A few days ago
The New York Times (registration required) featured a great
article about an arts education project at
The Guggenheim Museum. The gist of the article? Research that shows that learning in the arts improves kids' literacy and critical thinking skills. Interestingly, the independent research study of the program showed significant gains for students--but those gains were not detected by standardized tests. Is it possible that standardized tests don't pick up all the ways that students learn?
The Guggenheim project is part of the U.S. Department of Education's wonderful but long-named
Arts In Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant Program. Streetside is a grantee of the same program, which selects model arts education programs for further study. Our research, too has found that greater engagement, learning and communication take place in the classrooms where Streetside does our work.
Hopefully, all these great findings will build support for the idea that arts education is an essential part of the school day.
