resources

Supportive Research

The following research highlights the most current findings related to arts education practice and theory. This research illustrates the beneficial impact of the arts on academic, attitudinal, and social achievement.

• Academic Atrophy: The Condition of the Liberal Arts in America's Public Schools (2004)
  The Council for Basic Education executed a survey of more than 1,000 principals from Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, and New York. The findings illustrate how the No Child Left Behind Act is influencing instructional time and professional development in core academic subjects such as the arts, foreign languages, and social studies.
• Acts of Achievement: The Role of Performing Art Centers in Education (2003)
  This Dana Foundation publication provides the first study of K–12 education programs offered by performing arts centers nationwide, and showcases 74 performing art center institutions, large and small, partnering with their local schools.
• The Arts and School Reform: Lessons and Possibilities from the Annenberg Challenge Arts Projects (2003)
  Published by the Annenberg Institute, this report examines the symbiotic relationship between school reform and arts education.
• The Complete Curriculum: Ensuring a Place for the Arts and Foreign Languages in America's Schools (2003)
  A study executed by the National Association of State Boards of Education that informs readers about the current status of curriculum in our nation's schools and makes several recommendations for state policymakers to promote arts and foreign language instruction.
• Authentic Connections: Interdisciplinary Work in the Arts (2002)
  This publication—crafted by the Consortium of the National Arts Education Associations—is designed to assist and support educators in interdisciplinary work and to clarify how the arts can be taught with integrity through interdisciplinary content standards. It has been prepared for teachers in all disciplines, teaching artists, administrators, teacher educators at the college level, and parents.
• Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development (2002)
  A compendium published by the Arts Education Partnership reviews 62 studies of arts learning in dance, drama, music, multidisciplinary arts, and visual arts.
• Current Research in Arts Education: An Arts in Education Research Compendium (2001)
  Published by the California Arts Council, this publication is a compilation of research—as of May 2001—that connects the arts to improved student learning.
• Learning and the Arts: Crossing Boundaries (2000)
  Those who fund arts and education programs gathered in January 2000 to review the connection between learning in the arts and preparing for a new knowledge-based economy, to review current research about the cognitive and behavioral assets arts education develops, and to distill the ways of thinking that the arts teach. Made available by Grantmakers in the Arts.
• Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning (1999)
  This executive summary of seven studies details findings that illustrate the benefits of arts education on student achievement, attitudes, and behavior.
• Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons from School Districts that Value Arts Education (1999)
  This first national study to look at arts education on the school district level revealed success factors that lead to strong, districtwide arts education programs. The report, produced by the Arts Education Partnership and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, features more than 90 profiles and case studies of districts in 42 states.
• Gaining the Arts Advantage: More Lessons from School Districts that Value Arts Education (2000)
  This sequel to the 1999 report summarizes the discussions with district representatives who report that they are sustaining and in many cases enhancing financial support, program quality, and community support.
• Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning the Arts (1997)
  This U.S. Department of Education booklet is designed to give teachers some of the latest ideas about how arts principles and concepts can best be understood, taught, and used in the classroom to improve instruction in the arts and other disciplines.
• Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School
  (Americans for the Arts Monograph, November 1997, Volume 1, Number 9)
  This summary of research by Dr. James S. Catterall, UCLA Imagination Project, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, reveals how involvement in the arts is linked to higher academic performance, increased standardized test scores, more community service, and lower drop-out rates regardless of socioeconomic status.