabilities and understandings that occur as 'byproducts' or 'co-developments' of the changes in cognitive and affective structures brought about by experiences in the arts. More directly, the argument suggests that experiences in the arts create capabilities or motivations that show up in non-arts capabilities." ("The Arts and the Transfer of Learning," by Dr. James S. Catterall in Critical Links, Arts Education Partnership. http://www.aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/CriticalLinks.pdf )

* Among expert musicians, certain areas of the cortex are up to 5% larger than in people with little or no musical training, recent research shows. In musicians who started their training in early childhood, the neural bridge that links the brain's hemispheres, called the corpus callosum, is up to 15% larger. A professional musician's auditory cortex--the part of the brain associated with hearing--contains 130% more gray matter than that of non-musicians. Bruce Torff, Evaluation of the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts.

* Gordon Shaw and Mark Bodner, brain experts at the Music Intelligence Neural Development Institute in Irvine, emphasize that "There is nothing special about Western music, at least as far as brain anatomy and neural networks are concerned. These distinctive musical circuits in the cortex could be just as easily tuned by exposure to the music of the Aborigine didgeridoo, Tuvan throat-singing or Japanese court gagaku." Their second-, third- and fourth-grade Music Spatial-Temporal Math Program focuses on enhancing children's understanding of difficult math concepts (proportional math, fractions, symmetry, graphs, pre-algebra problems, estimation, ratios, probability), as well as improving their performance on standardized math tests. The success of the program has translated into higher test scores for students using the program in California. Nine-hundred-and-seventy-seven third-graders who participated in the program averaged a 13.2-percentile increase on the 2002 Stanford 9 math scores. Third-graders in the same schools who did not participate in the program showed a 2.9-percentile increase.
http://www.mindinstitute.net/MIND3/research/research-publications.php

II.f. INCREASING SELF-ESTEEM

Involvement in the arts can assist in the development of productive learning relationships and can enable students to experience success on a regular basis. Students are able to demonstrate a high level of social awareness and acquire skills that create within each student an enthusiasm, articulation and confidence in everything they do. Through the arts the student's self-esteem is realized which helps the student with verbal communication, personal interactions with other disciplines, and environments in and out of school.

* "The compelling reasons for arts educationare the likelihood that skill and craft gained in the arts help students to understand that they can improve in other consequential activities and that their heightened skill can give pleasure to themselves and to others." [Howard Gardner] This points to instances in which heightened self-concept ("I can succeed on stage") can lead to heightened academic or social self-concepts through some mechanism of transfer While success in most anything in school might be assumed to have similar spillover effects, it appears that the arts can attract students who have been pushed away from other opportunities for success in school. Compendium studies showing at-risk and failing students revived by immersion in arts programs offer such suggestions including that students benefit from engagement inspired by the complexities of the arts in well-drawn programs." ("The Arts and the Transfer of Learning," by Dr. James S. Catterall in Critical Links, Arts Education Partnership.)

* Based on a study of over 2,000 pupils attending public schools in grades 4-8, research compared low arts to high arts involved students on tests such as the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQI), and School-Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ), all previously developed instruments. The high arts students were strong in their abilities to express thoughts and ideas and taking risks in learning. They also performed better on measures of creativity, fluency, originality, elaboration and resistance to closure. ("Learning in and Through the Arts: Curriculum Implications," by Burton, Horowitz and Abeles; Teachers College, Columbia University. Printed in Champions of Change and summarized in Critical Links.)

"What is critical is not that capacities and dispositions transfer from the arts to other subject areas, as has often been argued, but that they are exercised broadly across different knowledge domains. Given this interpretation, no subject has prior rights over any other subject, for to diminish one is to diminish the possibility and promise of them all. If the arts are to help define our path to the future, they need to become curriculum partners with other subject disciplines in ways that will allow them to contribute their own distinctive richness and complexity to the learning process as a whole." Research from Burton, Horowitz and Abeles, Teachers College, Columbia University, Learning In and Through the Arts: Curriculum Implications. (printed in Champions of Change and summarized in Critical Links.)

* "The arts provide new challenges for those students already considered successful. Boredom and complacency are barriers to success. For those young people who outgrow their established learning environments, the arts can offer a chance for unlimited challenge Students who might otherwise complain of boredom become fully challenged. Unlike other learning experiences that seek right or wrong answers, engagement in the arts allows for multiple outcomes." (From Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Arts Education Partnership.) Edmund B. Fiske, ed. http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org

* The Playwrights Project expanded its theater arts program in the Escondido Unified School District to English-language learners in order to develop students' confidence and abilities in both oral presenting and writing. There was 100% participation by all 55 students in the project; and 60% of the students showed increased confidence in their English-language skills.

II.g. RECLAIMING AT-RISK YOUTH

Youth arts programs are powerful crime prevention tools. They offer safe, engaging and constructive environments for young people who lack adult supervision during non-school hours, a time when they are most vulnerable to community violence and gang recruitment. An increasing number of communities are realizing that art programs for at-risk youth offer an effective and more affordable alternative to detention and police-centered crime prevention.

