Arts Integration Research Paper

Music, dance, drama, painting and drawing teachers try to incorporate academic lessons into their art classes. Students can be learning both art and academic topics at the same time. This can benefit the students extremely because it will not only engage the students in helpful activities, but it will keep them interested in learning the different topics. For example, schools may play music in the halls to introduce the students to culture that may help them to be open to learning new things in all of their classes. The painting teacher may have her student’s paint a picture of a historical event they learned about in their history class and discuss it in front of the class. The music teacher may ask the students to pick a certain song that reminds them of a book they read in their English class and explain to the class why the song reminds them of that certain book. The dance teacher might assign a dance to the students that will get them thinking of a subject to write their paper on for writing class. The possibilities are endless as to how to mix academics into the arts. It is important to do so to keep the creative juices flowing in the young minds of the students in public schools. By participating in an arts course, students are fueling their cognitive developments and are

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

Art is around us everywhere we go. Art can be in architecture, landscaping, performances and paintings. The arts can affect the way people think and how they act, like when a young child draws or paints a picture, they have to make small choices that can help them in many aspects of life. BUt sadly the beneficial education tool of The Arts has been in a rapid decline. In her article, School Art Programs: Should They Be Saved?, Valeria Metia says, “During the 1999-2000 school year, 20 percent of schools offered dance and theatre classes, but in the 2009-10 school year, only 3 percent of schools allocated funds for dance classes, and only 4 percent taught theatre.” Since this decrease in art programs students ages 5-18 are missing out on valuable characteristics in their education. Art gives students improved test scores and better thinking skills, significantly higher graduation rates,better performance in schoolwork,development of habits including problem solving, critical and creative thinking, and working with others and a happier and better school day. SInce art is so beneficial to a student's learning we should push harder and get art programs into our public schools again.

The two things that I can say without a doubt in my mind that I have done that have made a difference are my club, Irmo Arts Outreach, and my work at Lexington Medical Center(LMC) as a volunteer. Irmo Arts Outreach has left an impact more on the community than anything else, and the volunteer work at LMC has changed me more than anyone else. Irmo Arts Outreach was a dream I had, which I was able to make into a reality with the help of a few friends. What we do is go to the VA hospital to perform musical pieces for veterans, to let them know we appreciate everything they did for us and that they are not alone. I started the club, I organized our visits to the hospital, and I got permission for them to let us perform there. On our first visit

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

Theater is the activity or profession of acting in, producing, directing, or writing plays. It is that of escaping the real world and going into a new one. Not only does one go more in depth into their mind, but they also go into the mind of others.Theater helped me find out who I really am. Growing up, I always enjoyed the idea of stepping into someone else’s shoes, but I never got the chance until I was in the sixth grade.

Using theses conclusions, one can justify art integration as a means of increasing attendance to school as well as productivity. If a student can remain engaged, excited, and interested in their own learning, then their growth academically will flourish. These studies also found interesting correlation in young students growth academically when paired with art education. The study conducted by the Arts Education Partnership found that “James

Schools and educators are beginning to understand the value of inclusion of art education in K-12 curriculum more and more each year. So much so, that many states are adopting common core standards and hiring highly qualify teachers to teach in the subject area of visual arts. “Research over the past decade reveals areas where effective arts education strategies, especially arts integration techniques, have yielded practical and impressive results,” (Education Digest, 2011). Part of what is driving this initiative is the understanding that some students learn most effectively through the arts (Robinson, 2013). Recent research reflects that art integration correlates with low-performing learners by increasing test scores. Studies conducted in North Carolina and Oklahoma with art integration programs tracked consistent gains in student achievement as compared with state and district averages

The arts have been long-recognized as a vital component of the well-rounded student, but for the past several decades, the importance of arts programs in many U.S. schools has been steadily compromised (Rabkin & Redmond, 2006). Pressure to compete internationally has influenced educational institutions to believe that an almost exclusive focus on academic fundamentals is the sole way to raise standards and close the achievement gap (Sholl & Sweetland, 2016). Katz-Buonincontro, Phillips, and Witherspoon (2015) expound on the predicament of today’s schools: expected to promote twenty-first century skills, including creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, leaders are simultaneously pushed to uphold standards-based

Christian art is classified as Byzantine, but It is also very difficult to know when Christian art

Silverstein and Layne (2010) define arts integration as “an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.” Arts integration combines curriculum and teaching among dance, music, theatre, and visual art while interconnecting the arts with non-arts subjects. Integration takes many forms as teachers from different subject areas collaborate for rich curricular connections.

When used well, the arts are the cement that brings all the disparate curricular areas together. In the best schools, this is often the case. The arts are valued for their interdisciplinary potential. The result is a more cohesive curriculum in which students explore relationships across disciplines. . . . the arts in conjunction with other aspects of the curriculum afford students more complete and compelling conceptions. (p. 7)

Art education has been proven to help with “cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills” as well as “motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork” (Smith). Having the ability and patience to sit down and paint a masterpiece or work through a song on the piano requires high focus and dedication. Students willing to do this will in turn have stronger skills to focus and be dedicated in other subjects. The mixture of all these abilities gained from participation in art programs lead to higher test scores and overall better performance in school. Still, these are only a few of the assets provided by art education.

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).

“People are forgetting that math is taught when a child is playing an instrument. English is taught when a child is reading or writing a script. Critical thinking is taught when a child is analyzing art” (Sabrina Holcomb). There is a significant correlation between participating in the arts, and success in school. Multiple studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between playing an instrument, and an increase in scores in mathematical subject. In these studies, it was also noted that students who were more creative were better problem solvers than students who were not as creative. All of these characteristics are sought after in the work force, meaning that the arts not only help during the school years, but in work and business as well (Ron Whitehorne). Also, it is important to note that “Low-income students who had arts-rich experiences in high schools were more than three times as likely to earn a B.A. as low-income students without those experiences. And the new study from the National Endowment reports that low-income high school students who earned little or no arts credits were five times more likely not to graduate from high school than low-income students who earned many arts credits” (Tyleah Hawkins). The arts have always been used as a form of expression and inspiration for people across the world, the arts have also been shown to improve high-risk student's outlook on their schooling. Research has shown that the arts help improve standardized test scores like the ACT or SAT (Tyleah Hawkins).People who support the arts believe that quality art education can help engage at-risk students in ways that other subjects such as math, science, or reading cannot. This is why it is believed that the arts are a key tool in the prevention of high-school dropout. There are many studies that point to a lower dropout rate for students who participate in