The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies, a new research report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), shows that at-risk youth who have access to the arts in or out of school tend to have better academic results, better workplace opportunities, and more civic engagement.  The study focuses on the potential effects of arts engagement (including coursework in dance, music, theater, visual arts, and participation in arts organizations) on youth from the lowest quarter of socioeconomic status.  The figures of this study are drawn from four separate studies (three from the U.S. Department of Education), to track children, teenagers, and young adults who had high or low levels of arts engagement in or out of school.

Upon reflection of the report, NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman declared that “arts education doesn’t take place in isolation…It has to take place as part of an overall school and education reform strategy.  This report shows that arts education has strong links with other positive educational outcomes.”

Key findings of the report include:

Better Academic Outcomes: Youth of low socioeconomic status (SES) with a history of in-depth arts involvement (“high arts”) show better academic outcomes than low-SES youth with less arts involvement (“low arts”).  They have higher grades, and have higher rates of college enrollment.

• High-arts, low-SES eighth grade students were 74 percent more likely to have planned to earn a bachelor’s degree than their low-arts, low-SES student counterparts at 43 percent.
• 17 percent of students with access to the arts in high school earned a bachelors degree, whereas only 5 percent of students with little-to-no access to the arts earned the same degree.
• High-arts, low-SES high school students were two-to-three times more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities such as intramural and interscholastic sports, and academic honor societies, than low-arts, low-SES students.

Higher Career Goals: 50 percent of all low-SES adults with high-arts backgrounds expected to work in a professional career (such as law, education, medicine, or management) compared to the 21 percent of  their low-arts, low-SES counterparts

More Civically Engaged: Young adults with high-arts backgrounds are more likely to show civic-minded behavior than young adults of low-arts backgrounds.

• 73 percent of high-arts, low-SES eighth graders were likely to read a newspaper at least once a week, whereas only 44 percent of low-arts, low-SES eighth grade students were likely to do so.
• 45 percent of high-arts, low-SES young adults voted in the 2004 national election, versus the 31 percent of low-arts, low-SES students who also voted in the same election.

Read a summary of the report from the NEA, and read the full report.

Learn more about the inequity of access to arts education, and how when integrated, can actually narrow the achievement gap:

• An Interview with Diane Ravitch – Education historian discusses the inequity of the arts in education among American Schools.  Posted by ArtsEdge.
• Arts Involvement Narrows Student Achievement Gap – A commentary on NEA’s research report.  Posted by Pacific Standard.

Our friends and partners at the Washington State Arts Commission are now accepting applications for their statewide Teaching Artist Roster.  The roster is posted publicly to identify and promote experienced teaching artists who are qualified to work in public K-12 schools.  Teaching artists of all arts disciplines, and across all areas of the state* are encouraged to apply.

Learn more by reading the application guidelines and forms.  For help with the application, direct your questions to Lisa Jaret, WSAC Arts in Education Program Manager, at 360-586-2418 or at lisa.jaret@arts.wa.gov.

Applications must be postmarked by June 11, 2012.  An advisory panel will review applications in July 2012, and applicants will be notified of their application status by September 2012.

*Residents of Oregon or Idaho who live within 60 miles of a Washington state public school are eligible to apply.

In spring 2012, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released Arts Education in Public Elementary & Secondary Schools, a report examining the availability and characteristics of arts education programs from 2009-2010, and how these findings compare to those from 1999-2000.  This study focused on finding the extent to which students receive arts instruction, the conditions under which this instruction is being provided, and the profiles of the arts education instructors themselves.

Some key findings include:

• While music and visual art are widely available in some form, six percent of the nation’s public elementary schools offer no specific instruction in music, and 17 percent offer no specific instruction in the visual arts.
• Nine percent of public secondary schools reported that they did not offer music, and 11 percent did not offer the visual arts.
• Only three percent offer any specific dance instruction and only four percent offer any specific theatre instruction in elementary schools, down from 20 percent from 1999-2000.
• In secondary schools, 12 percent offer dance and 45 percent offer theatre.

The most troubling result of this report is an “equity gap” between the availability of arts instruction and the richness of course offerings for students in low-poverty schools compared to those in high-poverty schools.  This equity gap leads students who are economically disadvantaged to not receive the enriched experiences of their counterpart affluent students.

Among its various conclusions and insights, one thing is clear from this report: access to arts education remains inconsistent and elusive to the majority of students across the nation.  Fight against this trend in your own community by being an advocate for arts education, and use our Advocacy Tools to launch your efforts.

Hear what the arts education community has to say about this report.  Commentaries include:

• ED Releases New Report on Arts Education in U.S. Public Schools
  by Cameron Brenchley at Homeroom, the official blog of the U.S. Department of Education
• Ten Years Later: A Puzzling Picture of Arts Education in America
  by Narric Rome at ARTSblog
• Arts Instruction Still Widely Available, But Disparities Persist
  by Erik Robelen at Education Week
• Report:  Arts Classes at Elementary Schools Reduced
  by Christine Armario at Associated Press
• NEA Research Report Shows Potential Benefits of Arts Education for At-Risk Youth
  by the National Endowment for the Arts

The first Highline Student Art Walk will feature middle and high school artists in downtown Burien businesses.  The focus of the event is to celebrate student art and arts education by sharing it with the community.

Contact Gina Kallman for more information:
Email:  ginak@burienwa.gov
Phone:  206-391-6605

Special thanks to our partners at Washington State PTA for dedicating their entire March issue of Child Advocate magazine to arts education!  Our particular appreciation for their call to action for Arts Education Month coming up in May (see bottom of page 8).

We are thrilled to be partnering with WA State PTA to develop an arts education advocacy handbook for parents.  Stay tuned for more details!