Benefits Of The Fine Arts Programs

All around the United States, art programs are being cut out of the budget in public schools. The arts include dance, band, chorus, theatre, film, drawing, painting, photography and literary arts. Some school board members feel these art programs are not necessary and do not benefit the students in any way. Elementary, middle, and high school students are forced to quit their passion and feel that their talents are not supported by their schools. Although many are not aware, there is a strong connection between arts education and academic achievement. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts in many public schools, the art classes are first on the list to be cut. It is important that the students, parents and teachers

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

Many would argue that sports have a greater importance compared to the arts. Not only this, but many would say that art is not important enough to have a place in public schooling. However, those who have this mindset do not understand the countless amount of benefits that arts education has in an everyday student's life. Art education refers to education in music, dance, the visual arts, and theater. The engagement of students in the arts are essential to every student's educational career. However art programs always seem to come short in funding and this can later negatively impacts a student’s academic career. Budget cuts would be defined as the act of reducing budgeted expenditures. Budget cuts can come about due to a decreasing amount of money used to split among various school programs. The board members of school districts are constantly trying to get more resources. However, in the end, there is not enough money to cover for so many teachers, supplies, and programs. As budget cuts arise, the arts are almost always immediately targeted. The budget cuts would cut down funds for art supplies, musical instruments, and art teachers. In addition to funds that order to hire art organizations for programs which provide arts education services for students. Many public schools are struggling with budget cuts, resulting in the continued elimination of art programs across school districts throughout the nation. Due to budget constraints, fewer schools offer art classes today. Due to the fact that arts education is infrequently seen as a number one priority in public schools, there is little funding put into place and because of the diminishing amount of art programs, students are being deprived of the benefits that arts education can provide for them academically and non-academically.

Adding just an extra ten minutes to each class, the new schedule would create the potential for students to have more homework time, lab time, learning time, and/or valuable free time to read for pleasure, relax with music, draw, etc. (Hadfield). Especially as students get older and more involved in extracurriculars and rigorous academic courses, the need for any spare moment to get assignments done, study, or even sleep increases. When this time is unavailable or extremely hard to get, students are more likely to fall asleep in class, miss school due to illness, misbehave, cheat, hand in incomplete assignments, or drop out altogether. The same is largely true for teachers. The more homework turned in by students, the more grading has to be done by teachers who are already exhausted from a long, often repetitive day of work. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the fact that this extra time should not be used to cram in larger quantities of learning standards or homework problems, but rather to enhance the quality of the already demanding school regulations that are in schools

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.

Many schools are now organizing school day schedules to maximize instructional time and minimize non-instructional time, such as recess (Pellegrini & Bohn, 2005). Schools made this shift in response to increased state testing and the associated pressures of funding. Some also believe that the shift to more instructional time and less non-instructional time was worsened with the adoption of Common Core standards in elementary schools. However, this may not be the best move for schools or for long-term student success.

In order to revamp Core tested programs, schools have been shifting focus to those areas and changing instructional times for various classes, which prevents students from achieving their full potential in the affected classes. Instructional time is important, especially in the fine arts. In order to have an arts program with the tangible results and benefits previously explained, elementary students require to have at least 50 hours of instructional time in order to give them a solid base in art disciplines (Good, 374). The schools who would prefer to focus their resources on the Core tested programs will see improvement in the Core areas, but there are other subjects that leave a footprint along the beach of test scores that help improve

“Students who study art are 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and 3 times more likely to be awarded for school attendance” ("11 Facts about Arts in Education"). Music and art are clearly not two subjects that schools today can afford to cut off funding for based on this evidence. Music and art programs are responsible for increasing school attendance, which can lead to being one of the most important things in a student’s academic success in school. Students have to attend school and be present in order to attain the information from their classes and teachers if they wish to succeed. Better attendance means more students are in class, which means more students are getting the information they need to excel from their teachers, which ultimately means better grades and test scores for schools. As of today, arts are defined as core subjects in only twenty-six states in America (Mandel). If only twenty-six states are treating art education as a core subject, that means that twenty-four states are currently neglecting art programs and not considering them important to their student’s education. If more states are educated on the importance of art programs for young students, and the arts are defined as core subjects nationally, then there will be a

Funds have been cut in more than 80% of United States arts programs in schools. As kids who take part in some of these arts programs, we think that schools should stop cutting these programs. Some ways that we can save these arts programs are to require entry fees, have more booster clubs, and to give some money to the arts programs from the sports programs. These solutions would account for the problems that schools are having with funding their fine arts programs. If we used one of these solutions, the fine arts programs will be able to prosper.

65% of the same students interviewed think a college-like schedule would benefit, with free times and block periods. This would allow students to take in one subject at a time instead of back to back classes. A more flexible school schedule allows for a more independent student life that gives them the time to complete work or take a break.

    With these long school days children don’t have much time to go out and be a kid.  By the time children get home and finish all their homework, there really isn’t much time for sports or spending time with friends and family. Long hours of school put too much pressure on students.  According to the state, students are supposed to have three and a half hours of homework a night. Students are assigned about 17 hours of homework a week. There is a total of 168 hours in a week and 64 of those hours are taken from us by school and homework.  Out of the 24 hours in a day school, homework, and sleep take 18 hours, which leaves students with just 6 hours to do things.  Combine that with sports and after school activities, the average practice for most sports are 2 to 3 hours, which leaves the student with only 3 hours for themselves. If you add dinner into the equation which can take up to an hour ,then students only have two hours a day. Some students also have chores which can take up to an hour or even sometimes more.  What can a student do with only 1 hour of time a day for their personal goals.

Most people would agree that music and art programs in schools have a huge impact on students not only academically, but in just about every aspect of their lives. Studies have shown that students who are involved in music and art programs have an overall higher IQ and show signs of many other academic benefits. Participating in such programs also allow students the opportunity to express themselves artistically and show the world their perhaps otherwise hidden potential. We all know how fun it can be to show the world your unexpected abilities, and what better way to show those off than the place where we spend most of our day-to-day lives? Unfortunately, even with all these obvious benefits, when the school budget is short, the first

Some people think that we should have an 8 hour school day. Having a longer school could help

A lot of people think that art can only go as far as a class in school, but in reality there is art around everyone. Art can be a way of life for some people, and for others it is simply just something they pass every single day. What they do not realize is that art can have benefits in different aspects in their life, in children's lives, and even the world around them.