what is the importance of arts education

New evidence of the benefits of arts education

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, brian kisida and bk brian kisida assistant professor, truman school of public affairs - university of missouri daniel h. bowen dhb daniel h. bowen assistant professor, college of education and human development - texas a&m university.

February 12, 2019

Engaging with art is essential to the human experience. Almost as soon as motor skills are developed, children communicate through artistic expression. The arts challenge us with different points of view, compel us to empathize with “others,” and give us the opportunity to reflect on the human condition. Empirical evidence supports these claims: Among adults, arts participation is related to behaviors that contribute to the health of civil society , such as increased civic engagement, greater social tolerance, and reductions in other-regarding behavior. Yet, while we recognize art’s transformative impacts, its place in K-12 education has become increasingly tenuous.

A critical challenge for arts education has been a lack of empirical evidence that demonstrates its educational value. Though few would deny that the arts confer intrinsic benefits, advocating “art for art’s sake” has been insufficient for preserving the arts in schools—despite national surveys showing an overwhelming majority of the public agrees that the arts are a necessary part of a well-rounded education.

Over the last few decades, the proportion of students receiving arts education has shrunk drastically . This trend is primarily attributable to the expansion of standardized-test-based accountability, which has pressured schools to focus resources on tested subjects. As the saying goes, what gets measured gets done. These pressures have disproportionately affected access to the arts in a negative way for students from historically underserved communities. For example, a federal government report found that schools designated under No Child Left Behind as needing improvement and schools with higher percentages of minority students were more likely to experience decreases in time spent on arts education.

We recently conducted the first ever large-scale, randomized controlled trial study of a city’s collective efforts to restore arts education through community partnerships and investments. Building on our previous investigations of the impacts of enriching arts field trip experiences, this study examines the effects of a sustained reinvigoration of schoolwide arts education. Specifically, our study focuses on the initial two years of Houston’s Arts Access Initiative and includes 42 elementary and middle schools with over 10,000 third- through eighth-grade students. Our study was made possible by generous support of the Houston Endowment , the National Endowment for the Arts , and the Spencer Foundation .

Due to the program’s gradual rollout and oversubscription, we implemented a lottery to randomly assign which schools initially participated. Half of these schools received substantial influxes of funding earmarked to provide students with a vast array of arts educational experiences throughout the school year. Participating schools were required to commit a monetary match to provide arts experiences. Including matched funds from the Houston Endowment, schools in the treatment group had an average of $14.67 annually per student to facilitate and enhance partnerships with arts organizations and institutions. In addition to arts education professional development for school leaders and teachers, students at the 21 treatment schools received, on average, 10 enriching arts educational experiences across dance, music, theater, and visual arts disciplines. Schools partnered with cultural organizations and institutions that provided these arts learning opportunities through before- and after-school programs, field trips, in-school performances from professional artists, and teaching-artist residencies. Principals worked with the Arts Access Initiative director and staff to help guide arts program selections that aligned with their schools’ goals.

Our research efforts were part of a multisector collaboration that united district administrators, cultural organizations and institutions, philanthropists, government officials, and researchers. Collective efforts similar to Houston’s Arts Access Initiative have become increasingly common means for supplementing arts education opportunities through school-community partnerships. Other examples include Boston’s Arts Expansion Initiative , Chicago’s Creative Schools Initiative , and Seattle’s Creative Advantage .

Through our partnership with the Houston Education Research Consortium, we obtained access to student-level demographics, attendance and disciplinary records, and test score achievement, as well as the ability to collect original survey data from all 42 schools on students’ school engagement and social and emotional-related outcomes.

We find that a substantial increase in arts educational experiences has remarkable impacts on students’ academic, social, and emotional outcomes. Relative to students assigned to the control group, treatment school students experienced a 3.6 percentage point reduction in disciplinary infractions, an improvement of 13 percent of a standard deviation in standardized writing scores, and an increase of 8 percent of a standard deviation in their compassion for others. In terms of our measure of compassion for others, students who received more arts education experiences are more interested in how other people feel and more likely to want to help people who are treated badly.

When we restrict our analysis to elementary schools, which comprised 86 percent of the sample and were the primary target of the program, we also find that increases in arts learning positively and significantly affect students’ school engagement, college aspirations, and their inclinations to draw upon works of art as a means for empathizing with others. In terms of school engagement, students in the treatment group were more likely to agree that school work is enjoyable, makes them think about things in new ways, and that their school offers programs, classes, and activities that keep them interested in school. We generally did not find evidence to suggest significant impacts on students’ math, reading, or science achievement, attendance, or our other survey outcomes, which we discuss in our full report .

As education policymakers increasingly rely on empirical evidence to guide and justify decisions, advocates struggle to make the case for the preservation and restoration of K-12 arts education. To date, there is a remarkable lack of large-scale experimental studies that investigate the educational impacts of the arts. One problem is that U.S. school systems rarely collect and report basic data that researchers could use to assess students’ access and participation in arts educational programs. Moreover, the most promising outcomes associated with arts education learning objectives extend beyond commonly reported outcomes such as math and reading test scores. There are strong reasons to suspect that engagement in arts education can improve school climate, empower students with a sense of purpose and ownership, and enhance mutual respect for their teachers and peers. Yet, as educators and policymakers have come to recognize the importance of expanding the measures we use to assess educational effectiveness, data measuring social and emotional benefits are not widely collected. Future efforts should continue to expand on the types of measures used to assess educational program and policy effectiveness.

These findings provide strong evidence that arts educational experiences can produce significant positive impacts on academic and social development. Because schools play a pivotal role in cultivating the next generation of citizens and leaders, it is imperative that we reflect on the fundamental purpose of a well-rounded education. This mission is critical in a time of heightened intolerance and pressing threats to our core democratic values. As policymakers begin to collect and value outcome measures beyond test scores, we are likely to further recognize the value of the arts in the fundamental mission of education.

The Importance of Arts Education and Why the Arts Matter

In remote learning, arts education has never been more fragile. here's how these educators are sparking creativity in their students and learn how you can too..

By Anna Sudderth

what is the importance of arts education

Sometimes, a song is more than a collection of sharps, flats, and chords. It can be a gateway to joy, empathy, and empowerment. Arts education teaches students to explore the world and their place in it courageously. Through the arts, students can develop the imagination to envision a better future— and the creativity to put that vision into action .

It’s the same with images. In 2022, ten winning billboards by teens were displayed in their communities across the country. Some had messages promoting love and tolerance; another by a North Kingstown, Rhode Island student said, “Stop Policing Female Bodies.” XQ partnered with For Freedoms , an artist-led organization aimed at increasing creative civic engagement, to sponsor this billboard challenge . They invited 14-21 year-olds all over the U.S. to design billboards addressing topics such as how to improve their schools, how they envision their future, or how to support social justice in education.

The challenge also served a purpose: bringing the voices of students to policymakers . Rhode Island was examining its high school graduation standards in partnership with XQ and Steve Osborn, strategy and student opportunity officer for Rhode Island’s Department of Education, said hearing from students made an impact.

“Our young people had very clear, very thoughtful ways of expressing things that we as adults are struggling to talk about with each other,” he said.

Why Arts Education is Crucial: Giving Students a Space to Voice Issues Close to Their Hearts

Arts education benefits students by showing them that their perspective matters. One of our core XQ Design Principles is youth voice and choice : the ability for students to bring their full selves to school, and to have agency and autonomy in their learning. Art supports youth voice and choice by celebrating students’ identities and empowering them as creators and decision-makers in their learning.

This emphasis on student voice and choice was a driving principle behind XQ’s Music and Activism Challenge . XQ launched this first-of-its-kind learning experience in 2021 when pandemic-related school closures and budget cuts put arts programming at risk. Students rose to the challenge , creating powerful songs on topics like self-confidence, community, and racial justice. Their amazing work is a testament to the value of arts in education, and how the arts can transform learning to feel relevant and engaging for all learners . This way they’ll be true learners for life, achieving one of XQ’s Learner Outcomes .

This XQ Challenge was particularly relevant during the pandemic when so many students felt uncertain about the future and disconnected from their peers because of campus closures. It gave them a way to express themselves artistically and share their ideas and emotions about the issues impacting their lives, collaborating with their classmates in the process. In doing so, this challenge showed the importance of arts education during tough times . The arts can help students find their voice in difficult conversations, imagine creative solutions to big challenges, and find community.

