The Arts and Human Development: Framing a National Research Agenda for the Arts, Lifelong Learning, and Individual Well-Being
In March 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services hosted a first-of-its-kind event to showcase and discuss recent research on the arts and human development. The one-day forum examined the relationship between the arts and positive health and educational outcomes at various segments of the lifespan—from early childhood, to youth and adolescence, to older adult populations. This white paper summarizes major themes from the forum, and highlights related studies. It also makes recommendations toward establishing a long-term federal partnership to promote research and evidence-sharing nationwide.

Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development
Published by the Arts Education Partnership with support from the NEA. Details the relationship between learning in dance, drama, music, multiple arts, and visual arts, and the development of fundamental academic and social skills.

How the Arts Can Enhance After-School Programs
Published by the Arts Endowment in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, 2002. Focuses on the role of the arts in after-school activities in neighborhood schools. Summaries of recent research, key elements of successful programs, and highlights of effective partnerships between schools and community-based organizations are also provided.

Imagine! Introducing Your Child to the Arts
Published by the National Endowment for the Arts, 2004. This reprint of the 1997 NEA publication revises and updates the previous edition’s material on introducing children to the arts. Made for parents, the publication includes activities and suggestions in literature, dance, music, theater, visual arts, folk arts, and media arts aimed specifically at children ages 3-8 years old. Includes pull-out guide of arts activities.

Learning Through the Arts: A Guide to the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Education
Published by the National Endowment for the Arts, 2002. A guide to the NEA’s Arts Learning initiatives includes brief descriptions of our arts learning grants, partnerships, and programs; a thumbnail history of the Endowment’s involvement in arts education research; a section on successful projects and programs that the NEA has supported; and a list of arts learning partners and organizations. Altogether, the publication demonstrates the Endowment’s continued commitment to arts learning for children and youth.

Masters of Traditional Arts Education Guide
Created by Paddy Bowman, Betty Carter, and Alan Govenar, this guide presents meaningful instruction for learning about a diverse array of traditional artists and art forms for students in grades 4 – 12. The many interdisciplinary curriculum suggestions in the guide are adaptable for any traditional artists, helping students better connect to their communities and cultures. An online version of the education guide is available at www.mastersoftraditionalarts.org .

Re-Investing in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future
The culmination of 18 months of research, meetings with stakeholders, and site visits all over the country, this President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities report represents an in-depth review of the current condition of arts education, including an update of the current research base about arts education outcomes, and an analysis of the challenges and opportunities in the field that have emerged over the past decade. It also includes a set of recommendations to federal, state and local policymakers.

Listed publications here: http://www.nea.gov/pub/pubCat.php?cat=Arts

NEA Arts in Education here: http://www.nea.gov/partner/artsed/index.html

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF STATE ARTS AGENCIES (NASAA) PUBLICATIONS:

President’s Comm. on the Arts & Humanities: Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools

This report represents an in-depth review of the current condition of arts education, including an update of the current research base about arts education outcomes and an analysis of the challenges and opportunities in the field that have emerged over the past decade.

http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Research/Key-Topics/Arts-

PDF here: Education/PCAH_Reinvesting_In%20_Arts_Education.pdf

Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement

This concise research summary responds to the needs of policymakers, educators, parents and advocates who want factual, nontechnical language describing the value of arts in learning.

Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools

This report represents an in-depth review of the current condition of arts education, including an update of the current research base about arts education outcomes and an analysis of the challenges and opportunities in the field that have emerged over the past decade.

The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth

Four separate longitudinal studies tracked children, teenagers, and young adults who had high or low levels of arts engagement in or out of school.

Arts Education in America: What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation

Commissioned from NORC at the University of Chicago, this report investigates the relationship between arts education and arts participation and examines the long-term declines in Americans’ reported rates of arts learning.

Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools 1999-2000 and 2009-10

This report presents information over time on the availability and characteristics of arts education programs in public elementary and secondary schools by discipline (music, visual arts, dance, and theatre).

Reports, research and studies listed above can be found at National Assembly of State Arts Agencies: http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Research/Key-Topics/Arts-Education/index.php

Growing Young Minds: How Museums and Libraries Create Lifelong Learners

Libraries and museums are effective, but often overlooked resources in our nation’s effort to turn around a crisis in early learning, exposing children to reading and powerful learning experiences in the critical early years and keeping them learning through the summer months, according to a report issued today by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.

The report, Growing Young Minds: How Museums and Libraries Create Lifelong Learners, documents dozens of examples and 10 key ways libraries and museums are supporting young children. It provides a clear call to policymakers, schools, funders, and parents to make full use of these vital, existing community resources.

“We have to do everything we can to give all our children opportunities to get off to a strong start, and community institutions play a critical role. For parents and families, libraries and museums are a go-to resource that supports them as their child’s first teacher,” said Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education. “Public and school libraries as well as all kinds of museums, science centers and zoos are trusted, welcoming places where children can make discoveries, deepen interests, and connect their natural curiosity to the wider world — developing the skills they need for a lifetime of learning.”

As the nation commits to early learning as a priority essential to our economic and civic future, the report provides case studies and research documenting that libraries and museums are part of the solution.

“We know that we won’t close achievement gaps, reduce dropout rates or compete in the 21^st century economy until more of our children are reading proficiently by the end of third grade,” said Ralph Smith, managing director of the GLR Campaign and a senior vice president at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  “But right now, more than 80 percent of students from low-income families don’t achieve that critical milestone. Libraries and museums are playing a vital role in reaching families and children with support that can help turn around this deeply troubling trend.”

To support that goal, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) issued $2.5 million in grants last year to institutions seeking to improve early literacy.  IMLS has committed another $2.5 million for 2013.

“With built infrastructure in nearly every community, we must fully leverage the capacity of libraries and museums to provide opportunities for high-quality early learning,” said IMLS Director Susan H. Hildreth. “Museum and library professionals are adept at providing hands-on experiential learning. I urge the early childhood development community to reach out to libraries and museums and make full use of their trusted place in communities, their partnership capacity and their skills and talents.”

For more information and the full report see www.imls.gov/earlylearning.

Improving the Assessment of Student Learning in the Arts: State of the Field and Recommendations

As the field of educational assessment advances, and as alternatives to standardized tests emerge, the tools used to evaluate student learning, such as portfolio reviews, are beginning to gain greater currency. Given this development, it is even more important to examine arts educational standards and assessment tools to ensure that arts learning can become a vital force for enhancing 21st -century skills. This is the first time that the NEA will take a comprehensive look at this issue via the roundtable, webcast, and new research report, Improving the Assessment of Student Learning in the Arts: State of the Field and Recommendations.

http://www.arts.gov/research/ArtsLearning/WestEd.pdf

The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies

At-risk students who have access to the arts in or out of school also tend to have better academic results, better workforce opportunities, and more civic engagement, according to a new NEA report, The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies. The study reports these and other positive outcomes associated with high levels of arts exposure for youth of low socioeconomic status.

The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth study uses four separate longitudinal studies (three from the U.S. Department of Education) to track children, teenagers, and young adults who had high or low levels of arts engagement in or out of school. Those activities included coursework in music, dance, theater, or the visual arts; out-of-school arts lessons; or membership, participation, and leadership in arts organizations and activities, such as band or theater.

The study focuses on the potential effects of arts engagement on youth from the lowest quarter of socioeconomic status. Although most of the arts-related benefits in this report applied only to these at-risk youth, some findings also suggest benefits for youth from advantaged backgrounds.

“Arts education doesn’t take place in isolation,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “It has to take place as part of an overall school and education reform strategy. This report shows that arts education has strong links with other positive educational outcomes.”