The NEA commissioned WestEd to examine current trends, promising techniques, and successful practices being used to assess student learning in the arts throughout the country, as well as identify potential areas in which arts assessment could be improved. Although the original intent of the study was to identify strong models of assessment practices that could serve as examples for possible replication, the study found that such models were not available and are in fact a need of the field. Thus, this report provides a description of the current state of arts assessment, including a review of the high-quality literature available, common practices being used to assess student learning, and needs of the field to improve arts assessment.
Arts Education/Youth
The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies
The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies examines arts-related variables from four large data sets–three maintained by the U.S. Department of Education and one by the Department of Labor–to understand the relationship between arts engagement and positive academic and social outcomes in children and young adults of low socioeconomic status (SES). Conducted by James Catterall, University of California, Los Angeles, et al., the analyses show that achievement gaps between high- and low-SES groups appear to be mitigated for children and young adults who have arts-rich backgrounds.
A Snapshot of Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 2009-10
This first look report presents selected findings from a congressionally mandated study on arts education in public K-12 schools. The data were collected through seven Fast Response Survey System surveys during the 2009-10 school year. This report provides national data about arts education for public elementary and secondary schools, elementary classroom teachers, and elementary and secondary music and visual arts specialists. A later report will present findings on a broader set of indicators on the status of arts education in 2009-10 and comparisons with data from the 1999-2000 study where applicable.
Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning the Future Through Creative Schools
… Decades of research show strong and consistent links between high-quality arts education and a wide range of impressive educational outcomes. This is true even though, as in most areas where learning is complex, the research base does not yet establish causal proof. Arts integration models, the practice of teaching across classroom subjects in tandem with the arts, have been yielding some particularly promising results in school reform and closing the achievement gap. Most recently, cutting-edge studies in neuroscience have been further developing our understanding of how arts strategies support crucial brain development in learning.
At the same time, due to budget constraints and emphasis on the subjects of high stakes testing, arts instruction in schools is on a downward trend. Just when they need it most, the classroom tasks and tools that could best reach and inspire these students – art, music, movement and performing – are less available to them. Sadly, this is especially true for students from lower-income schools, where analyses show that access to the arts in schools is disproportionately absent. …
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Forks in the Road: The Many Paths of Arts Alumni
The Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) at Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research addresses the previously unanswered question of what happens to alumni of performing and visual arts in its report, Forks in the Road: The Many Paths of Arts Alumni. Stereotypes and misconceptions abounded about what these graduates were doing, with one of the most common being that they are unable to find work in their desired field and therefore are forced to take jobs outside of their desired field. After receiving 13,581 responses, SNAAP was able to dispel that myth and provide a clearer picture of the activities of these graduates.
The Role of the Arts in Educating America for Great Leadership and Economic Strength
The 2010 National Arts Policy Roundtable, The Role of the Arts in Educating America for Great Leadership and Economic Strength, focused on the role of the arts in answering the national imperative to improve education in order to meet the global challenges we face. This report is a summary of the findings of this convening at the Sundance Institute in September 2010.
