A Little Good News

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Portrait of Claude Renoir Painting Pierre-Auguste Renoir

In a time when we often hear the arts being dismissed as unnecessary luxuries and when so many art classes in schools have been cut, it’s nice to hear a little good news.

A recent federal study of research data on the effectiveness of arts education shows, “When students participate in the arts they are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, have higher GPA/SAT scores, and demonstrate a 56 percent improvement in spatial-temporal IQ scores. They show significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12, are more engaged and cooperate with teachers and peers, and are more self-confident and better able to express their ideas.” The study found that these benefits are most pronounced in high-poverty, low-performing students and that these high-poverty students are being “disproportionately short-changed on arts education opportunities in their schools.”

The good news comes…