Making the Case for the Fourth `R’: Art!
Reading and ’riting and ’rithmetic and ’rt (art)? Many school districts are strengthening
the art components of their curricula in light of new research on the benefits of arts education.
[Editor’s Note: Are the arts an essential part of the curriculum---or are they an “extra”
that can be cut in times of tight budgets? We’d like to hear your thoughts! Just return to the Education World Home Page and highlight “Message Boards” in the DIRECTORY list;
click on GO; then click on “Educator’s Forum” and “General Education.” I posted a message about “The fourth `R’” on Wednesday July 9.
Feel free to express your opinion about the arts; or tell us about an art program in your school that has
been especially successful.]
“Robert was a fifth grader who missed four or five school days regularly. He `tuned out’ both the teacher’s instruction and other classmates. . . . But Robert did connect with
Albrecht Durer, the 16th-century printmaker. . .[when he] was shown a self-portrait that Durer had painted at age 13. That night he went home and drew his own self-portrait. His
teacher suggested that he begin keeping a sketchbook. Thereafter, three or four times a week, Robert shared his sketchbook with the teacher and the class. . . . His identity was in
his artwork. . . . His school attendance improved and he looked more confident in the way he carried himself. . . . His self-esteem obviously improved with his growth and experience
as an artist.”*
Robert’s story, which is part of a special report---Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning: The Arts
---is one of many stories that show how the arts can engage students who may lack interest in other classes. In Robert’s case, his
interest in the arts provided a sense of empowerment that carried over into every aspect of his education. In addition, Robert’s interest in the arts led to acceptance by (and the
respect of) others and significantly improved his self-esteem.
The evidence in support a strong discipline-based arts education is piling up. Communities and states around the United States are taking action. The arts have been taking great
strides forward. Take a look at a few pieces of evidence:
- Late last year, the West Virginia Board of Education approved a high school graduation
requirement in the arts. Starting with the Class of 2002, each graduate must have
carried one credit in art, music, theatre, or dance.
- Recently, the state of Ohio became only the second state (Nebraska is the other) to adopt
a competency-based art curriculum.
- Goals 2000 legislation provides support to help states and communities set standards of
excellence and work toward meeting them in core subjects, including English,
mathematics, science, civics, foreign language---and the arts.
- The U.S. Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
recently announced an annual awards program to honor arts-education/business
partnerships.
- The U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon School Program, which recognizes
individual schools that are examples of excellence in instruction and student
achievement, will for the first time in 1998 recognize schools that have used the arts to
lift their school and their students to new levels of achievement.
Are those efforts evidence of a commitment to the arts? Are they evidence that 1997 and 1998 will be big years for the arts in education? Or, as some skeptics say, are those efforts
simply evidence of people giving in to pressure from communities and strong, well-heeled advocacy groups? Are those efforts just “lip service” to the arts?
The answers to those questions remain to be seen, but each year the evidence grows in
support of a strong art component in school curricula.
“All students will leave grades 4, 8, an 12 having demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter including. . . . the arts. . . . and every school in America
will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well so that they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment
in our Nation’s modern economy.”
---Goals 2000: Educate America Act 8
Art was added to the GOALS 2000 mission in 1994. Among the evidence presented to Congress that promoted the inclusion of the arts in the Goals 2000 mission statement were
the findings in Title X (Part D. Section
10401) (which supports the Kennedy Center and Very Special Arts programs):
“The Congress finds that---
the arts are forms of understanding and ways of knowing that are fundamentally important
to education;
the most significant contribution of the arts to education reform is the transformation of
teaching and learning;
such transformation is best realized in the context of comprehensive, systemic education
reform;
demonstrated competency in the arts for American students is among the national
Education Goals;
participation in performing arts activities has proven to be an effective strategy or
promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream settings;
opportunities in the arts have enabled persons of all ages with disabilities to participate
more fully in school and community activities;
the arts can motivate at-risk students to stay in school and become active participants in
the educational process; and
arts education should be an integral part of the elementary can secondary school
curriculum.”
A study commissioned by the
NEA and conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics revealed in
1995 that while most students in public elementary schools receive some instruction in music and visual arts few have access to courses in
drama or dance, and fewer than half of the nation’s high schools require arts credits for graduation. Among the study’s findings:
- Music is almost universally included in education programs of elementary schools (97
percent) and visual arts instruction is provided in the majority of schools (85 percent).
- Only 8 percent of elementary schools offer drama as a separate subject, though most
elementary teachers (56 percent) report using dramatic activities, such as enacting
stories or plays, to teach other subjects.
- Only 39 percent of schools specifically require arts for graduation.
- Half or less of public schools or districts had offered their teachers professional
development experiences in the arts.
- Nearly 90 percent of public elementary schools with visual arts specialists reported that
the specialists integrate other subjects into their courses.
