Recognizing the Benefits of the Arts in K-12 Education

As a young student in the early ‘80s, I fondly remember my arts and music classes.  Twice a week, my elementary class would march down to the art teacher’s large vibrant classroom, filled with hundreds of students’ colorful artwork. the aroma of tempera paints meeting us at the doorway. Classmates took turns helping each other as we draped ourselves with our parents’ old oversized shirts to keep our school clothes clean.  I can still picture the giant paper mache sun I sat beside my friends making, spending several classes delicately rolling wet newspaper strands around a pencil point before gluing to my balloon, and the care spent molding pottery bowls for holiday presents.  On alternating days, our class paraded to the music room, learning to read music as we practiced our recorders and xylophones.  By the time we reached fourth grade, we were carting our individual instruments to weekly lessons and band practice. 

When my first child began school, I was saddened to discover that there was no art or music room, much less designated arts teachers, at their elementary school, even in a well-funded district.  A volunteer parent came in once a month for an hour to “do art.” The teachers kept their running shoes under their desks to lead “PE,” and music had disappeared.  Between budget constraints and focus on standardized assessments, the arts seem to have fallen out of core curriculum.

Only One in Five California Schools Has Full Time Arts Programs

In California today, only one in five public schools have a full-time arts or music program.  Proposition 28, which is on the statewide ballot this November, would require the General Fund to allocate additional funding to ensure that every publicly enrolled student from PK to twelfth grade (including charter students) has access to music and arts education.  This proposition does not raise taxes, and is universally supported by both teachers and parents.

Arts Education Benefits Academic Learning

The educational benefits to students in being exposed to music, art, and drama (collectively, “arts”) instruction are numerous.  Many studies have shown correlation between arts exposure with academic achievement, particularly with literacy skills and spatial reasoning.  The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) is a national coalition of more than 140 arts, education, philanthropic, business, and government organizations which “demonstrates and promotes the essential role of the arts in the learning and development of every child.”  AEP compiled 62 national studies looking at the correlation between arts and academic learning, releasing its report in Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development.  This report found benefits of the arts on basic reading skills, language development, and writing skills.  Arts education was also found to benefit focus and concentration, expression, persistence, and “inclinations to tackle problems with zeal.”

Arts Instruction Positively Impacts Social and Emotional Skills

As our communities come together to tackle the mental health crisis facing today’s youth, it is important to recognize that arts instruction is also positively correlated with social and emotional skills.  These benefits include positive social behaviors, social compliance, the ability to express emotions, courtesy, tolerance, conflict-resolution skills, and the ability to collaborate.

Additional Benefits for At-Risk Youth

Arts education in our schools is especially important for our socially and economically disadvantaged students who may not otherwise have access to its benefits.  As with more general studies, there are findings that these particular students show more positive outcomes in many areas than their low-arts-engaged peers. Benefits can be seen amongst school grades, test scores, graduation, college enrollment, volunteering, and engagement in school or local politics.  In fact, one study notes that, “at-risk teenagers or young adults with a history of intensive arts experiences show achievement levels closer to, and in some cases exceeding, the levels shown by the general population studied.”

The Importance of Creativity and Divergent Thinking

With today’s focus on standardized testing, we must also recognize how the arts foster crucial divergent thinking skills, including creativity and imagination.  While academic testing is generally centered around right-or-wrong convergent thinking, our divergent, or creative, thoughts are necessary to tackle open-ended and complex problems.  Our future innovators, entrepreneurs, and inventors need divergent learning that is strengthened by arts exposure.  It is no coincidence that many of our learners who gravitate towards STEM fields are also drawn to the arts. 

Given the obvious benefits of the arts on youth, it is a natural conclusion that every student should be provided access to arts instruction as part of their core education.