Two new studies have just been released that document the importance of arts education for young people! Here are some of the highlights:
- Eighth graders who had high levels of arts engagement from kindergarten through elementary school showed higher test scores in science and writing than did students who had lower levels of arts engagement over the same period.
- Students who had arts-rich experiences in high school were more likely than students without those experiences to complete a calculus course. Also, students who took arts courses in high school achieved a slightly higher grade-point average (GPA) in math than did other students.
- In two separate databases, students who had arts-rich experiences in high school showed higher overall GPAs than did students who lacked those experiences.
- High school students who earned few or no arts credits were five times more likely not to have graduated than students who earned many arts credits.
- Both 8th-grade and high school students who had high levels of arts engagement were more likely to aspire to college than were students with less arts engagement.
- Arts-engaged high school students enrolled in competitive colleges—and in four-year colleges in general—at higher rates than did low-arts-engaged students.
- Students who had intensive arts experiences in high school were three times more likely than students who lacked those experiences to earn a bachelor’s degree. They also were more likely to earn “mostly A’s” in college.
For details, check out the National Center for Education Statistics’ Arts Education in Public and Secondary Schools 1999-2000 and 2009-2010 and Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies [PDF]
Louisiana Citizens for Culture 