Read all the research, news, and policy in our arts education RECAP for June 2018.
Research
Integrating the Arts and STEM for Gifted Learners
This study investigates the process of identifying high-quality lessons for gifted learners that integrate the arts with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. These STEAM lessons have the potential to develop deep thinking, as well as develop creativity and visual-spatial skills that are necessary in the STEM disciplines.
Roeper Review via Taylor & Francis Online
Music Matters
Building on the first release of Music Matters in 2011, the Arts Education Partnership reviewed multiple research studies identified within ArtsEdSearch — the national clearinghouse of rigorous arts education research — to explore the importance of music on student learning outcomes. This updated resource explores the demonstrated effects of music education and how it helps students develop the foundational capacities for lifelong success.
Education Commission of the States
The Big Picture: Arts education can boost literacy, other skills
It’s all about the big picture: The arts aren’t just the arts, they help children in all areas of learning.
Tribune Star
STEAM approach increases elementary students’ scores in science
STEAM instruction from a well-trained educator can boost science achievement scores among students in high-poverty elementary schools, according to a study recently highlighted by the Arts Education Partnership.
Education Dive
Preparing Educators and School Leaders for Effective Arts Integration
This Education Trends report explores successful practices for arts integration, with a focus on educator and school leader professional development, and provides an overview of research that highlights the impact of instructor preparation and professional development on student outcomes.
Education Commission of the States
Equity
Opinion: Santa Ana Unified is an Art Equity District!
The Santa Ana Unified School Board adopted the Declaration of the Rights of All Students to Equity in Arts Learning to demonstrate its commitment to providing students with a comprehensive, well-rounded education.
Voice of OC
Making Arts Learning Accessible for Students Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision
The visual arts have historically presented challenges to individuals who are blind or have low vision, with barriers to participation in both art appreciation and art creation. Dr. Jeremy Johnson, an assistant professor of art education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, identified the need to remove these barriers for students who are blind or have low vision.
VSA International
Wheel Mobile Making Art Education More Accessible
The Walton Arts Center’s Community Creative Center has unveiled the Wheel Mobile. It’s a traveling pottery and art studio inside a custom-made Winnebago. The Wheel Mobile’s mission is to make art accessible to all communities.
KNWA
An Orchestra Adopts a City, One Kid at a Time
When the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra started an after-school music program 10 years ago, it had 30 students. Now it has 1,300 — and counting.
New York Times
Calls-to-Action
June 15: Navigating New Horizons in Art Education: Call for 2018 CAEA Conference Workshops
June 30: Start an Arts Now Community!
Advocacy
Leaders discuss ways to sustain school improvement through the arts
Gathering Monday at renowned architect Frank Gehry’s studio in Los Angeles, district and school administrators participating in Turnaround Arts: California — part of the larger Turnaround Arts organization — discussed many of the challenges they have faced in using the arts as a vehicle for raising student achievement and increasing engagement.
Education Dive
Cause Celeb: ‘Madam Secretary’ actor Erich Bergen lobbies for arts education
“We’re not trying to teach kids to become musicians. We’re not trying to teach kids to become Beyoncé — although we should,” he joked. “We are teaching kids how to better apply and fundamentally understand everything they’re being taught in school.”
The Washington Post
Arts Education Also Important To Develop Workers: Katz
As education has become increasingly science and math oriented, a state arts leader says the arts is also a critical educational component of a child’s future.
WXPR
Let’s keep the ‘A’ in ‘STEAM’: The importance of the arts in our schools
In music, drama, and even among artists, there’s a sense of belonging, of teamwork.
Duluth News Tribune
In New York High Schools, the Sound of Music Is Muted
Between 2002 and 2013, New York City closed 69 high schools, most of them large schools with thousands of students, and in their place opened new, smaller schools. Academically, these new schools inarguably serve students better… But one downside of the new, small schools is that it is much harder for them to offer specialized programs, whether advanced classes, sports teams, or art or music classes than it was for the large schools that they replaced.
New York Times
Josh Groban Opens Up About Hosting the Tonys and Why Arts Education is So Important to Him
“All of the things an arts education gives a young person enhance leadership skills and help raise grades. They help in communities where students have less of a chance to get a solid education. They help shape future generations and change how young people see the worlds and see themselves.”
Town & Country
Hawaii Teacher: Here’s Why Arts Education Is Worth Fighting For
Students learn persistence — and how to work through failure — during a class they look forward to every week.
Honolulu Civil Beat
Policy
Schools have ‘starved the arts,’ Sacramento mayor says
Mayor Darrell Steinberg and local education leaders announced Wednesday the beginning of an organized campaign to raise money for arts education in county schools.
The Sacramento Bee
Governor Jerry Brown Proposes $5 Million Hike in State Arts Budget
In an unusual move, California Governor Jerry Brown has proposed boosting the state arts budget by $5 million.
KQED
San Francisco Mayoral Candidates Weigh in on City’s Arts-Related Issues
See where the new San Francisco mayor stands on arts education.
KQED
Arts education will keep students in school
[State Senator Ben Allen has] introduced Senate Bill 933, which would begin to close the access gap by creating a statewide grant program to help districts struggling to provide arts instruction.
The Sacramento Bee
