What helps students learn more deeply and transform schools for the better? The arts may be the answer.

When children use the right side of their brains by experiencing the arts, dance, music, visual art, and other creative media such as science, language arts, and math, learning is transformed beyond the typical. Kids gain complex thinking skills from having arts education in classrooms, said a recent report from the The Right Brain Initiative. The organization is dedicated to making the arts a large component in classrooms. The group began entering classrooms in 2009, and by its sixth year, reached nearly 14,000 students. 

According to the report, student test scores in reading and mathematics increased when schools embraced the initiative. As schools became more engaged in the program, scores continued to rise. During the study, "over 90 percent of K-8 students interviewed described themselves as active thinkers during their Right Brain residencies. Students used terms like, 'I thought,' 'I wondered,' or 'I tried,' as compared to 'My teacher/the artist told me to,' 'I did what she said,' or 'I followed.'"

The study also highlighted that the program also changed the way teachers taught in their classrooms. Results from the study found that 75 percent of teachers who participated in professional development said they used Right Brain strategies as part of their daily instruction. In comparison, the study said, "only 48 percent of teachers who participated in Right Brain classroom residencies, but did not have professional development, adopted the strategies."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor