Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 1

The Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools

Ethan J. Wentzell

Global Studies and World Languages Academy at Tallwood High School

Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 2

Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………3

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Limitations………………………………………………………………………………………...4

Body &

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..5

References………………………………………………………………………………………..10
Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 3

Abstract

This paper is about the benefits of teaching the arts in schools. In it, the author starts by

giving a short introduction on the topic and giving an overview of the benefits that the arts can

provide when they are taught in schools. These benefits include increased test scores, increased

critical thinking skills, an increased sense of belonging in school, etc. Then after the introduction,

the author starts by talking about how the arts have been proven to increase test scores and how

the longer that you have been taking arts classes the higher your test scores should be statistically

speaking. After that, the author talks about how the arts can improve student’s reading and

language skills and mathematics skills. Then, the author goes on to talk about how the arts can

help students develop thinking skills. After that, the author talks about how the arts can help

develop student’s social skills. Then, the author talks about how the arts can help build

confidence in students and help them express themselves. Lastly, before the conclusion, the

author talks about how the arts can benefit school systems as well, such as, by motivating

students to learn and so on. Then, the author sums it all up in a conclusion at the end of his paper.

Introduction

Teaching Fine Arts in schools is important because it increases student’s test scores,

increases critical thinking skills, and gives them a sense of belonging in the school system which

increases student’s investment in school and their education overall. When we defund Fine Arts
Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 4

programs in schools we are not only hurting the programs themselves, but also the student. If

we take these benefits away from these students, then it can actually do the exact opposite

from what most of these school systems are trying to accomplish, which is to make their school

systems better, for example, by getting better test scores. Students should be required to take

Fine Arts classes k-12​th​ grade because then the kids can reap the benefits of these classes and

the schools can reach their goals of increasing their test scores. The current trend in state and

local governments is to decrease the Fine Arts classes that are offered at their schools and

allocate more money to other common core classes, such as, Math, English, Science, and Social

Studies. They don’t appear to understand the benefits of Fine Arts classes and how it can

benefit both the student and the school system.

Limitations

Personal Bias:​ The author himself is a fine arts student. As such, the author takes a strong

stance on the matter of teaching Fine Arts in school. He believes that Fine Arts classes should

be required for everyone K-12​th​ grade, and that they should get just as much funding as any

other common core class. He believes that the Fine Arts are mistreated as a class and

underfunded, therefore this paper will probably be heavily in favor of Fine Arts.

Geographical Limitations: ​There are about two-hundred countries in this world, and as such,

each of them takes a different stance on tech Fine Arts in schools. Trying to make an argument

for teaching Fine Arts in schools for every country in this paper would just be too much and

would be ludicrous. Therefore, this paper will only be focusing on the countries of England,

Japan, Israel, Brazil, and the United States of America.

Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 5

Body & Conclusion

Fine Arts can benefit students in many ways, they can benefit students both academically

and socially. They can help improve students reading and language skills, math skills, thinking

skills, and social skills. In addition to that, they can also motivate students to learn, and create a

positive school environment(Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement).

There have been multiple studies that show that studying the arts can increase a student’s chance

of scoring higher on standardized tests. For example, one study done by the College Board

compared SAT scores of students who had taken arts classes with SAT scores of students who

had not taken arts classes. What they found was that the students who had taken more years of

arts classes had higher scores. Students who had taken at least one year of arts classes

statistically did better than students who had not taken any arts classes at all. And, “those

students who took four or more years of arts coursework outperformed their peers who had taken

one-half year or less of arts coursework by 58 points on the verbal portion and 38 points on the

math portion of the SAT(Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement).”

Another study from the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education(CAPE) compared public

elementary schools in Chicago that integrated arts into their classes with other public elementary

schools in Chicago that did not integrate the arts into their classes. They found that students in

the schools that integrate the arts with their classes perform better on standardized tests than

those who go to the schools that do not integrate the arts with their classes(How Arts Integration

Supports Student Learning: Students Shed Light on the Connections, Critical Evidence: How the
Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 6

ARTS Benefit Student Achievement). This is only one way out of many in which the arts can

benefit students in schools.

Aside from standardized tests, the arts can enhance student’s reading and language skills.

For example, “One of the most common approaches to teaching reading is to have a teacher read

a story to students. The use of drama in the classroom can provide a beneficial supplemental

approach. A recent study found that the development of literacy skills among pre-kindergarteners

was fostered when the children were allowed to act out their favorite stories. Dramatic play also

helped motivate them to learn(Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student

Achievement).” Arts can also enhance student’s mathematics skills. Certain types of music

instruction can help develop student’s spatial-temporal reasoning abilities. “Spatial temporal

reasoning refers to the ability to understand the relationship of ideas and objects in space and

time(Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement).” As aforementioned in

this paper, students who take arts classes are more likely to perform better on standardized tests.

Some people think that this might be because mathematical equations can mimic the rhythm that

is found in music due to the various patterns and ratios in musical compositions.

Arts education can also help develop students thinking skills. For example, “A group of

162 children, ages 9 and 10, were trained to look closely at works of art and reason about what

they saw. The results showed that children’s ability to draw inferences about artwork transferred

to their reasoning about images in science. In both cases, the critical skill is that of looking

closely and reasoning about what is seen.(Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student

Achievement).” Now, thinking skills can mean many things, including, but not limited to,

“reasoning ability, intuition, perception, imagination, inventiveness, creativity, problem-solving

Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 7

skills and expression(Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement).” Let us

delve deeper into how the arts benefit some of these things. For creativity, “​In an arts program,

your child will be asked to recite a monologue in 6 different ways, create a painting that

represents a memory, or compose a new rhythm to enhance a piece of music. If children have

practice thinking creatively, it will come naturally to them now and in their future career.(Lisa

Phillips, Top 10 skills children learn from the arts).” For problem solving, “Without even

realizing it kids that participate in the arts are consistently being challenged to solve problems.

All this practice problem solving develops children’s skills in reasoning and understanding. This

will help develop important problem-solving skills necessary for success in any career.(Lisa

Phillips, Top 10 skills children learn from the arts).” And, for imagination, students have to

imagine things all the time in arts classes. For example, if you are in a play for a drama class you

have to imagine a backstory for your character, and not only that, but, you have to know every

facet of your character. Or, if you are in an art class you have to be able to imagine in your

mind’s eye what you want your painting or sculpture to look like. All of this imagining will also

help to foster students creativeness and help them to better solve problems in the real world.

The arts can also improve students social skills. In one study, researchers took delinquent

youth and put them into a program called “Urban Improv” where they acted out “conflict

scenarios” in order to learn “decision making, impulse control, and conflict resolution

skills​(​Kisiel, C., Blaustein, M., Spinazzola, J., Schmidt, C. S., Zucker, M., & van der Kolk, B.

(2006)).” Had these students not have the arts, or this program, for that matter, to save them they

could have ended up in jail or even dead. But, because of this program, these students have

learned the aforementioned skills and now know how to better manage their lives. Another social
Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 8

skill that the arts can teach students is the skill of collaboration. Students learn early on in the art

forms how to work with other people to reach a common goal. For example, “When a child has a

part to play in a music ensemble, or a theater or dance production, they begin to understand that

their contribution is necessary for the success of the group. Through these experiences children

gain confidence and start to learn that their contributions have value even if they don’t have the

biggest role(​Lisa Phillips, Top 10 skills children learn from the arts).”

The arts can also help students build their confidence and help them learn how to express

themselves. It takes a lot to be able to go on stage and put yourself out there for everyone to see,

but, with the help of the arts students learn how to be able to perform in front of a lot of people

without getting very nervous. Additionally, this also boosts their confidence, therefore, they learn

how to be who they are and who they want to be in front of everyone and they learn how to

freely express themselves how they see fit.

Arts do not only have to benefit the students, however, they can benefit the school

systems as well. For example, as mentioned earlier in the paper studying the arts can help

increase students test scores on standardized tests, and while this would benefit the student

greatly because it would give them a better chance of getting into the college or university of

their choice and help them to be able to pursue what they want to in life, this would also benefit

the school systems because it would mean that they would have higher pass rates on their

standardized tests and we all know that school systems that have higher pass rates on

standardized tests and school systems whose students score better on standardized tests generally

get paid more money from the federal government. This would give the schools more money to

put back into all of their programs and give them more money to get better resources for the
Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 9

students, such as, textbooks, supplies, etc., this would further benefit the students causing their

test scores to increase even more thereby repeating the cycle.

One way, in which, the arts can benefit both the student and the school system is that they

can motivate students to learn. They motivate students to learn because they actively keep

students engaged by having them do various types of activities, such as, reciting a monologue,

practicing a piece of music, or performing a dance. This motivation to learn can keep “at risk”

students from dropping out of high school and it can be a great way to keep students with

disabilities engaged in school(Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement).

Another way in which the arts can benefit the school systems is that the arts create a more

positive school environment. “The arts help create the kind of learning environment conducive to

teacher and student success by fostering teacher innovation, a positive professional culture,

community engagement, increased student attendance, effective instructional practice and school

identity(Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement).”

In conclusion, teaching Fine Arts in schools is important for many reasons and teaching

them in schools comes with a lot of benefits. Some of those benefits are increased test scores,

increased critical thinking skills, and increasing student’s sense of belonging in the school

system which increases their investment in school and their education overall. Although the

current trend is to defund Fine Arts programs and allocate that money to other core subjects,

such as, Math, English, Science, and Social Studies, it would benefit school systems more to

fund Fine Arts programs even more then are now.

Benefits of Teaching the Arts in Schools 10

References

Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Acheivement​ (Publication). (2006).

Washington, DC: AEP.

DeMoss, K., & Morris, T. (n.d.). ​How Arts Integration Supports Student Learning: Students

Shed Light on the Connection​ (Rep.). Retrieved

http://capechicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/How-Arts-Integration-Supports-Stud

ent-Learning-Full-Report-CAPE.pdf

Strauss, V. (2013, January 22). Top 10 skills children learn from the arts. Retrieved from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/22/top-10-skills-childr

en-learn-from-the-arts/?utm_term=.d1bce25f4c75

Vaughn, K., & Winner, E. (2000). SAT Scores of Students Who Study the Arts: What We Can

and Cannot Conclude about the Association. ​Journal of Aesthetic Education​, 34(3/4), 77-89.