student achievement & art
What about test scores?
A 2008 study by the non-profit organization The Education Commission of the States concludes that arts can play a critical role in improving the academic performance of students. In a national sample of 25,000 students, those students 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. Attitudes to Art Education * 2 93% agree the Arts are vital to providing a well-rounded education for children 86% agree an arts education encourages and assists in the improvement of a child’s attitudes towards school 83% believe that arts education helps teach children to communicate effectively with adults and peers 79% agree incorporating the arts into education is the first step in adding back what’s missing in public education today 54% rated the importance of an arts education a “ten’ on a scale of one to ten 79% believe that it’s important for them to get personally involved in increasing the amount and quality of arts education |
Facts About Arts in Education
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Champions of Change - Learning in and through the Arts * 3
- More students who had received high levels of arts instruction earned high scores on measures of creative thinking than students with the lowest levels of arts instruction. Creative thinking includes various aspects of problem solving: how many ideas a student has in response to a problem, how original those ideas are, how detailed the ideas are, and the student's ability to keep her mind open long enough for innovative ideas to surface. The results were, "more firmly tied to rich arts provision than to high economic status." 31 to 41 percent of the high-arts students earned high scores on the five different creativity measures whereas only 11 to 17 percent of the low-arts students earned high scores on creativity measures. )
- In schools with strong arts climates, teachers and students both benefit. Teachers found students who had received high levels of arts training to be more cooperative and more willing to share what they had learned than students with low levels of arts training. "High-arts" students were better able to express their ideas, use their imaginations, and take risks in learning, as reported by teachers. High-arts students had better rapport with teachers and teachers in arts-rich schools demonstrated more interest in their work and were more likely to become involved in professional development experiences (81 percent to 38 percent). They were also more likely to be innovative in their teaching (81 percent to 38 percent).
- Teachers noticed many positive qualities in "high-arts" students. Pupils in arts-intensive settings scored higher in teachers' perceptions of their abilities to express thoughts and ideas, exercise their imaginations, and take risks in learning. Teachers also described those students as more cooperative and willing to display their learning publicly.
- High-arts students demonstrated more self-confidence about their academic performance. Students with the highest quartile of arts involvement were far more likely than their low-arts counterparts to think of themselves as competent in academics (41 percent to 18 percent). They were also far more likely to believe that they did well in school in general (36 percent to 19 percent), particularly in reading (40 percent to 20 percent) and mathematics (30 percent to 15 percent)."
* REFERENCES
The table on the previous opening site page under ‘Student Achievement and Art’ is from: (Study by Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation For the Advancement of Teaching; 1998)
*2 Champions of Change: Studies Learning in and through the Arts: Curriculum Implications
Judith Burton, Robert Horowitz, Hal Abeles: Center for Arts Education Research, Teachers College, Columbia University, July 1999
*3 Edutopia “Tuscon Schools Enhance learning with the Arts” – An Article by Fran Smith
The table on the previous opening site page under ‘Student Achievement and Art’ is from: (Study by Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation For the Advancement of Teaching; 1998)
*2 Champions of Change: Studies Learning in and through the Arts: Curriculum Implications
Judith Burton, Robert Horowitz, Hal Abeles: Center for Arts Education Research, Teachers College, Columbia University, July 1999
*3 Edutopia “Tuscon Schools Enhance learning with the Arts” – An Article by Fran Smith