Annotated Bibliography: The Importance Of Fine Arts Education

Schools across America are cutting Fine Arts programs left and right due to budget cuts and reduced funding, which is preventing students the ability to have an equally standardized arts education. About 95% of schools in America have eliminated or reduced their fine arts program’s funding. According to a report released by the PCCY only 149 out of the 268 public schools in Philadelphia have a choral teacher and 59% of them have an art teacher (Davis). These schools that lack fine arts teachers have felt the need to reduce faculty in order to pay for other expenses. This prevents students from receiving the benefits associated with a fine arts education. In addition, two out of every ten schools don’t have a choral or an art teacher (Davis).

The article “Book Tackles Old Debate: Role of Art in Schools” by Robin Pogrebin explains the influence of art and the conclusion of two researchers, Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland. “Students who study the arts seriously are taught to see better, to envision, to persist, to be playful and learn from mistakes, to make critical judgements and justify such judgements,” conclude both researchers.

To begin with, education and engagement in fine art programs are an essential part within the school curriculum because subjects such as mathematics, science, and language arts all require cognitive and creative capacities which are enhanced with the process of learning art. For instance, in the article, Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefits Student Achievement, it states that “researchers

“After a certain high level of technical skill achieved, science and arts tend to coalesce in esthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientist are artist as well” (Albert Einstein). In this advanced modern tech-world mostly people are dependent on science and technology, but arts also play an important role in education. Art creates balanced thinking and better imagination which helps humans to be successful in their career. Yo-Yo Ma intensely informs about important role of arts in modern education society throughout his essay Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and education. Ma illustrates that arts should be also part of education, because it improve students to filter their imagination through disciplined knowledge. Liberal arts should be equal to science and technology because it creates new idea, and in this modern world people should think critical than divergent in their lives. Empathy teaches students to understand and simplify the complicated life. Collaboration include discussion amongst people or group to make things effortless. Moreover liberal arts itself is beauty such as performing arts, it values the beauty of imagination in modern society by art and sculpture.

Despite taking the place of a core class, fine arts can bolster and strengthen a student’s abilities in said core classes. Art is accessible to everyone and therefore can create a new sense of unity and connection among peers in and out of school. Students often don’t have many ways to express themselves, but by taking classes in the fine arts, students would have an expressive medium to do so inside of school. Skills learnt in fine arts classes can be used for a student’s entire life, regardless of age or condition, and thanks to the many other advantages of these courses, should be required for students to

One of the largest issues with fine arts implementation is the narrow effects. Garcia et. al conducted research that attempted to determine the effect fine arts have on standardized test scores. The researchers found that specific students attending schools with dense fine arts programs scored higher on the state standardized test; however, this improvement does not imply that fine arts will effectively cure the education decline. When analyzing the results, one sees that the fine arts mainly affect one group of students: at-risk students. The term “at-risk students” generally includes English Language Learners and low socioeconomic students. The research found that the at-risk students exposed to fine arts programs were more likely to have higher scores on the state standardized test specifically on the English Language Arts portion. This research suggests that if these at-risk students are exposed to the fine arts their test scores will increase on this specific portion of the test.

In the article “Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who’s Doing It Best” by Fran Smith, the writer suggests that arts education does solve problems. She discusses the years of research done to prove the link between arts learning and social, emotional, and academic development. She points out that involvement in music, theater, dance, and visual arts is related to critical thinking and communication skills. The arts connect people closely to the world which opens up their minds to new

Greek philosopher Aristotle defines the arts ¨as the realization in external form of a true idea, and is traced back to that natural love of imitation which characterizes humans, and to the pleasure which we feel in recognizing likenesses.¨(IEP). The fine arts which have been a part of human history for 30,000 years have played an essential role in the development and advancement of our societies. As of today, the fine arts are facing the danger of vanishing in the education system of the United States Schools in places like Minnesota, Michigan and Philadelphia struggle to obtain arts programs within their schools. Districts like the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district, have been struggling with raising student’s academic scores in courses

Students that are involved in fine arts may do better on their test scores. Most children that participate in fine arts have a better act And can cooroperate better with others. Many studies show that all this is true.(“10 Studies on the Importance of Art in Education.”)

