berkscountymusicboosters.wikispaces.com viewThe Study Group on the Lost Curriculum formulated ten recommendations for state policymakers to ensure that the arts and foreign languages

Ensuring a Place for the Arts: 10 Tips

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Category: Document

Issue(s) Addressed: Qualified teachersStandards-based curriculaTesting in musicProfessional development needs

Attribution

Anne C. Grey (2010), "No Child Left Behind in Art Education Policy: A Review of Key Recommendations for Arts Language Revisions," Arts Education Policy Review, 111(1): 8-15

Originally in L. Meyer (2004), "The complete Curriculum: Ensuring a Place for the Arts and Foreign Languages in America's Schools," Arts Education Policy Review 106(3): 35-39.

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The Study Group on the Lost Curriculum formulated ten recommendations for state policymakers to ensure that the arts and foreign languages were not lost and, more important, to position both as integral parts of the core curriculum:

1. Adopt high-quality licensure requirements for staff in the arts that are aligned with student standards in these subject areas.

Links

http://www.heldref.org/pubs/aepr/about.html

Submitter Information

Name: MENC Staff Email: [email protected]

10 Recommendations to Ensure a Place for the Arts: #9

Category: Document Issue(s) Addressed: Inherent value/intelligenceMusic and overall budget

Testing in music

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9. Urge the National Assessment Governing Board to increase the frequency in the administration of NAEP assessments for both the arts.

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Category: Document

Issue(s) Addressed: Inherent value/intelligenceLong-term success of studentsDeveloping the "whole child"Sequential programsStandards-based curriculaTesting in musicGraduation requirements in music/arts

Attribution



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6. Incorporate arts learning in the early years into standards, curriculum frameworks, and course requirements. Also, encourage local school districts to incorporate the arts into instruction in the early years, whenever possible.

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Category: Document

Issue(s) Addressed: Inherent value/intelligenceDeveloping the "whole child"Testing in music

Attribution



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8. Incorporate all core subject areas, including the arts, into the improvement strategies promoted by the No Child Left Behind Act.

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Category: Document

Issue(s) Addressed: Sequential programsStandards-based curriculaTesting in musicGraduation requirements in music/arts

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4. Incorporate the arts into core graduation requirements, while simultaneously increasing the number of credits required for graduation.

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Unintended Outcomes

Category: Research Report

Issue(s) Addressed: Developing 21st-century skillsStandardized testing in math/reading/etcTesting in music

Attribution

“Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind: Facts and Recommendations,” Brian M. Stecher, Georges Vernez, with Paul Steinberg. A study by RAND Education, 2010.

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“… the narrow focus of the law on two academic areas and the states’ reliance on similarly narrow student tests have resulted in unintended outcomes, such as the narrowing of schools’ curricula, encouraging teachers to focus on some students at the expense of others, and discouraging the development of higher-thinking and problem-solving skills.”

Links

www.rand.org



Tested v. Nontested Subject Areas

Category: Document

Issue(s) Addressed: Standardized testing in math/reading/etcTesting in music

Attribution

Anne C. Grey (2010), "No Child Left Behind in Art Education Policy: A Review of Key Recommendations for Arts Language Revisions," Arts Education Policy Review, 111(1): 8-15.

Originally in P. Pederson (2007), "What Is Measured Is Treasured: The Impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on Nonassessed Subjects," The Clearing House, 80(6): 287-91

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There is less attention given to the non-tested subject areas. Those non-tested subject areas remain invisible. There is less interest in developing those areas. People are so busy with the big [tested subjects] there is no pressure to focus on fine arts, PE, or health.

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Name: MENC Staff Email: [email protected] 10 Recommendations to Ensure a Place for the Arts: #5

Category: Document

Issue(s) Addressed: Long-term success of studentsTesting in musicGraduation requirements in music/arts

Attribution Anne C. Grey (2010), "No Child Left Behind in Art Education Policy: A Review of Key

Recommendations for Arts Language Revisions," Arts Education Policy Review, 111(1): 8-15


Item Text The Study Group on the Lost Curriculum formulated ten recommendations for state

policymakers to ensure that the arts and foreign languages were not lost and, more important, to position both as integral parts of the core curriculum:

5. Encourage higher education institutions to increase standards for admission and include arts courses when calculating high school grade point averages.

Principals Strategize to Provide Arts Education

Category: Research Report

Issue(s) Addressed: Facilities/equipmentMusic and overall budget Music as efficient use of school budgetSpecial budgetary needs of musicStandardized testing in math/reading/etcTesting in musicIn school/after schoolPull-outsBlock scheduling/student ability to participateTime demands of performances/competitions

Attribution

“Access to Arts Education: Inclusion of Additional Questions in Education's Planned Research Would Help Explain Why Instruction Time Has Decreased for Some Students,” U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-09-286, February 27, 2009

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School principals have used several strategies to provide arts education; however, some struggled with decreased budgets and competing demands on instruction time, according to those GAO interviewed. Strategies for maintaining arts education include seeking funding and collaborative arrangements in the arts community. Competing demands on instruction time were due to state education agency or school district actions taken to meet NCLBA proficiency standards.

Links

www.gao.gov



Music Advocacy’s Top Ten for Administrators

1. Surveys show that a majority of parents believes the arts are as important as reading, writing, math, science, history, or geography. Most parents want their children to have more experience with the arts than they had when they were young.- Louis Harris, Americans and the Arts VI, 1992.

2. Students in two Rhode Island elementary schools who were given an enriched, sequential, skill-building music program showed marked improvement in reading

and math skills. Students in the music program who had started out behind the control group achieved statistical equality in reading and pulled ahead in math.Gardiner, Fox, Jeffrey, and Knowles, Nature, May 23, 1996.

3. Over nine in ten adults (93%) surveyed agree that music is part of a well-rounded education.- Americans’ Attitudes Toward Music, The Gallup Organization, 1997.

4. The Kettle Moraine school district in Wales, Wisconsin is requiring piano lessons for all K-5 pupils after seeing encouraging results from a district pilot program. District officials based their pilot program on research findings that show music training - specifically piano instruction - is far superior to computer instruction in enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills.- Karen Abercrombie, Education Week, October 14, 1998.

5. The arts are recognized as a core subject in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act approved by both houses of Congress in 1994.- National Education Goals Panel.

6. A two-year Swiss study involving 1,200 children in 50 schools showed that students involved in the music program were better at languages, learned to read more easily, showed an improved social climate, demonstrated more enjoyment in school, and had a lower stress level than non-music students.- E.W. Weber, M. Spychiger, and J.L. Patry, 1993.

7. Research shows when the arts are included in a student’s curriculum, reading, writing, and math scores improve.- J. Buchen Milley, A. Oderlund, and J. Mortarotti, “The Arts: An Essential Ingredient in Education,” The California Council of the Fine Arts Deans.

8. The College Board identifies the arts as one of the six basic academic subject areas students should study in order to succeed in college.- Academic Preparation for College: What Students Should Know and Be Able to Do, The College Board.

9. When researchers analyzed the NELS:88 database of the U.S. Department of Education, which tracked 25,000 students over a ten-year period, they discovered that students who were involved in music scored higher on standardized tests and reading tests than students not taking music courses. This finding was consistent for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds.- Dr. James Catterall, UCLA, 1997.

10. School districts with strong arts education programs report that superintendents and school principals who collectively support and regularly articulate a vision for arts education are critically important to the successful implementation and stability of district arts education policies.Gaining the Arts Advantage, The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, 1999.

1. In a 1995 study in Hamilton, Ohio, string students who participated in pullout lessonsaveraged higher scores than the non-pullout students in all areas of the Ohio Proficiency Test.Sixty-eight (68) percent of the string students achieved satisfactory ratings on all sections of thetest, compared to fifty-eight (58) percent of the non-pullout students.- Michael D. Wallick, “A Comparison Study of the Ohio Proficiency Test Results Between Fourth-Grade String Pullout Students and Those of Matched Ability,” Journal of Research in Music Education, 1998.

2. According to a 2000 survey, eighty-one (81) percent of people responding believe thatparticipating in school music corresponds with better grades and test scores. This is anincrease of fourteen (14) percent over the 1997 results for the same question.- Attitudes, NAMM (International Music Products Association), 2000.

3. More music teachers are role models for minority students than teachers of any othersubject. Thirty-six (36) percent of surveyed minority students identified music teachers as theirrole models, compared to twenty-eight (28) percent for English teachers, eleven (11) percentfor elementary teachers, and seven (7) percent for physical education teachers.- “Music teachers as role models for African-American students,” Journal of Research in Music Education,1993.

