champions of change: summary

Champions of Change (1999) is a collection of seven major studies that examined the role of arts education on the academic, behavioral, and thinking lives of children. The report acknowledges the "messy, often hard-to-define real world of learning, both in and out of school" and, therefore, sees these findings as all the more relevant.

In addition to the individual studies, all conducted by professional academics, the report organizes the material from each of the studies into a coherent presentation of the broader concepts and findings that emerged. The studies reveal that the arts:

• reach students who are not otherwise being reached
• reach students in ways that they are not otherwise being reached
• connect students to themselves and each other
• transform the environment for learning
• provide learning opportunities for the adults in the lives of young people
• provide new challenges for those students already considered successful
• connect learning experiences to the world of real work
• enable young people to have direct involvement with the arts and artists
• require significant staff development
• support extended engagement in the artistic process

To read the full report go to Champions of Change, a report produced by the national Arts Education Partnership, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the GE Fund, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Below are links to our summaries of the individual studies with links to the full report at the end of each summary.

• Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement in Music and Theater Arts
• Imaginative Actuality: Learning in the Arts During the Nonschool Hours
• Learning in and through the Arts: Curriculum Implications
• Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education Summary Evaluation
• Artistic Talent Development for Urban Youth: The Promise and the Challenge
• Stand and Unfold Yourself: A Monograph of the Shakespeare & Company Research Study
• Why the Arts Matter in Education or Just What Do Children Learn when they Create an Opera