Over three decades, art programs have been on the decline, because of budget cuts and the general thought of art being a privilege and not a necessity when it comes to the classroom. (Smith.) In fact, it has almost set a chain of continuous reaction. The children in the 1970s and 80s who were not exposed to art during class time are now adults who probably do not appreciate art today. And, if they themselves are involved in the education system, do not see art as an importance to the education of children today. In the article Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who 's Doing It Best Sandra Ruppert, Director of the Arts Education Partnership (AEP), a national coalition of arts, business, education, philanthropic, and government

Art in our culture today is not as appreciated as it used to be, due to the decrease in interest, many people find creative arts classes such as drawing classes, and theatre classes are not as important and are useless to the educational system. Schools all over the country have begun cutting art classes from the academic programs, assuming it will be better for the student’s sake. However, a recent poll found that eighty percent of the American people believed that creative arts classes will enhance academic performance. In addition, studies have also shown that arts programs teach a specific set of skills that are not taught in the academic curriculum. This means if the studies are true, cutting arts classes could lower students’ test scores and their overall grades. Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland, the authors of “Art for our Sake: School Art Classes Matter More than Ever-But Not for the Reasons You Think,” stated that, after visualizing different art classes in different schools, they realized that the students are not only taught the basics of art but also the willingness to learn from their mistakes, which are not taught elsewhere in schools. The students are also taught how to analyze their work and their peers work, as well. According to Winner, arts classes are important to the educational system because it teaches appreciation and self-value. It also teaches the students certain aspects of knowledge that

Fine arts broaden our perspective and to help promote social tolerance, but also gives students many academic advantages they can use for a lifetime. Students that are exposed to an environment where they are allowed to express themselves freely musically or artistically will guarantee the ability of teamwork skills, confidence, and critical thinking skills. Some school districts fail to recognize the importance of education in the arts. Musical involvement promotes better math skills, students with band and orchestra experience attend college at a rate twice the national average, art teaches critical thinking rather than just getting the right answer, and theater participation helps develop social tolerance. All of these examples show why arts in public education are so important and why is a necessity in a public school and has overall higher academic achievement, critical thinking skills, and other things that are important in living

"Studies show that students in the arts outperformed their non-arts peers on the SAT by 96 points, while a child who has continued access to arts education has a 74 percent higher chance of planning to attend college” (Urist 9). The arts teach several lessons to children and they provide an equal opportunity for everyone. The arts also provide a different form of discipline and insight into the real world. While others may say that sports make kids strive for good grades, the arts support children in a different way. Others may also say funding should go towards core subjects, but what they don’t know is that the humanities use the core subjects during classes. Even though fine arts are not exciting for everyone, they should receive more funding in schools because fine arts keep kids out of trouble, provide a way to express oneself and help teenagers make life decisions.

Schools that offer fine arts classes have lower dropout rates and raised attendance. The fine arts positively impact students of lower socioeconomic status more those of a higher  status. The fine arts have no barriers for race, religion, and culture when it comes to being involved in the arts. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to be involved (Katy Independent School District). Without the arts these students have no outlet for creative capabilities and no way to express their talents. Students who need this way of expressing themselves are overlooked and they are the ones who need it the most (Dickson). When viewing the participation of arts in the eyes of a ten-year old, “It cools kids down after all the other hard stuff they have to think about” (Arts and Smarts: Test Scores and Cognitive Development).

Figure 1 represents the answers of 97 people when they were asked whether art education was important in school from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. 100% of them answered that art education was important. This poll was conducted using people of various ages, demographics, and backgrounds (Saal).