Check out this article to learn how students found their voices during the 2020 election season.

Empowering Students Through Creativity

In Ty Boyland ’s music production class at Crosstown High in Memphis, Tennessee, students learned to write meaningful lyrics, merge words with a melody, and think about issues like the Black Lives Matter movement, sex trafficking, and gender equality.

It was a perfect fit for Crosstown, an XQ school that focuses on community connections, diversity, and student voice.

“It’s led us to have a lot of conversations, very deep discussions about all kinds of issues,” Boyland said. “For a lot of students, creating music and art is really about character development. I tell my students, are you able to speak your truth? If you’re able to do that, you’ll do well in life no matter what you do.”

During one class, students practiced writing raps on two subjects: the concept of chivalry and mental health. The topics led to discussions about courtesy and respect, and the anxiety and depression so many young people experienced during the pandemic.

Vanessa, a student in Boyland’s class, said discussions like those helped her learn to express herself and process her emotions.

“I really enjoy how we’re talking about real stuff. We’re not sugar-coating anything,” she said. “And this stuff needs to be talked about.”

Her classmate, Dre, said he was so inspired by the class that he visited a Memphis music studio to watch local rappers practice their craft.

“Just the thrill of being able to spread your words and inspire others…it was riveting,” he said. “I feel this class is about freedom of speech. There’s no hate. There’s no bad feedback. We’re learning how to express ourselves.”

Boyland encourages his students to take an idea or an emotion and explore it on multiple levels, looking for connections and broader meaning. His class feels like a combination of English language arts, politics, current events, and history—all set to a hip-hop soundtrack.

“I tell my students, just because something sounds good, that’s not always enough,” he said. “We want to go beyond. We want people to feel it. We want to tell a story…That’s how we can breathe some life into our songwriting.”

Similarly, Brooklyn, a student in Boyland’s class, said the class helped her become more comfortable speaking up and sharing her thoughts about sensitive issues, not just at school but in her life generally.

“I’m usually a nervous person,” she said. “But now I’m more self-confident. Here, someone actually wants to listen.”

Check out how this school used project-based and placed-based learning during COVID.

How to Bolster Arts Education

The XQ Music and Activism Challenge was the first of several arts-related initiatives. XQ also launched a visual arts challenge with New Orleans artist BMike Odums, and a dance challenge with Misty Copeland , the first Black female principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. In each challenge, students created art around issues that mattered to them, with the goal of empowering students and building community.

Teachers looking to bolster arts education in their own classrooms can consider:

How can I design art projects around issues my students are passionate about?
How can I apply the arts to other subjects, to promote interdisciplinary learning ?
What finished products—songs, poetry zines, visual arts pieces—will be most meaningful for my students and community?

Janet Hollingsworth, a director at Washington Leadership Academy —an XQ school in Washington, D.C.—embodies this approach in her class called “Engineering with Empathy,” which merges practical concepts like circuitry and computer-aided design with creative skills that require resourcefulness and an ability to think outside the box. It’s part of WLA’s overall emphasis on computer science and technology.

Even during the pandemic, Hollingsworth found opportunities to engage students in hands-on arts learning. For one project fusing arts and STEM, students used DIY kits Hollingsworth compiled and mailed to students’ homes to make robots of motors, LED lights, coin cell batteries, and recycled materials. At the end of the project, they held an online robot dance party.

For their next project, students designed holiday gifts for family and friends, such as key holders, bedroom door signs, and 3-D avatars. Students designed the gifts at home, then Hollingsworth fabricated them in the school’s maker space using a laser cutter, vinyl cutter, and 3-D printer, and mailed the projects to the students’ homes.

The students loved it, she said—especially the gift project.

And during a tough time, “Why not let the school play a supporting role?” Hollingsworth said. “Students are invested because what they’re making matters. It’s useful, it has an immediate impact, it’s for someone they love.”

More from XQ

Podcast: tennessee high schoolers solved a nearly 40-year-old serial murder mystery.

By Edward Montalvo

Watch: New Film Inspires America to Rethink High School

Watch: Rethinking High School in the DC Public Schools

The First Class

A feature-length documentary following the founding class of Crosstown High in Memphis Tennessee.

XQ Competencies

The XQ Competencies translate the XQ Learner Outcomes into 37 specific, attainable goals for learning.

