FAQs ~ Arts Education
Young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours for at least three days each week through at least one full year are:
• 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
• 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
• 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
• 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
• 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem
• Attend music, art, and dance classes nearly three times as frequently
• Participate in youth groups nearly four times as frequently
• Read for pleasure nearly twice as often
• Perform community service more than four times as often.
• makes a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and has been proven to help level the “learning field” across the socio-economic boundaries.
• has a measurable impact on at-risk youth in detering delinquent behavior and truancy problems while also increasing overall academic performance among those youth engaged in afterschool and summer arts programs also targeted toward delinquency prevention.
Businesses understand that arts education:
• Builds a school climate of high expectation, discipline, and academic rigor that attracts businesses relocating to your community.
• Strengthens student problem-solving and critical thinking skills, adding to overall academic achievement and school success
• Helps students develop a sense of craftsmanship, quality task performance, and goal-setting — skills needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond.
• Can help troubled youth, providing an alternative to destructive behavior and another way for students to approach learning.
• Provides another oppurtunity for parental, community, and business involvement with schools, including arts and humanities organizations.
• Helps all students develop more appreciation and understanding of the world around them.
• Helps students develop a positive work ethic and pride in a job well done.
1.
Enjoy the arts together. Sing, play music, read a book, dance, or draw with your child at home.
2. Encourage your child to participate in the arts and celebrate their participation in or out of school.
3. Explore your community’s library and read “the classics” together — from Mother Goose to Walt Whitman.
4. Read your local newspaper to find out about attending local arts events like museum exhibits, local plays, festivals, or outdoor concerts.
5. Tell your child’s teacher, principal, and school leadership that the arts are vital to your child’s success and an important part of a quality education. Find out if your school has sufficient resources for arts education, including qualified teachers and materials. If not, offer to help.
6. Contact your local arts organizations to inquire about the arts education programs they offer either during school hours or after school. Volunteer to donate time, supplies, or help with their advocacy efforts and connect these services to your child’s school.
7. Attend a school board or PTA meeting and voice your support for the arts to show them you care and make sure the arts are adequately funded as part of the core curriculum in the school budget.
8. Explore your child’s dream to sing, to dance, to draw, to act — and encourage them to become the best they can be through the arts.
9.
Be an arts supporter! Contact your elected officials – lawmakers and schoolboard members – to ask them for more arts education funding from local, state, and federal levels.
10. Become an activist for arts education. There are many worthy organizations fighting for this cause, among them Americans for the Arts and others.
Sources:
(1): “Living the Arts through Language + Learning: A Report on Community-based Youth Organizations,” Shirley Brice Heath, Stanford University and Carnegie
Foundation For the Advancement of Teaching, Americans for the Arts Monograph, November 1998.
(2): Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School, James S. Caterall, The UCLA Imagination Project, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies,
UCLA, Americans for the Arts Monograph, January 2008.
(3): YouthARTS Development Project, 1996, U.S. Department of Justice, National Endowment for the Arts, and Americans for the Arts.
(4): Business Circle for Arts Education in Oklahoma, “Arts at the Core of Learning 1999 Initiative.”
