Arts Must Be Part of the Picture in Schools

Recently released Stanford 9 achievement test scores indicate that California students are performing below national levels in many categories. As an advocate for arts education, I see a correlation between these low test scores and the fact that California also is one of the lowest-ranking states in support of arts education.

Considering that national research has demonstrated that the arts are a powerful catalyst for learning, it is shortsighted to not make the connection between the arts and academic achievement, school participation and work-force preparation.

Specifically, students who studied the arts for at least four years scored 59 points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT and 44 points higher on the math portion than students who were not exposed to the arts.

Other studies confirm that students in arts programs consistently outperform other students in reading, vocabulary, language arts and history.

Quality arts-education programs help students develop the very capacities that business leaders, educators and parents want: creative problem-solving, analytical thinking, collaborative skills and an ability to appreciate different cultures.

These findings are supported here in Ventura County in that the three highest-ranking Ventura County schools in the Stanford 9 tests also have strong arts programs.

The Oak Park, Las Virgenes and Conejo Valley school districts demonstrate that excellence in education and excellence in the arts go hand in hand.

Ventura County schools that did not fare so well in the Stanford 9 tests could benefit from a comprehensive arts curriculum. Case studies show that arts-oriented humanities programs in Los Angeles high schools enable low-achieving students to match gains made by high-achieving students. Students in the Learning to Read Through the Arts program in New York City improved their reading scores measurably for each month they participated in the program.

Students in the arts-focused Different Ways of Knowing program were more interactive, more engaged in classwork and more involved in literacy and problem-solving activities than were students in a control group. At an arts-centered high school in Washington, D.C., the dropout rate is less than 1%.

Quality arts-education programs enhance student learning along two broad and parallel avenues: The arts are taught as separate subjects and they are used to enhance other subjects.

In successful programs, the arts are not seen as in competition with core subjects but as the glue that holds a curriculum together. For example, in an integrated history curriculum, art images and music can bring a particular era to life. In mathematics, an Alexander Calder mobile can reveal visual analogies.

The ancient Greeks understood the concept of integrated curriculum--they considered music and mathematics the same discipline and believed that all types of knowledge are interrelated.

Like students everywhere, Ventura County students face so many challenges and so many risks.

The facts that link the arts and success for youths should be a call to action to schools across the county that the arts must be in education and accessible to every student. As California Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin says: “The lack of attention to arts education has been the silent crisis in California schools for too long. It is time to turn that crisis into a renaissance.”

The Ventura County Arts Council, with the Ventura County superintendent of schools, is championing this concept and has formed the Council on Arts and Cultural Education in an effort to promote and support quality arts-education programs. We invite you to join our efforts in this exciting challenge.