- Arts Integration Results in Higher
Elementary Test Scores
-
- A four-year study involving six teachers and more than
600
- students at Rosemont Elementary School in Dallas, Texas,
has
- proven what academicians, educators, and cultural
community
- supporters have been saying for years: An integrated arts
- curriculum can dramatically improve overall student
achievement.
-
- The scientific study-the Partnership Assessment Project
-was
- conducted by the non- profit Partnership for Arts, Culture
and
- Education, comprised of more than 50 arts and cultural
- organizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
The
- project was begun in 1992 in an attempt to determine the
impact of
- community-based arts and cultural enrichment, integrated into
a
- school's core curriculum, on student achievement in the
language
- arts. The study was based on the assumption that
elementary
- students in socioeconomically deprived settings, who
exhibited
- minimal success in standardized testing situations, would
benefit
- academically from exposure to community arts and cultural
- programming integrated into the curriculum.
-
- Three elementary schools in the Dallas area were chosen for
the study
- on the basis of 12 variables: ethnicity; socioeconomic
status;
- standardized test scores; criterion-referenced test scores;
free lunch
- programs; enrollment; attendance; use of community
programming; and
- the presence of music, art, drama, or dance specialists. Over
the
- four-year course of the study, one school- Rosemont
Elementary-was
- provided significant community arts and cultural programming
which was
- fully integrated into the core curriculum. The second
school
- benefited from community arts and cultural programs
without
- integrating them, while the third had no community arts or
cultural
- programming at all.
-
- The project design used at the first school included
training
- teachers in using the arts in the classroom, transferring
art
- experiences into the core curriculum, and assessing the
success of
- the transfer through student portfolios and performance
- assessment. Representatives from arts and cultural
organizations
- also received training in designing presentations to
complement the
- school district's curricula.
-
- By the third year of the study, the project teachers had the
skills
- and knowledge needed to integrate the community arts and
cultural
- programs. Core subjects were vertically aligned through
thematic
- units, and these units served as keys for the teachers to
select
- community programming for their students. For example,
second-
- grade students used dance to learn basic geometric shapes,
while
- third graders used dance to understand the relationship
between the
- body's muscles and bones. Fifth-grade students combined the
study
- of acoustics with a trip to a symphony hall, where they
simulated
- and described the path of sound waves from several
instruments.
-
- At the conclusion of the project last year, a comparison of
the three
- schools showed significant differences in language arts
achievement.
- The Rosemont School, which had integrated the programs into
its
- curricula, maintained dramatically higher average scores than
the
- other two schools. According to the assessment report, "the
results
- of this study overwhelming support the premise that
integrating
- community [arts] programming into the classroom
enhances learning."
-
- So what does it all mean? Put simply, it demonstrates
quantitatively
- the remarkable value of integrating arts experiences into
the
- curriculum. It means, too, that teachers who use arts and
cultural
- programming in the classroom can bring more enthusiasm to the
core
- curricula. As one teacher said, "The children really started
to see
- connections...and it's been fun seeing them respond to
that....Once
- they get started, they just find similarities all over the
place."
-
- Although the project's comparisons were limited to language
arts
- achievement, it can be inferred that such programming could
have a
- significant impact on student achievement generally. Art
experiences
- can no longer be perceived as pleasant fluff compared to
more
- substantive areas of instruction: math, science, reading, and
writing.
- When used in an integrated manner, with teachers trained in
the
- techniques of incorporating arts programming into the core
curriculum,
- art becomes a vital tool in increasing a child's understanding
and
- academic achievement.
-
- Stephen C. Stapleton, Chairman
- Partnership for Arts, Culture and Education
- Dallas, Texas
-
- Source: http://www.naesp.org/comm/p0398c.htm
-
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