Director Of Arts Education Partnership Sandra Ruppert: Integrating Arts In The Classroom Is Catching On Nationally
While some reports have shown that many districts can't afford comprehensive arts education, other recent studies revealed the importance of the arts in a child's learning. Sandra Ruppert, director of the Arts Education Partnership, explained that these studies have had an impact: integrating arts in the classroom is catching on across the country.
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(Photo : Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images News) Pupils at Williamwood High School attend an art class on February 5, 2010 in Glasgow, Scotland.
While some reports have shown that many districts can't afford comprehensive arts education, other recent studies revealed the importance of the arts in a child's learning. Sandra Ruppert, director of the Arts Education Partnership, explained that these studies have had an impact: integrating arts in the classroom is catching on across the country.
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According to a Washington Post article, the growth of arts integration, or combining the arts with teaching and learning other subjects, is driven in part by increasing research that points to academic, social and personal benefits for students, Ruppert said.
She added that studies show employing the arts in academic classrooms is associated with improvement in test scores in math and English.
Students living in poverty find the integrated approach particularly beneficial, she said.
"The arts also do so much more," Ruppert said. "They engage kids in school, motivate them to learn, develop critical thinking, equip them to be creative."
As we previously reported, a Northwestern University study revealed that music classes are valuable to children, especially those from low-income families.
In the study, children who received music training for a year retained their age-normed level of reading performance while the control group's performance deteriorated, according to the study.
This trend was "consistent with expected declines in this population."
Researchers added they interpreted these results to mean that the "auditory enrichment" offered in a music class may improve literacy skills and combat the otherwise negative impact of a low-income environment.
Another study by the NAMM Foundation found that seventy-seven percent of teachers and 64 percent of parents agree that music and arts education are "extremely important" or "very important."
Sixty-three percent of teachers and 57 percent of parents believe music education should be a required subject in middle school.
"The data couldn't be more clear," said Peter Grunwald, President of Grunwald Associates LLC, the research firm that conducted the survey. "Teachers and parents told us repeatedly that music is an essential part of learning, not merely an 'extracurricular activity' that can be cut when times get tough."
But districts are having trouble affording arts education, due to budget constraints and cutbacks. A KPCC survey in 2014 found few Southern California districts offer dance, theater, visual arts or music classes.
In the survey, districts reported an average of just one full-time art teacher per 740 students.
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