Research Paper On The Importance of Arts Education in Schools

At this moment there is a great urgency around a major transformation in America’s schools. Persistently high dropout rates are indicating that teachers are enable to motivate and interest their students. Children are loosing their ability to think creatively and on abstract level due to the lack of arts education in schools today. If children were provided with arts education they would have higher test scores, would be more likely to go to college, and less likely to participate in criminal activity. Students who graduate from high school are products of a very test-centered and narrowed curriculum based upon answering a multiple choice question accurately. Recent high school graduates are unable to compete in the post-secondary education realm due to their inability to think creatively and critically compared to their classmates from around the world. At the non-profit I volunteer at, the walls are lined with quotes by famous artists that students can identify with such as Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, these are people who have been subjected to arts education and they are now making millions of dollars of off art.

Arts education can refer to either being educated in the arts or using art as a way to teach general education. Drama, music, visual art, and dance are the most general types of art that are integrated into schools. In the President’s committee on the Arts he states the importance of integrating arts into general subjects “Reading, math, and writing require students to understand and use symbols and so does assembling shapes and colors in a portrait or using musical notes to learn fractions. Experiences in the arts are valuable on their own, but they also enliven learning of other subjects, making them indispensable for a complete education in the 21st Century,” (United States 20). The study of these mediums and practices helps students to explore and learn other subjects for instance reading, writing, and math requires the understanding of symbols, and so does assembling shapes and colors in a piece of art or learning musical notes in order to understand fractions more. Many schools are not supplying an adequate amount of art education for students that would help them engage and succeed in other academic areas and build skills that would help them compete on a global level.

The way in which people’s intelligence is measured is through testing. In many public and private schools across the country test scores are one of the most important things because they show who the brightest students are, what teachers are most effective, and what students will be promoted to the next grade. Brain research has been performed on the topic of arts and testing. Researchers have begun to tackle the questions of arts education benefits. This research will be instrumental in the fight for more arts education funding.

“Through the leadership of the Dana Foundation, which supports brain research, cognitive neuroscientists in seven universities have undertaken formal studies of the connections between arts training and academic performance using advanced techniques including brain imaging (Asbury & Rich, 2008). Increasingly, researchers are finding evidence that early arts education is a building block of developing brain function. Examples of findings, some of which corroborate earlier findings, include:

•   Music training is closely correlated with development of phonological awareness ––one of the most important predictors of early reading skills

•   Children who were motivated to practice a specific art form developed improved attention and also improved general intelligence. Training of attention and focus leads to improvement in other cognitive domains.

•   Links have been found between high levels of music training and the ability to manipulate information in both working memory and long-term memory, (United States 22).”

Other researchers have been experimenting with repetition and how helpful that is to the brain, especially musically. “Neuro-Ed Initiative researchers at Johns Hopkins hypothesize that arts integration, which emphasizes repetition of information in multiple ways, provides the advantage of embedding knowledge in long-term memory, (United States 23).” If students are exposed to a thought or idea multiple times then they are more apt to remember it. If a child is presented with a question relating to fractions and they can recall using fractions in visual art, music, and math class than they are more likely to know how to answer it because they have been exposed to it.

    If students are more exposed to arts in education and in general than they are more apt to attend college because their ability to learn abstractly gives them the drive and need to test themselves on new levels. College provides another level of abstract thought for people to push themselves to a new level of understanding, especially those who are trained in abstract thought and thrive on it. In a recent study of low and high exposure to arts engagement in high school students it shows that percentages of high school graduates who attend college are more likely to have participated in arts education, “The table represents college attainment rates, by attendance, by types of degrees earned, and even by college grades. According to the data, 71 percent of low-SES students with arts-rich experiences attended some sort of college after high school. Only 48 percent of the low-arts, low-SES group attended any sort of college. And more than twice as many high-arts students from the low-SES group, compared with low-arts students in that group, attended a four-year college (39 percent versus 17 percent), (Catterall 10).  Arts education teaches students how to handle a college workload and manage time due to the understanding of patience and creative thought.

    There is a class taught at my high school that is strictly visual art, mainly types of painting. Some of the students had been taking it for years in an effort to perfect their art. One boy had been taking a class for four years in order to finish one painting. He had begun his painting as a very rowdy boy unable to remain still. He ended the program a very patient boy who was very attentive, and also with a finished product. The art class taught the boy patience and focus by presenting him with a project that is tedious and putting faith in his ability to complete it.

    Arts education gives children a hobby. For instance when going into a dance or music class the child may thoroughly enjoy the art and may want to continue in their spare time. This gives them something to do other than get into trouble. If more arts education programs were in schools then our incarceration rates would diminish especially among delinquents and young adults.

            Schools around the country are working to integrate arts based curriculum into schools in an effort to broaden the skill set of the workforce. Many cities and counties across the nation have at least one public school of the arts for students, “Programs in California, Connecticut, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina have shown positive outcomes such as higher test scores, increased academic achievement, lower absenteeism, and soft skills development beginning at an early age,” (Psilos 5). These programs go into schools and help to establish a better arts program but more specifically change “the school’s culture-its symbols, myths, and educational expectations, both for students and teachers,” (Psilos 5). In all of the schools cited they all reported success through the programs and can condone a visible improvement among students. In Washington there is an Experimental Gallery, Washington’s Experimental Gallery, teaches responsible citizenship through the arts. In partnership with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration the gallery created an Arts program for Incarcerated Youth from six different Juvenile Detention Facilities. Local artists volunteer their time and talents to teach the incarcerated youth various artistry practices such as sculpture or photography. Due to the success of the Arts Program for Incarcerated Youth, the Washington State Historical Society’s Capital Museum is working towards developing a museum school in one of the maximum-security facilities as well as, “students in the Experimental Gallery overcome their behavioral problems by 75 percent and are 50 percent less likely to commit another crime,” (NEH). An art in education gives students hobbies and the skills needed to make better choices. It shows them alternate ways to entertain themselves and gives them goals. When students are provided with other ways to entertain themselves then they will diverge from the path of criminal acts.

            Arts in education are an instrumental piece of the learning process. By having arts and education in schools students are more well rounded, it’s a good stress reliever, independent thinking, problem solving, communication skills, creative expression, relate better to the outside world, and gives them a hobby that makes them feel filled with self-worth. If children were provided with arts in education then test scores would be higher, incarceration rates among youth would be lower, and would be more likely to go to college. While money is tight in the country right now we need to start thinking about investing in arts in education because the benefits out way the costs when we compare ourselves to other countries who have students who are much more intelligent than the students here. In order for us to remain competitive we have to start with the next generation of decision makers and make sure that they have the capacity and ability to make decisions to ensure our stature in the world.

 Work Cited Page

President's Committee on the Arts and the, Humanities. "Re-Investing In Arts Education: Winning America's Future Through Creative Schools. Summary And Recommendations." President's Committee On The Arts And The Humanities (2011): ERIC. Web. 2 Nov. 2012.

Catterall, James. "National Endowment for the Arts." National Endowment for the Arts. (2012): 28. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. <http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED530822>.

Psilos, Phil. "The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation." Issue Brief. NGA Center for Best Practices, 01 2002. Web. 18 Nov 2012. <http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/050102ARTSED.pdf>.

"Coming up Taller." The National Endowment for the Humanities. N.p., 01 2002. Web. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <www.cominguptaller.org/profile/pr202multi.htm.>.