Some excellent studies on the role of the arts in education.  These are all PDF files.

 Acts of Achievement: The Role of Performing Arts Centres in Education. (5.8 MB) This 168-page report comes from the Dana Foundation, 2003. It provides the first study of K-12 education programs offered by performing arts centres across the US, and showcases 74 performing art centre institutions, large and small, partnering with their local schools. Performing arts centers, many for the first time, are expanding their missions to provide arts education for nearby schools, at the request of their communities. In many cases, artist residencies and other educational outreach projects represent the only arts programs available in schools.

 Artists Residencies: Evolving Educational Experiences. (223 kb) This 13-page essay comes from the Dana Foundation, 2003, and outlines the development of school residencies and offering four checklists for arts organization coordinators, artists, teachers, and school coordinators planning to develop residencies. The essay provides guidance for developing and improving school residencies.

 Art, Artists and Teaching. (83 kb) (This brief report comes from a symposium hosted by Bennington College and the J. Paul Getty Trust, June 2002. It outlines the results of a June 2002 symposium that brought together leaders in the fields of art and education to explore new ways to infuse the creative impulses of the arts and artists into education in America. Similar to the other arts education reports this report notes that effective change won't come from unilateral efforts but through collaborative partnerships. This report posits that the teaching of art is fundamental even critical to developing a healthy and creative post-industrial society.

 Creative Connections: An Arts in Education Policy Consultation Paper. (295 kb) This consultation paper comes from the Western Australia Department of Education and Training and Department of Culture and the Arts, February 2003. It is intended as a first step in designing an arts education policy for the State of Western Australia. The paper identifies the arts in education are not merely curricular subjects, but an area of learning that should be integrated into the overall education system.

 Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning. (1.5 MB) This study comes from the Arts Education Partnership and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, October 1999. The study used seven teams of researchers to examine a variety of arts education programs and explore why and how young people are changed through their arts experiences and how the arts impact learning. They found that learners can achieve higher levels of achievement through their engagment with the arts. One of the critical research findings is that the learning in and through the arts can help "level the playing field " for youngsters from disadvantaged circumstances.

 Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. (639 kb) This report comes from the Arts Education Partnership, May 2002. It provides not only synopses of studies, but overviews in each of the arts and across the arts. The reviews of 62 outstanding arts education studies-and the interpretive essays-in Critical Links reveal important relationships between learning in the arts and cognitive capacities (thinking skills) and motivations that underlie academic achievement and effective social behavior. The studies suggest that for certain populations - students from economically disadvantaged circumstances, students needing remedial instruction, and young children - learning in the arts may be especially helpful in boosting learning and achievement.

 For the Greater Good: A Framework for Advancing State Arts Education Partnerships. (705 kb) This study comes from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, March 2003. It summarizes factors that have contributed to successful arts education partnerships at the state level in the US. Much of the advice on how to build and sustain arts education partnerships is relevant for Canadians and others looking to move arts education projects forward.

 Learning Through The Arts. ( 643 kb) This report comes from Learning Through The Arts, April 2003. It contains the results of a three-year, nation-wide study on the value of arts in education of which ArtStarts in Schools was a key participant. At the conclusion of a three-year study, students in the study score as much as 11 percentile points higher in math than their peers in non-LTTA schools, a Queen's University Study has found. Led by Dr. Rena Upitis and Dr. Katharine Smithrim, the study was designed to determine the effects of arts education on learning. In total, more than 6,000 students and their teachers in LTTA and control schools were involved in the research.