4. Only thirty-one (31) percent of teenagers and adults in a 2000 survey who do not play aninstrument feel they are too old to start learning.- Americans Love Making Music – And Value Music Education More Highly Than Ever, American MusicConference, 2000.

5. Researchers at the University of California and the Niigata Brain Research Institute in Japanhave found an area of the brain that is activated only when reading musical scores.- “Musical Brain – Special Brain Area Found for Reading Music Scores,” NeuroReport, 1998.

6. In the 1998 federal study Gaining the Arts Advantage, music teachers in many of thestrongest arts programs nationwide are encouraged by their schools to perform in theircommunities and to improve their own performing skills.- Gaining the Arts Advantage, The President’s Council on the Arts and Humanities, 1998.

7. Ninety-two (92) percent of people who play an instrument say they were glad they learnedto do so, according to a 2000 Gallup Poll.- Gallup Poll Shows Strong Support for Putting Music in Every School’s Curriculum, Giles Communications,2000.

8. In academic situations, students in music programs are less likely to draw unfoundedconclusions.- Champions of Change, Federal study, 1999.

9. The scores of elementary instrumental music students on standardized math tests increasedwith each year they participated in the instrumental program.- “Music Training Helps Underachievers,” Nature, May 26, 1996.

10. Nine out of ten adults and teenagers who play instruments agree that music making bringsthe family closer together.- Music Making and Our Schools, American Music Conference, 2000.

Twelve Benefits of Music Education

1. Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning. It is thought that brain development continues for many years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain's circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds.

2. There is also a causal link between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things). This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualize various elements that should go together, is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced mathematics problems to being able to pack a book-bag with everything that will be needed for the day.

3. Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions, rejecting outdated rules and assumptions. Questions about the arts do not have only one right answer.

4. Recent studies show that students who study the arts are more successful on standardized tests such as the SAT. They also achieve higher grades in high school.

5. A study of the arts provides children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and teaches them to be empathetic towards the people of these cultures. This development of compassion and empathy, as opposed to development of greed and a "me first" attitude, provides a bridge across cultural chasms that leads to respect of other races at an early age.

6. Students of music learn craftsmanship as they study how details are put together painstakingly and what constitutes good, as opposed to mediocre, work. These standards, when applied to a student's own work, demand a new level of excellence and require students to stretch their inner resources.

7. In music, a mistake is a mistake; the instrument is in tune or not, the notes are well played or not, the entrance is made or not. It is only by much hard work that a successful performance is possible. Through music study, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work.

8. Music study enhances teamwork skills and discipline. In order for an orchestra to sound good, all players must work together harmoniously towards a single goal, the performance, and must commit to learning music, attending rehearsals, and practicing.

9. Music provides children with a means of self-expression. Now that there is relative security in the basics of existence, the challenge is to make life meaningful and to reach for a higher stage of development. Everyone needs to be in touch at some time in his life with his core, with what he is and what he feels. Self-esteem is a by-product of this self-expression.

10. Music study develops skills that are necessary in the workplace. It focuses on "doing," as opposed to observing, and teaches students how to perform, literally, anywhere in the world. Employers are looking for multi-dimensional workers with the sort of flexible and supple intellects that music education helps to create as described above. In the music classroom, students can also learn to better communicate and cooperate with one another.

11. Music performance teaches young people to conquer fear and to take risks. A little anxiety is a good thing, and something that will occur often in life. Dealing with it early and often makes it less of a problem later. Risk-taking is essential if a child is to fully develop his or her potential.

12. An arts education exposes children to the incomparable.

Carolyn Phillips is the author of the Twelve Benefits of Music Education. She is the Former Executive Director of the Norwalk Youth Symphony, CT.

Being in a band is not just about music, Daubert adds. It offers benefits such as increased social skills, stronger teamwork and developed work ethic.

“The most important thing is, there is no other subject in this school besides music that allows kids on a daily basis to come in and do something that is self-expressive and that allows them to do something on a level that is above that of a normal high-school student,” he says.

