arts education publications
Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development
This May 2002 report reviews 62 research studies that show compelling links between study in the arts and academic achievement and social/motivational development. Reading and mathematics achievement are Summary of findings and link to the full text of the report.
Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning
Executive Summary of seven studies and the detailed findings of all the studies showing benefits of arts education on student achievement, attitudes, and behavior.
Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons Learned from School Districts that Value Arts Education
Featuring more than 90 profiles and case studies of districts in 42 states, this report reveals success factors that lead to strong, district-wide arts education programs.
YouthARTS Development Project Brochure, Report, and Video
The YouthARTS Development Project is a national research and demonstration study in which arts programs for at-risk youth in three cities (Atlanta, Portland, and San Antonio) were evaluated for their effectiveness by researchers provided by the U.S. Department of Justice. Sponsored by Americans for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the U.S. Department of Justice, this controlled research study demonstrates that arts programs decrease youth's involvement in delinquent behavior, increase academic achievement, and improve youth's attitudes about themselves and their future.
How the Arts Can Enhance Aftershool Programs
Concern for children's safety and need for extended learning time in the afterschool hours has created an explosion in high quality afterschool programming. The U.S. Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers program has grown to a billion dollar program in a few short years. Arts-based proposals have successfully competed for some of these funds and are resulting in powerful partnerships between schools and community cultural organizations. The U.S. Department of Education has also produced some documents that can help show you how to put the power of the arts to work afterschool.
Coming Up Taller
This report describes how local artists and educators help turn around the lives of young people and identifies the common characteristics of effective arts and humanities programs. Brief Program Profiles describe more than 200 afterschool, weekend, and summer programs around the country.
The Arts Make the Education Difference at SPECTRA+, Hamilton, Ohio
A brief case study of an extraordinary arts integration program that enriches the standards-based curriculum and transforms teaching, learning, and the school environment. The pride of accomplishment runs through students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
Local and State Arts Programming in Kentucky
These are two brief case studies of how arts supporters built strong arts programs for children and youth both in Louisville community centers and in schools throughout Kentucky. Local and state arts agencies played vital roles in each.
Archival Americans for the Arts Publications
Allies, Arguments and Actions: Making a Case for Arts Education Advocacy
(available through Americans for the Arts Monograph, Volume 3, Number 1, May 1999)
This primer includes ten advocacy tips, ideas about connecting arts education research with advocating for quality arts education, and successful models of local advocacy for arts education.
Making Advocacy a Habit
(available through Americans for the Arts Monograph, Volume 1, Number 2, February 1997)
This primer outlines, in step-by-step fashion, how to make your case in meetings, letters, phone calls, and other activities. It is oriented toward working with legislators but the insights are valuable and appropriate for approaching decision-makers in all contexts (principals, school board members, superintendents, etc.)
Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School
(available through Americans for the Arts Monograph, Volume 1, Number 9, November 1997 )
This summary of research by Dr. James S. Catterall, UCLA Imagination Project, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, reveals how involvement in the arts is linked to higher academic performance, increased standardized test scores, more community service, and lower drop-out rates regardless of socio-economic status. Other more recent findings by Dr. Catterall are featured in Champions of Change (above).
Living the Arts Through Language and Learning: A Report on Community-Based Youth Organizations
(available through Americans for the Arts Monograph, Volume 2, Number 7, November 1998)
Researcher Shirley Brice Heath, Stanford Universityand Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, reports that youth who participate at least nine hours a week in arts-based youth organizations have raised expectations and achievement in academics and community service. Her work is also featured in Champions of Change(above).
Links of Interest
The National Assessment of Educational Progress: Arts Assessment Report Card
An ongoing project of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) regularly tests different academic subjects. The periodic inclusion of the various arts disciplines in the "Nation's Report Card" underscores the arts as academic material. Students were tested in their abilities to respond to, perform, and create in the arts disciplines.
Eloquent Evidence: Arts at the Core of Learning
This 1996 brochure summarizes research findings and offers quotes and other supportive language from leaders in the arts and education. The brochure reflects the growing consensus in support of arts education among parents and policymakers, the development of workplace skills through the study of the arts, and the role of the arts both as academic disciplines and as methods to help children learn better in non-arts disciplines.
Arts Education and School Improvement Resources for Local and State Leaders
This guide describes opportunities in U.S. Department of Education programs for securing funding for improving arts education and using the arts to improve overall student performance. This publication is intended to help local and state leaders and arts education practitioners learn about opportunities for federal general education funds to support arts education.