* "The arts reach students who are not otherwise being reached. Young people who are disengaged from schools and other community institutions are at the greatest risk of failure or harm the researchers found that the arts provided a reason, and sometimes the only reason, for being engaged with school or other organizations. These young people would otherwise be left without access to any community of learners Rather than see themselves as "at-risk," students become managers of risk who can make decisions concerning artistic outcomes and even their lives." (Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/ , Arts Education Partnership.)

* "The arts reach students in ways that they are not otherwise being reached recent educational research has produced insights into different styles of learning. This research also addresses examples of young people who were considered classroom failures, perhaps 'acting out' because conventional classroom practices were not engaging them. These 'problem' students often became the high-achievers in arts learning settings. Success in the arts became a bridge to learning and eventual success in other areas of learning." (From Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/ , Arts Education Partnership.)

* With their award-winning social outreach program, the Red Ladder Theater Company, San Jose Repertory Theater uses theater arts to teach at-risk students through a variety of learning styles. Third-grade reading scores at Horace Mann Elementary School rose from the 18th percentile to the 35th percentile, thanks to Red Ladder. In concert with a comprehensive reading and language program, Horace Mann's Academic Performance Index (API) jumped 44 points, a full 31 points above its targeted increase.

II.h. SUPPORTING LIFE-LONG LEARNING

An education in the arts does not end with graduation from high school. For most people, the need to experience art as an audience member or maker of art continues to be a significant desire all their life. Consider the following examples:

* Judith-Kate Friedman / Jewish Home of San Francisco

Judith-Kate Friedman is an award-winning musician and songwriter who shares her work with the elderly in her residency. At the Jewish Home of San Francisco, a health care facility, Friedman works with elders (age 65 - 100+) in all aspects of writing and performing their own songs. Participants include people with diverse physical and mental abilities and national origins. "As a performer in nursing homes, I'd seen the debilitating effects of institutionalization upon elders and activity programs which, 'due to limited resources,' too often underestimate elders' creativity and intelligence... Songwriting has a powerful impact on communities. People recognize themselves in their own words and music. I've sung with Alzheimer's patients who remember the words and music to choruses of the original songs despite their evident memory deficits..." The facility also recognizes the value of the arts. "Music transcends barriers as no art or conversation can. There is a deeper need for creative expression among residents that staff can rarely provide."

* The Institute on Aging
The Institute on Aging, the largest community-based agency of comprehensive health, social, and psychological services for Northern California's aging population was part of the CAC's multi-residency program. Their Artworks program, which has been connecting artists with San Francisco's elderly population since 1978, primarily serves adults over 60 who attend citywide adult day centers or live in residential housing for the elderly. Visual and performing arts residencies are offered at nine diverse community centers throughout the city. Ninety percent of all participants in 1999 were low income and 65% were urban minority elders. The average age is 75 years.

"Programs like Artworks help prevent institutionalization by enhancing the participant's quality of life. Homebound and group center elderly become involved in many activities the keep them connected and contributing to their communities. Artworks attempts to transcend boundaries resulting from age, cultural differences, language barriers, and health conditions by engaging participants in collaborative projects. The artists do not focus on the participants' illness or approach the work as 'therapy'. The approach Artworks takes in promoting wellness is unique and beyond the scope of other Institute on Aging services."

II.i. HELPING FAMILIES COPE

The arts are also used to help families in stress, particularly children in homeless families. The arts can reduce tension, improve self-esteem and self-concept, and improve the outlook of children by providing opportunities for them to hope and to play.

* Lisa Kokin /Berkeley Homeless Shelters

Award-winning artist and 2000-01 California Arts Council Fellowship Awardee Lisa Kokin teaches visual arts workshops for residents and former residents of two homeless shelters run by the Berkeley-based service organization, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS).

"I love this program because it allows me to work with people who might never get to express themselves creatively. The people in the shelters where I work are at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. Many of them, in addition to being homeless, suffer from mental disabilities and grapple with substance abuse problems. They are dealing with huge problems and trying to become self-sufficient and independent. Art is an important tool of expression of the range of feelings that people experience, as well as a way to simply create something beautiful and nurture hope for the future. The need for regular, ongoing arts activities was strongly evidenced by our experience with the popularity of arts programs over the years, and the impact they have had on the residents' willingness to socialize, express themselves and their needs, and increase their confidence and skills. Art classes are therapeutic for many people, strengthening their capacity for self-expression, sharing, group activity, and socialization, manual skills, knowledge and more--all of which have been extremely beneficial for the (participants) who carry new confidence and motivation into other life goal areas."

Hard copies of various publications on the topic of arts education are available from the CAC for only the cost of shipping and handling. See: http://www.cac.ca.gov/?id=299#8 . Order form included.
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California Arts Council | 1300 I Street, Suite 930 | Sacramento, CA 95814

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