RESEARCH REPORT:JUSTIFY YOUR MUSIC PROGRAM

by Randy Royer

A Study of Evidence that Music Education is a Positive Factor in K-8 Student Academic Achievement, Fall 1987, California State University. Copied with permission from Wyoming MEA Journal (1991). Wyoming MEA web-site is http://www.uwyo.edu/a&s/musc/wmea.htm

Research--whoa, don’t turn the page--is important in music education. It is not the dusty, dry study of facts and statistics. Research decides what we teach, when we teach it, and how we teach. It can also help you justify your music education program when faced with budget cuts and program elimination. Research in music education is reported in numerous journals throughout the United States. Some of the more prominent journals include the Music Educators Journal, Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. Other regional journals are gaining a reputation like the Southeastern Journal of Music Education published by the University of Georgia. More limited publications are also being pursued by smaller universities and local organizations. An example is the development of a one-time publication by the Utah Music Education Association to report research done in music education in the state of Utah.

An excellent article on applying research findings is “Putting Research to Work in the Music Classroom” in the May 1991 Music Educators Journal by H. Eugene Karjala. The article describes the process of reporting research through publication, linking the research to the classroom through workshops and applying the findings to actual classroom situations. The author also lists several important sources of research reports.

If you or your music education program is faced with cuts because of declining revenues (a possibility even in Evanston!), an excellent article to help build your defense was recently published in the August 1991 Instrumentalist. Although the author defends program cuts on a purely economical basis, many school administrators propose cuts in music programs for exactly those reasons. “Defending Music Programs with Economic Analysis” by John Benham basically states that music teachers are cost efficient. They teach more students than classroom teachers, so if a school eliminates three music teachers, they must be replaced by a least four classroom teachers. In an effort to save money by dropping the music program, school administrators will actually spend more to replace it.

Research in music education also shows many correlations of the value of music education with learning other subject matter. A master’s thesis by Jeanne Akin, Music Makes a Difference, documents numerous studies that show the value of music education to learning the “core” curriculum. Highlights from a summary of Ms. Akin’s findings are as follows:

1. Arts education leads to cognitive and basic skills development (Medeja 1978) (Milley 1984).2. Arts education increases interest in academic learning (Kaufman 1976).3. High school music students have been shown to hold higher grade point averages

(GPA) than non-musicians in the same school (Horne 1983).4. The study of music produces the development of academic achievement skills (State of California 1986).5. Learning to play a musical instrument helps students to develop faster physically, mentally, emotionally and socially (Mueller 1984).6. There is a high relationship between high self-perception, high cognitive competence scores, general self-esteem and interest in school music (Lillemyre 1983).7. Music lessons can lead to interest in academics (Olanoff & Kirschner 1969).8. Music education improves student listening skills (Kohanski 1970).9. Kindergarten basic skills achievement increases when music and other arts are added to the curriculum (Minicucci 1981).10. Music and arts enriched curriculum can be a factor in raising IQ scores for second graders (Mathison 1977).11. In reading for meaning, music students can out-achieve non-music students (Friedman 1959). 12. Children who have received school keyboard music lessons score higher in mathematics and history than students not in the program, although their IQ scores are no higher than the other students’ (ESEA 1969).13. Receiving increased music instruction can lead to increased learning in mathematics (Malester 1986).14. Brain research shows that music and arts activities develop the intellect (Sinatra 1986).15. Research indicates that music instruction promotes academic achievement (Horne 1983).16. There are many research studies that show a connection between music education and reinforcement for academic tasks (Madsen 1981).17. Eye-hand coordination needed to learn to write can be developed by learning to play an instrument (Wishey 1980).18. Disciplinary problems are reduced in school systems which have arts programs (Arts, Education and Americans 1980).19. Personal expression is encouraged through performance in the arts (Oklahoma State Department of Education 1980).20. Research indicates that reading music can improve reading language abilities in slow young learners (Tucker 1981).

Finally, a few more interesting tidbits of the value of music education as evidenced by research findings. Edward P. Asmus of the University of Utah, as quoted in MENC’s Soundpost and other sources, has documented a direct correlation between the number of music teachers per 100 students and SAT and ACT scores. The greater the music teacher/pupil ratio directly corresponds to higher scores on nationally standardized academic achievement tests. This relationship is even stronger the overall

teacher/pupil ratio. This suggests that music education plays a powerful role in the overall educational process.

An article in the July 1990 Instrumentalist states that music majors have the highest rate of admittance to medical school, higher than any other subject area including biochemistry, chemistry and physics. The article quotes facts and figures from a Rockefeller Foundation study and concludes by suggesting that students eager to be admitted to medical school should be music majors. (We knew this all along, right?)

If you need more details for any of the above, please feel free to call or write. If you have suggestions for other areas of research to be reported on, also feel free to let me know. My address is Randall Royer, c/o Evanston Middle School, PO Box 6002, Evanston WY 82931-6002. Telephone (307) 789-7571.

