Creating Student Success
In School, Work, and Life
A child's education is not complete unless it includes the arts. In fact, the No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB) lists the arts among the core academic subjects, requiring schools to enable all students to
achieve in the arts and to reap the full benefits of a comprehensive arts education.
In spite of this federal direction, access to arts education in our schools is eroding. A report from the
Center for Education Policy concludes that, since the enactment of NCLB, 22% of school districts sur-
veyed have reduced instructional time for art and music. This is happening at a time when parents,
employers, and civic leaders are demanding improvements to the learning environment that will make
our schools places where all learners will access a complete education and opportunities to succeed.
These demands cannot be met without comprehensive arts education in our nation’s schools.
The Arts Prepare Students for School, Work, and Life
As this country works to strengthen our foothold in the global economy, the arts equip students
with a creative, competitive edge. To succeed in today's economy of ideas, students must mas-
terfully use words, images, sounds, and motion to communicate. The arts provide the skills and
knowledge students need to develop the creativity and determination necessary for success in
today's global information age.
The Arts Strengthen the Learning Environment
Where schools and communities are delivering high-quality learning opportunities in, through,
and about the arts for children, extraordinary results occur. A recent study by the Arts Education
Partnership, Third Space: When Learning Matters, finds that schools with large populations of stu-
dents in economic poverty - too often places of frustration and failure for both students and
teachers - can be transformed into vibrant hubs of learning when the arts are infused into their
culture and curriculum.
The Arts Can Retain Teachers Who Love to Teach
The retention of our best teachers is a daunting challenge. It can be met, however, by ensuring
schools embrace the arts. Schools, especially those struggling, can retain their best teachers by
becoming havens for creativity and innovation; places where students want to learn and teach-
ers want to teach. As we aim to improve the teaching environment, the arts can help us retain
our best future and current educators in our nation's schools.
A comprehensive strategy for a complete education includes rigorous, sequential arts instruction in the
classroom, as well as participation and learning in available community-based arts programs. Public
schools have the responsibility for providing a complete education for all children, meeting the commit-
ment put forth in NCLB. The federal commitment to arts education must be strengthened so that the
arts are implemented as a part of the core curriculum of our nation's schools and are an integral part of
every child's development.
Achievement in and through the Arts
Position: The Arts Help Close the Achievement Gap.
Argument: The arts make a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child, leveling the "learning field"
across socio-economic boundaries. The arts reach students not otherwise engaged, uniquely bridging the broad spec-
trum of learning styles. Low achieving students often become high achievers in arts learning settings. Their success in
the arts classroom often transfers to achievement in other subject areas. Students who participate in the arts outperform
those who do not on virtually every measure. Researchers found that sustained learning in music and theater correlate
to greater success in math and reading, with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds reaping the greatest ben-
efits.1 It is now accepted that the arts are uniquely able to boost learning and achievement for young children, students
with disabilities, students from economically disadvantaged circumstances, and students needing remedial instruction.2
Students in high-poverty schools benefit dramatically from arts education. The arts teach children the skills necessary to
succeed in life, including learning to solve problems and make decisions; learning to think creatively; building self-esteem
and self-discipline; articulating a vision; developing the ability to imagine what might be; and accepting responsibility to
complete tasks from start to finish.
Ask: Academic achievement for disadvantaged students should be strengthened by integrating successful arts education
models into the schools. Urge high-poverty schools to use federal funds to ensure that a comprehensive arts education is
available for all students and to integrate the arts into school curriculum to improve student achievement. Provide sup-
port for local, state, and national partnerships that promote standards and strategies in support of arts education.
Educational Equity in and through the Arts
Position: The Arts Are a Core Academic Subject and Must Reach All Children.
Argument: The federal government requires that a complete education for every child must include rigorous instruction
in all “core academic subjects”- a designation given to the arts in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Unfortunately,
national studies have shown that the implementation of NCLB has led to the erosion of art education in the schools, with
22% of surveyed school districts reporting a decrease in instructional time for art and music.1 U.S. Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings has said, “Many educators across the country have shown that a focus in NCLB on reading and math
is not mutually exclusive of the arts and music. In fact, we all know that a well-rounded curriculum that includes the arts
and music contributes to higher academic achievement.” A comprehensive arts education – fully integrated as a core
subject of learning – fosters the creativity and innovation needed for a more competitive workforce.
Department of Education Arts in Education (AIE) programs identify and disseminate successful models of arts instruction,
integration, and professional development, and support the leadership initiatives of VSAarts and the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts. In addition, in-school and after-school learning partnerships with arts organizations which,
when teamed with rigorous instruction in the arts during the school day, provide students with opportunities to achieve
arts literacy. These programs decrease the frequency of delinquent behavior and school truancy, and improve overall aca-
demic performance, communication skills, and the ability to complete work on tasks from start to finish.
Ask: Congress must address the unintended consequences of NCLB that have diminished the presence of arts education
in our schools; as one of NCLB's core academic subjects, preserve and strengthen the arts and improve the implementa-
tion of the arts as a core academic subject at the state and local levels. Congress should also continue and strengthen
support for programs and partnerships that maximize the capacity of the arts to reach all students, including the
Department's AIE program, the primary Federal initiative for developing national models in arts education and profession-
1 Center on Education Policy. (2006). From the Capitol to the Classroom: Year 4 of the No Child Left Behind Act, March 2006. (p. xi).