In 1996, the Association for the Advancement of Arts conducted a detailed evaluation of hundreds of research studies and program evaluations. Their report,
How the Arts Contribute to Education, written by Kent Seidel, Ph.D., found compelling evidence that
the arts have a great effect at all grade levels. According to the report, the studies reviewed demonstrated that:
- Not only are the arts fun for kids, they help keep kids in school and working to learn.
- Not only do the arts require self-discipline, creativity, and confidence to succeed, but these
and other important habits stay with students and help them succeed in other areas of school, life, and work.
- Not only do the arts represent many ways of experiencing and understanding the world, but they actually help develop the many types of intelligences that all people possess
and use all the time.
- Not only do the arts remove boundaries and allow students to explore aspects of life around them in new ways, but connecting the arts with other disciplines like math,
reading and writing, or science often helps students learn about, comprehend, and value those disciplines as well.
In short, the report states, the arts are as much a part of a child’s development and success
as they are a part of a successful and enlightened society.
See the ON THE INTERNET: STUDIES OF BENEFITS OF ARTS
PROGRAMS below for summaries of additional studies that help build a case for arts-based curricula.
“Not only can the arts enrich children’s lives, there’s a lot of evidence that arts education
can help children academically. Through the arts, students can hone their basic and
problem-solving skills, learn responsibility and the ability to work as a team, sharpen their
communications skills, and better understand their own heritage, as well as other
cultures.”
--- Richard W. Riley , U.S. Secretary of Education
“When words are no longer adequate, when our passion is greater than we are able to express in a usual manner, people turn to art. Some people go to the canvas and paint;
some stand up and dance. But we all go beyond our normal means of communicating and this is the common human experience for all people on this planet.”
---Murray Sidlin, conductor of the new haven Symphony
“Here, then, is my conclusion. First, we need the arts to express feelings words cannot convey. Second, we need the arts to expand the child’s way of knowing and to bring
creativity to the Nation’s classrooms. Third, we need the arts to help students integrate their learning and discover the connectedness of things. Fourth, we need the arts in
education to help children who are emotionally and physically restricted. Above all, the arts can build community not only within the school but beyond it as well: in
neighborhoods, in different cultures, and across generations. Learning in the arts truly is lifelong. It’s a deeply satisfying journey that I am convinced should never end.”
---Ernest L. Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation For the Advancement of Teaching
*Robert’s story (see opening paragraph above) was excerpted from “Enhancement of Self-Concept Through Discipline-Based Arts Education” by Marilee Mansfield and Faith
M. Clover, Arts Education, #44 (March 1991, pp. 45-50).
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Art Education
in the Social Studies The symbiotic relationship between art and social studies suggests
them for compatible pairing in an integrated curriculum, in this study from the ERIC
Clearinghouse for Social Studies.
- The National Visual
Arts Standards Lists what every child K-12 should know and do in the visual arts. This
publication is available for $14 ($8 for members) from the National Art Education
Association.
- Be Smart,
Include Art: A Planning Kit for PTAs Kit from National PTAs for $40 ($20 for
members) helps guide advocacy efforts for including art education in the school. Kit
includes meeting plans, organizational hints, and sample materials. English and Spanish.
Related Sites
ON THE INTERNET: STUDIES OF BENEFITS OF ARTS PROGRAMS
- Different Ways of
Knowing: 1991-94 National Longitudinal Study Final Report A three-year study of a
program in Los Angeles and Boston showed positive effects on student achievement, and
motivation.
- The School Mind: Do
the Arts Make a Difference? An Empirical Evaluation of the Hamilton/Fairfield
SPECTRA+ Program, 1992-93 An elementary school program that includes arts study
and integration in two Ohio school districts showed student gains on creativity measures,
in some aspects of academic achievement, and in appreciation of the arts. A second-year
evaluation showed that gains were maintained.
- The Effectiveness of
Creative Drama as an Instructional Strategy to Enhance the Reading Comprehension Skills of Fifth-Grade Remedial Readers
This study describes a six-week creative drama program that enhanced reading comprehension for three groups
of fifth graders in three different California schools.
- The Effects of a
Folklorist Residency Upon Student Self-Esteem: A Descriptive Study The results of a
study in a rural southwestern town with 27 seventh- and eighth-grade students.
- Arts Infusion
Program: Greater Augusta Arts Council Redcliffe Elementary School, a rural school
with more than 1,100 students in Aiken, South Carolina, was one of the first Arts Infusion
schools. Data shows how the school fared in selected aspects of student achievement.
- Study of Art
Contributes to Learning in Mathematics The pilot Math/Art Project (M.A.P.), a
collaboration between East Carolina University and Pitt County Schools, found relations
between mathematics and art that increase learning in both content areas.
- Winning
Support for Arts Education Do you feel that people aren’t convinced that arts education
is worthwhile? Check out this site from ArtsEdNet, which includes a list of thinking skills
that are among the benefits of arts-based education and the complete text of remarks
(excerpted above) by Paul W. Chellgren, president and chief executive officer of Ashland,
Inc.
- Advocacy Resources A list
of arts advocacy resources from the Arts Education Partnership.
Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World® Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 1997 Education World
07/14/1997
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