P.S. I have no documentation for this right now (I know I read it somewhere), but I know that chopping firewood is a great stress-reliever. Time to go get ready for winter and unload some of that first nine-week’s anxiety.

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The U.S. Department of Education recommends the arts to college-bound middle and junior high school students asserting, “Many colleges view participation in the arts and music as valuable experience that broadens students’ understanding and appreciation of the world around them.”

In addition, it plays a part in developing “children’s intellectual development.” The U.S. DOE also suggests one year of Visual and Performing Arts for college-bound high school students. (Source: Getting Ready for College Early: A Handbook for Parents of Students in the Middle and Junior High School Years, U.S. Department of Education, 1997)

The arts are one of the six subject areas in which the College Board recognizes as essential in order to thrive in college. (Source: Academic Preparation for College: What Students Need to Know and Be Able to Do, 1983 [still in use], The College Board, New York )

The arts produce jobs, generating an estimate $37 billion with a return of $3.4 billion in federal income taxes. (Source: American Arts Alliance Fact Sheet, October 1996 )

Students taking courses in music performance and music appreciation scored higher in the SAT than students with no arts participation. Music performance students scored 53 points higher on the verbal and 39 points higher on the math. Music appreciation students scored 61 points higher on the verbal and 42 points higher on the math. (Source: 1999 College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers, The College Entrance Examination Board, Princeton, New Jersey)

According to the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, music students received more academic honors and awards than non-music students. A higher percentage of music participants

received As, As/Bs, and Bs than non-music participants. (Source: NELS:88 First Follow-up, 1990, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington D.C.)

Lewis Thomas, physician and biologist, found that music majors comprise the highest percentage of accepted medical students at 66%. (Source: As reported in “The Case for Music in the Schools,” Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994.)

Research made between music and intelligence concluded that music training is far greater than computer instruction in improving children’s abstract reasoning skills.(Source: Shaw, Rauscher, Levine, Wright, Dennis and Newcomb, “Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children’s spatial-temporal reasoning,” Neurological Research, vol. 19, February 1997 )

The University of Montreal researched brain imaging techniques to study brain activity during musical tasks. Researches concluded that sight-reading musical scores and playing music “activate regions in all four of the cortex’s lobes” and “parts of the cerebellum are also activated during those tasks.” (Source: J. Sergent, E. Zuck, S. Tenial, and B. MacDonnall (1992). Distributed neural network underlying musical sight reading and keybpard performance. Science, 257, 106-109. )

Researchers in Leipzig discovered through the use of brain scans that musicians had larger planum temporale, the region of the brain associated with reading skills. Also, musicians had a thicker corpus callosum, the nerve fibers that connect the two halves of the brain. (Source: G. Schlaug, L. Jancke, Y. Huang, and H. Steinmetz (1994). “In vivo morphometry of interhemispheric asymmetry and connectivity in musicians.” In I. Deliege (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd international conference for music perception and cognition (pp. 417-418), Liege, Belgium. )

“The arts enrich communities and employees, and also stimulate the kind of intellectual curiosity our company needs to stay competitive.” (Source: Norma R. Augustine, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Martin Marietta Corporation.)

“A grounding in the arts will help our children to see; to bring a uniquely human perspective to science and technology. In short, it will help them as they grow smarter to also grow wiser. (Source: Robert E. Allen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AT&T Corporation, in “America’s Culture Begins with Education”)

This data is exerpted from Music Makes the Difference: Music, Brain Development, and Learning which is MENC publication #1668 and may be purchased at the MENC website at www.menc.org.

Arts Education aids students in skills needed in the workplace: flexibility, the ability to solve problems and communicate; the ability to learn new skills, to be creative and innovative, and to strive for excellence. (Source: Joseph M. Calahan, Director of Corporate Communications, Xerox. Corporation)

http://www.menc.org/

I believe arts education in music, theater, dance and the visual arts is one of the most creative ways we have to find the gold that is buried just beneath the surface. They (children) have an enthusiasm for life, a spark of creativity, and vivied imaginations that need training...training that prepares them to become confident young men and women. As I visit schools around the country I see a renewed interest in arts education and a growing concern about the negative impact of cutting art and music out of curriculum. The creativity of the arts and the joy of music should be central to the education of every American child. (Source: Richard W. Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education)