2 Horowitz, R. & Webb-Dempsey, J. (2003). Promising signs of positive effects: Lessons from the multi-arts studies. In R. J. Deasy (Ed). Critical Links:
Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership. (p. 98-100). Mason, C.Y., Thormann, M.
S., & Steedley, K. M. (2004). How Students with Disabilities Learn in and through the Arts. Washington, DC: VSAarts. (p. 19-25).
3 Center on Education Policy. (2006). From the Capitol to the Classroom: Year 4 of the No Child Left Behind Act, March 2006. (p. xi).
Teachers and the Arts
Position: The Retention of Arts Teachers Is Crucial to Creating Powerful Learning Communities and Maximizing
Argument: One-third of new teachers leave the profession within three years; half within five years.4 Most affected
are urban, rural, and minority communities with large populations of students in economic poverty. But schools have
the ability to retain their best teachers by transforming schools - especially those drowning in frustration and failure
for students and teachers alike - with the infusion of the arts into their curriculum. When schools embrace the arts,
they can become vibrant and successful centers of learning and community life - places where students want to learn
and teachers want to teach.5 For schools to develop this sense of community and collaboration through the arts, arts
instruction for every child must be delivered by teachers with specific and expert arts and education knowledge. To
do otherwise dilutes both the benefits in student achievement and opportunities for schools to retain their best teach-
Ask: To provide students with a complete education, the arts must be both comprehensively learned and rigorous-
ly taught as a core academic subject. In addition to providing students with essential skills to succeed in school, work,
and life, rigorous arts education offers a methodology for learning that generates creative teaching solutions from
which all teachers can benefit. Student learning will benefit by ensuring arts education specialists are the providers
of rigorous arts instruction, continuing support for professional development of new and experienced teachers, and
increasing federal support for the transformation of struggling schools into successful learning communities through
Improve National Measurements of the Arts
Position: The U.S. Department of Education Must Include the Arts in All Research and Data Collection Regarding
the "Core Academic Subjects."
Argument: NCLB and current U.S. Department of Education policy make it clear that decisions regarding education
should be made on the basis of research. Furthermore, as this nation crafts major policies regarding the future of
public education, it is imperative that sound research is available on the status of learning and teaching in our schools.
The U.S. Department of Education is the only entity in a position to collect essential national demographic informa-
tion and to guide policy research of this kind. In the past, influential data-gathering has taken place in a manner that
excludes the collection of information on the arts. For example, the Department's January 1999 study on "Teacher
Quality" specifically excluded arts teachers from the study sample. Meaningful research is needed to determine the
status of dance, music, theater, and visual arts education. Since the arts are designated as a core academic subject,
they should be included in all research and data collection efforts by the U.S. Department of Education.
For example, the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) report, Arts in Education in Public Elementary and Secondary
Schools, is the only Department of Education-produced research report on the status of how arts education is deliv-
ered in America's public schools. The last FRSS report on arts education featured data collected in the 1999-2000
school year. An updated report with the next round of data collection is long overdue. The National Assessment of
Educational Progress in the Arts (NAEP) - the national arts "report card" - provides critical information about the arts
skills and knowledge of our nation's students. The next NAEP is scheduled to be administered in 2008, and must stay
on track. The FRSS and NAEP are essential to studying and improving access to the arts as a core academic subject.
Ask: The U.S. Department of Education's research efforts must be strengthened by systematically including the arts
in studies conducted on the condition of education, practices that improve academic achievement, and the effective-
ness of Federal and other education programs.
4 Ingersoll, R. M. (2002). Teacher shortage: A case of wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription. NASSP Bulletin. 86. pp. 16-31.
5 Stevenson, L. M. & Deasy, R. J. (2005). Third Space: When Learning Matters. Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership. (pp. 10-11).
Creating Student Success
In School, Work, and Life
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, Inc.
Music for All Foundation
American Alliance for Theatre and Education
American Art Therapy Association
Music Teachers National Association
American Arts Alliance
NAMM International Music Products Association
American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
National A+ Schools Consortium
American Association of Museums
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences
American Federation of Musicians
National Art Education Association
American Institute for Conservation of
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
Historic & Artistic Works
National Association for Sport & Physical Education
American Library Association
National Association of Elementary School Principals
American Music Therapy Association
National Association of Secondary School Principals
American String Teachers Association
National Association of State Boards of Education
American Symphony Orchestra League
National Dance Association
Americans for the Arts
National Dance Education Organization
National Education Association
Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development
National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts
Association of Art Museum Directors
National Network for Folk Arts in Education
Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design
National Parent Teacher Association
Association of Performing Arts Presenters
Association of Public Television Stations
Binney & Smith, Inc.
School Social Work Association of America
Service Employees International Union
Country Music Foundation
State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education
The American Architectural Foundation
Educational Theatre Association
The Grammy Foundation
Educators for Social Responsibility
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
International Alliance for Invitational Education
Theatre Communications Group
International Council of Fine Arts Deans
VH1 Save The Music Foundation
Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
Young Audiences, Inc.
MENC-The National Association for Music Education
November 7, 2006