How is fine arts important in schools

Some states report even bleaker numbers. In California, for example, participation in music courses dropped 46 percent from through , while total school enrollment grew nearly 6 percent, according to a study by the Music for All Foundation. The number of music teachers, meanwhile, declined In , the California Board of Education set standards at each grade level for what students should know and be able to do in music, visual arts, theater, and dance, but a statewide study in , by SRI International , found that 89 percent of K schools failed to offer a standards-based course of study in all four disciplines.

Sixty-one percent of schools didn't even have a full-time arts specialist. Nor does support for the arts by top administrators necessarily translate into instruction for kids.

For example, a report in Illinois found almost no opposition to arts education among principals and district superintendents, yet there were large disparities in school offerings around the state.

In many districts, the arts have suffered so long that it will take years, and massive investment, to turn things around. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has made arts education a priority in his school reform plans, and the city has launched sweeping initiatives to connect more students with the city's vast cultural resources.

Nearly every school now offers at least some arts instruction and cultural programming, yet in , only 45 percent of elementary schools and 33 percent of middle schools provided education in all four required art forms, according to an analysis by the New York City Department of Education , and only 34 percent of high schools offered students the opportunity to exceed the minimum graduation requirement.

Yet some districts have made great strides toward not only revitalizing the arts but also using them to reinvent schools. The work takes leadership, innovation, broad partnerships, and a dogged insistence that the arts are central to what we want students to learn. A report by Americans for the Arts states that young people who participate regularly in the arts three hours a day for three days a week are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, to participate in a math and science fair or to win an award for writing an essay or poem than children who do not participate.

The arts teach young people about beauty, proportion, and grace. Students can examine conflict, power, emotion, and life itself. The power of the arts is in its wondrous ability to give us joy, help us understand tragedy, promote empathy and make the written word come alive.

Art-making allows students to experience what it feels like to be active members of a community and to work as a team to determine and achieve common goals. In developing a theatrical production, group performance, or any type of collaborative artistic endeavor, students practice the fine art of teamwork. As they work together, they learn to understand differences and diversity and realize the ways that teamwork contributes to a great performance.

By also teaching students how to live and work together, the arts contribute to making schools safer and more peaceful learning environments. Students who participate in the arts develop leadership skills, including decision-making, strategy building, planning and reflection.

They also prepare to use these skills effectively by developing a strong sense of identity and confidence in their ability to affect the world around them in meaningful ways. It is manifesting everywhere — in our politics, our classrooms, our philosophies of….

Liberty Classical Academy is home to approximately 60 new students this year! About 40 Liberty dads showed up, some of whom had been shooting guns their whole lives and others who were brand new to it. On one hand, it would seem that this is just the kind…. Schools partnered with cultural organizations and institutions that provided these arts learning opportunities through before- and after-school programs, field trips, in-school performances from professional artists, and teaching-artist residencies.

Our research efforts were part of a multisector collaboration that united district administrators, cultural organizations and institutions, philanthropists, government officials, and researchers. Relative to students assigned to the control group, treatment school students experienced a 3. In terms of our measure of compassion for others, students who received more arts education experiences are more interested in how other people feel and more likely to want to help people who are treated badly.

In terms of school engagement, students in the treatment group were more likely to agree that school work is enjoyable, makes them think about things in new ways, and that their school offers programs, classes, and activities that keep them interested in school. As education policymakers increasingly rely on empirical evidence to guide and justify decisions, advocates struggle to make the case for the preservation and restoration of K arts education.

To date, there is a remarkable lack of large-scale experimental studies that investigate the educational impacts of the arts. One problem is that U. Moreover, the most promising outcomes associated with arts education learning objectives extend beyond commonly reported outcomes such as math and reading test scores.

There are strong reasons to suspect that engagement in arts education can improve school climate, empower students with a sense of purpose and ownership, and enhance mutual respect for their teachers and peers. Yet, as educators and policymakers have come to recognize the importance of expanding the measures we use to assess educational effectiveness, data measuring social and emotional benefits are not widely collected.

A study of Missouri public schools in found that greater arts education led to fewer disciplinary infractions and higher attendance, graduation rates, and test scores.

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