Music is Beating Computers at Enhancing Early Childhood Development. Music training, specifically piano instruction, is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills necessary for learning math and science. Learning music at an early age causes long-term enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning. (Source: Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., Gordon Shaw, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1997)

Music Enhances Linguistic Skills. Music -- specifically song -- is one of the best training grounds for babies learning to recognize the tones that add up to spoken language. (Source Sandra Trehubn, University of Toronto, 1997)

America Is a Country Full of Music-Makers. 113 million, or 53% of Americans over the age of 12 are current or former music makers. (Source: 1997 "American Attitudes Towards Music" poll conducted by the Gallup Organization)

Americans Say Schools Should Offer Instrumental Music Instruction as part of the regular curriculum. 88% of respondents indicated this in a 1997 "American Attitudes Towards Music" Gallup poll. (Source: Music Trades, September 1997)

Student involvement in extracurricular or cocurricular activities makes students resilient to current substance use among their peers, according to a recent statewide survey of Texas Schools. Secondary students who participated in band, orchestra or choir reported the lowest lifetime use of all substances. (Source: 1994 Texas School Survey of Substance Abuse Among Students: Grades 7-12)

Studying Music Strengthens Students' Academic Performance. Rhode Island studies have indicated that sequential, skill-building instruction in art and music integrated with the rest of the curriculum can greatly improve children's performance in reading and math. (Source: "Learning Improved by Arts Training" by Martin Gardiner, Alan Fox, Faith Knowles, and Donna Jeffrey, Nature, May 23, 1996)

Music and Spatial Task Performance: A Casual Relationship. Music lessons, and even simply listening to music, can enhance spatial reasoning performance, a critical higher-brain function necessary to perform complex tasks including mathematics. (Source: Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., Gordon Shaw, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1994)

The Mozart Effect surfaced about four years ago when research uncovered that adults who listened to music of complexity for ten minutes or so experienced temporary increases in their

spatial IQ scores. (Source: Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., Gordon Shaw, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1994)

Music Is One of Our Greatest Economic Exports. "The arts are an economic plus -- second only to aerospace as our most lucrative national export." (Source: Michael Greene of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences)

Teacher Expertise in Music is a Critical Factor in Student Learning. Research indicates that teachers of all subjects -- including music -- who are more experienced and educated are more effective in the classroom. Consequently, students learn more from them. (Source: Paying for Public Education: New Evidence on How and Why Money Matters, by Ronald Ferguson, 1991)

Arts Education

BY ROD PAIGE AND MIKE HUCKABEE

Since the time when humans drew figures on the walls of the caves of Lascaux, the arts have been our means of recording human experience and making meaning in the world. They are a sign of a thoughtful, inventive, and creative citizenry. As the global economy becomes faster and more competitive, these qualities are increasingly important. As such, the arts are an integral part of a complete, successful, and high-quality education.

Study of the arts enhances young people's intellectual, personal, and social development. The arts provide a rich and engaging curriculum that develops students' abilities to think, reason, and understand the world and its cultures. A comprehensive arts education encompasses such areas as the history of the arts, the honing of critical-analysis skills, the re-creation of classic as well as contemporary works of art, and the expression of students' ideas and feelings through the creation of their own works. In other words, students should have opportunities to respond, perform, and create in the arts.

Research has shown that those who study the arts improve their achievement in other subjects, including mathematics, reading, and writing. In math, for example, studies point to a direct connection between music and spatial reasoning and spatial temporal skills, which are important to understanding and using mathematical concepts. For high school students, coursetaking data collected by the College Board indicate that students of the arts annually outperform their nonarts peers on the SAT. In 2004, for example, students who studied music scored 40 points higher on the math portion of the test than students reporting no arts coursework. Similarly, students who studied acting and play production outscored their nonarts peers on the verbal portion of the SAT by an average of 66 points.

The effect of arts study on reading is similar. Because reading is the educational skill upon which all others in our lives are based, the No Child Left Behind Act focuses on literacy and sets the goal that all students read by the 3rd grade. We know from research that the arts can help achieve this goal, and that certain forms of arts instruction enhance and complement reading instruction. Studies have shown, for example, that when creative dramatics are a component of reading with preschool-age children, skills in comprehension and vocabulary increase.

The academic benefits of arts education also go beyond math and reading. An analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on 25,000 middle and high school students found that students who were highly involved in the arts performed better on a variety of academic measures than other students. They earned better grades, did better on exams, performed more community service, and watched fewer hours of television. And a growing amount of evidence shows that the arts can be particularly beneficial to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and can even keep some potential dropouts in school.

Most Americans recognize the importance of this early engagement in the arts. A recent Harris Poll found that 90 percent of respondents considered the arts vital to a well-rounded education for all students. The same poll also revealed that nine in 10 parents of school-age children oppose subjecting arts programs to budget cutbacks.

To put it simply, we need to keep the arts in education because they instill in students the habits of mind that last a lifetime: critical analysis skills, the ability to deal with ambiguity and to solve problems, perseverance and a drive for excellence. Moreover, the creative skills children develop through the arts carry them toward new ideas, new experiences, and new challenges, not to mention personal satisfaction. This is the intrinsic value of the arts, and it cannot be overestimated.

President Bush and both Democrats and Republicans in Congress recognized that the arts have this intrinsic value, are a necessary component of preparation for life in our democracy, and have a positive impact on student achievement and motivation. They understood that dance, drama, music, and the visual arts provide important skills and are educationally powerful tools for reaching all learners-that the arts can engage a child in ways that defy imagination. That's why the arts are considered a core academic subject under the No Child Left Behind law: They can and should play a central role in fulfilling the law's goal of improved student achievement, as well as similar goals of states, districts, schools, and parents. And that's why the Department of Education included the arts, in addition to math, science, and reading, in its Research-to-Practice summit, a component of its Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, this past summer.

The state of the arts varies from state to state and district to district, but we are beginning to see recognition of their importance in education across the country. Using the state of Arkansas as an example, we can see this in more than a dozen school, community, and governmental efforts to bring the arts to students.

o Every public school elementary student in the state now receives instruction in music or the visual arts.

o The Future Art and Music Teachers pilot program gives 11th and 12th grade students in at least six schools the opportunity to offer music and visual-arts instruction to K-6 students.

o The Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences has been expanded to include the arts, making the state one of only a handful offering a year-round, rigorous program for students gifted in the arts.

o The A+ Schools Program, begun in North Carolina and operating in Arkansas and Oklahoma as well, incorporates the arts into every subject in the curriculum of a number of schools.

Other states are at work in this area as well. In Arizona, state Superintendent Tom Horne's "content-rich curriculum" initiative is investing $4 million in comprehensive-school-reform funds under the No Child Left Behind Act to support arts education improvement efforts at 43 schools throughout the state. The initiative is based on the success of Tucson's Opening Minds Through the Arts program, which received federal support from the Department of Education's Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination program. Again this year, the department's office of innovation and improvement will solicit applications for both the models program and professional-development projects for K-12 arts educators.

The Education Commission of the States is undertaking a two-year focus on ensuring access to high-quality arts education in our schools. The goal of the ECS initiative-The Arts: A Lifetime of Learning-is to put the arts front and center on the education agenda. Its work plan is centered on four interrelated areas-awareness, research, tools, and state leadership-that, together, form the word "arts" and provide a set of objectives vital to increasing the arts' stature in education:

o Raise levels of public awareness and deepen understanding among state policymakers about the educational, social, and civic benefits of student involvement in the arts.

o Call for and contribute to the development of better state-level research and data on which to base policy decisions.

o Equip state policymakers with the tools to analyze and interpret state-level information related to the status and condition of arts education and instruction in schools.

o Support state leadership in efforts to develop policies and practices designed to improve educational outcomes for all students through school-based integration of the arts.

As a nation, we must develop children who are productive, happy, well-adjusted citizens, rather than kids who can just pass a test and get through school. We must ensure that our children can compete in the 21st-century economy by preparing a workforce and a citizenry that can think creatively, skillfully, and "outside the box." The arts are a vital part of doing this-and of ensuring that every student can achieve his or her potential and contribute fully to our society.

We know our nation is up to the challenge, but we must mobilize, inform, educate, and inspire education and policy leaders to recognize the vast potential returns that can be realized by investing now in arts education. Because of their primary responsibility in setting policy and in determining funding levels for public education, these leaders play a critical role in helping to make and keep the arts strong in schools.

By working together to bring the arts to every child in America, not only will we change attitudes about the curriculum, but we also will change the future of our country.

Documents

berkscountymusicboosters.wikispaces.com viewThe Study Group on the Lost Curriculum formulated ten recommendations for state policymakers to ensure that the arts and foreign languages