Art Smarts: How to Become an Advocate for Arts Education - Part 1

It's no secret that in recent years funding for the arts in American public schools has drastically decreased. Supposedly nonessential music, drama, and art programs, which have been reduced or removed in schools to provide more budgetary resources, have actually been proven to promote the kinds of thinking, enthusiasm, and discipline necessary for children's learning. Hundreds of recent research studies have shown that children exposed to the arts and who participate in arts activities have consistently performed better academically, i.e. higher grades, better SAT scores, and better attendance, than those students who do not participate in a form of the arts. School districts across the country are reacting to these findings by establishing successful initiatives to bring the arts back into the schools. Parents, educators, and community leaders can all can aid these efforts as advocates for the arts when they get involved!

Research Findings
Hundreds of research studies and program evaluations conducted in the past 15 years have provided compelling evidence that the arts is a vital component of a child's education from birth through secondary school. Take a look at just a small sampling of this evidence:

• Art Builds Brains
  Brain research has shown that the arts provide stimuli - pictures, song, movement, play acting - that are essential for the young child to develop to the fullest potential. Furthermore, neuroscientists have provided evidence that connective pathways in the brain are actually created by repetitive action. This proves that a child's early engagement in arts and crafts, singing, and storytelling can help create unique brain connections that will have a long term impact on a youngster's life.
  
  
• Art Improves Academic Performance
  Dr. James Catterall of UCLA analyzed the records of 25,000 students as they progressed from 8th grade through 10th grade. He discovered that those who studied arts had higher grades, scored better on standardized tests, had better attendance records and were more active in the community. He went on to find that students from lower income families who studied the arts improved their overall school performance more rapidly than all other students.
  
  
• Art Teaches Life Skills
  Dr. Shirley Brice Heath of Stanford University has shown that at-risk students who are actively engaged in the arts improve their self-esteem and confidence, assume leadership roles and improve their overall school performance. In its YouthARTS study the US Department of Justice found that arts programs designed to deter delinquent behavior of at-risk youth improved their academic performance, reduced delinquency and increased the skills of communication, conflict resolution, completion of challenging tasks and teamwork! These are all important skills that will be used throughout the child's life.
  
  
• Art Students Have Higher SAT Scores
  The College Board reports that college-bound students who have had arts education have higher SAT scores than other students.

Why is this so? Well, evidence shows that the arts engage children in a method of learning that is not present while simply sitting in a classroom. First, they require a kind of performance, such as painting, that's very different from just answering a quiz or taking a multiple choice test. They also require creative action to be taken by the student. They must decide what to paint, thereby develop something that wasn't there before, and actually paint it.

Continue to Part 2 - What School Districts are Doing to Promote the Arts

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