Synthesizing extensive research of arts education practice across the United States, this handbook is a guide to designing arts education professional development for K-12 classroom teachers and provides a searchable database of 50 arts learning communities. Explore this interactive resource online or download the full handbook.
Arts Education/Youth
Access to Arts Education: Inclusion of Additional Questions in Education’s Planned Research Would Help Explain Why Instruction Time Has Decreased For Some Students
Excerpt from GAO report on Watching Politics website:
Because schools may spend more time improving students’ academic skills to meet NCLBA’s (No Child Left Behind Act) requirements, some are concerned that arts education might be cut back. To determine how, if at all, student access to arts education has changed since NCLBA, the Congress asked: (1) has the amount of instruction time for arts education changed and, if so, have certain groups been more affected than others, (2) to what extent have state education agencies’ requirements and funding for arts education changed since NCLBA, (3) what are school officials in selected districts doing to provide arts education since NCLBA and what challenges do they face in doing so, and (4) what is known about the effect of arts education in improving student outcomes? GAO analyzed data from the U.S.
According to data from Education’s national survey, most elementary school teachers–about 90 percent–reported that instruction time for arts education stayed the same between school years 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. The percentage of teachers that reported that instruction time had stayed the same was similarly high across a range of school characteristics, irrespective of the schools’ percentage of low-income or minority students or of students with limited English proficiency, or the schools’ improvement under NCLBA. Moreover, about 4 percent of teachers reported an increase. However, about 7 percent reported a decrease, and GAO identified statistically significant differences across school characteristics in the percentage of teachers reporting that the time spent on arts education had decreased. Department of Education (Education), surveyed 50 state arts officials, interviewed officials in 8 school districts and 19 schools, and reviewed existing research.
The effect of piano lessons on the vocabulary and verbal sequencing skills of primary grade students
According to a just-published study in the journal Psychology of Music, the reading skills of young children who received structured training in music were clearly superior to those of their peers who did not have the benefit of such instruction. The finding is particularly striking because both groups of kids took part in comprehensive literacy training, in which lengthy periods of their school day were dedicated to reading and writing.
An Unfinished Canvas: Allocating Funding and Instructional Time for Elementary Arts Education
An Unfinished Canvas: Allocating Funding and Instructional Time for Elementary Arts Education found that California’s elementary schools face unique challenges in providing all students with sequential, standards-based arts education. In particular, elementary principals identified inadequate funding and insufficient instructional time as significant barriers to the provision of arts education. For this study, we sought to further understand the impact of funding and time on elementary arts education. To do so, we examined the allocation of funding and instructional time in 10 schools across five states (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and California).
The Contours of Inclusion: Frameworks and Tools for Evaluating Arts in Education
In her article “Freedom Machines,” Dennie Wolf outlines a bold approach to evaluation of arts and cultural learning programs. The article is part of “Contours of Inclusion,” published by VSA at the Kennedy Center. Wolf’s piece is accompanied by a case study of a joint project between the Studio Museum of Harlem and Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom School, a small high school in the South Bronx.
More Than Measuring: Program Evaluation as an Opportunity to Build the Capacity of Communities
More than Measuring is the final publication of the longitudinal study that assessed the impact of ArtsPartners. The evaluation, conducted over five years in cooperation with the Dallas Independent School District, the City of Dallas and over 50 cultural organizations, focuses on design principles used in conducting evaluations in ways that build the capacity of communities to design and improve programs for children and youth.