Xtra Inspiration

XQ Xtra Newsletter XTRA Inspiration Get the latest…

Do High Schools Prepare Students for Careers?

We know that today's learners and high school graduates need to be well-prepared to enter…

A District-wide, Community-Led Initiative to Transform DC Public High Schools.

How to Write a Letter to the School…

If you want your voice to be heard and to show your concern for your…

Future-Proof Your Teen: Game-Changing High School Tips for…

Our young people are growing up at a time when the economy, the workforce, and…

Youth Voice Toolkit

This resource guides students through driving change within their high school communities.

Podcast: Tennessee High Schoolers Solved a Nearly 40-Year-Old…

Alex Campbell asked his students to solve a cold case involving a potential serial killer,…

136 Irving Street Cambridge, MA 02138

New Report Makes the Case for Arts Education: Recommends Access for All

In the 20 years since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 defined “arts” as a “core academic subject,” and the six years since the Every Student Succeeds Act declared them as part of a “well-rounded education,” arts education in American public schools has shrunk dramatically. The Commission on the Arts, at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, says we are at a crisis point, where access to arts education is declining steadily—and action must be taken to reverse the trend.

In 2018, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences convened a Commission on the Arts to examine the state of arts education in the United States, and to assess the need for greater support. The Commission ultimately focused on the challenges of access to arts education in public schools.

The resulting report, Art for Life’s Sake: The Case for Arts Education , finds ample evidence for the attributes, values, and skills that come from arts education, including social and emotional development, improvements in school engagement, as well as more vital civic and social engagement. It also offers concrete recommendations to improve educational policy at the local, state, and national levels.

The Commission is chaired by three Academy members: actor and author John Lithgow , Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts President Deborah Rutter , and two-time United States Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey . They led a group of 38 other artists, scholars, and activists, all of whom contributed their time and expertise to this multi-year effort.

Art for Life’s Sake documents a persistent decline in access. While 88% of Americans agree that arts education is an essential component of a well-rounded education, there has been a persistent decline in support for arts education, particularly in communities that cannot finance it on their own.

“Americans understand the value of an education that includes the arts,” says Rutter, “but we as a nation have not established sustainable educational policies that make it possible for all students to receive the education they need.”

“We want every child to have access to music, paintings, writing, theater—all the arts—regardless of their socio-economic circumstances,” says Lithgow. “We want all American children to learn how to express themselves and to understand the ways in which others express themselves.”

To reverse negative trends, the Commission on the Arts is issuing a set of policy recommendations in six key areas for local, state, and national elected leaders to embrace.

Make the Arts an Important Part of Every Child’s Education by offering a diverse set of arts classes and including arts among the core distribution requirements.
Elevate the Role of the Arts through Data, Research, and Accountability at the federal, state, and school district levels, and reform accountability systems to incorporate arts education into the range of outcomes schools cultivate.
Ensure Arts Education Funding Is Adequate and Equitable through substantial economic support for public education and adequate funding mechanisms at the state and local level.
Recruit, Develop, and Support Arts Educators by establishing policy and funding priorities to increase the availability of arts educators, especially those from underrepresented groups.
Foster Collaboration within the Arts Education Landscape through adequately funded arts-based school-community partnerships.
Restore Federal Leadership in the Arts through increased funding, the reinstatement of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and a national celebration of arts education.

“Ultimately, arts education must be a group effort, a partnership in every community,” says Trethewey. “ Art for Life’s Sake offers strong recommendations to our policymakers and calls on our public institutions to make a greater effort. At the same time, it acknowledges that museums, community centers, and other stakeholders have an important role to play in the dissemination of the arts in our public schools.”

“ Arts education is not simply a training ground for future artists. It is a critical element in the education of every American, an important window on the wider world,” said Academy president David Oxtoby. “The American Academy of Arts & Sciences is grateful for the work of the commission members who produced this report and determined to help find a way to make arts education more accessible to every student.”

The Commission is funded by the Barr Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Getty Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and Roger and Victoria Sant.

Contact: Alison Franklin / [email protected]

Commission on the Arts

The Commission on the Arts is a multi-year project with distinguished cochairs, more than $1 million of support from foundations and individuals, and a commitment to exploring the role of the arts in American life, with an emphasis on arts education and infrastructure.