Summary Of Project Findings

The following are pieces from my inquiry paper, so far all is going well and I am learning a lot.

• Art has always been a controversial subject. So when faced with a question of whether or not to include art in the academic curriculum people automatically turn their heads. Of course if you can not draw, or sing this would scare you, but what if their was evidence to support that art education could boost a students academic achievement? Could you get the non-artist to support it then?

• “ In the mid-1970’s, Eisner (1974) called for the evaluation of arts programs. As a result, a growing body of evidence suggests that art education positively affects aspects of living and learning beyond the intrinsic values of the arts themselves” (Smithrim, 2005, p. 110).

• During my time at Arts High I was to lucky enough to ask an English teacher his thoughts regarding the arts and academic achievement. I asked him "Do you feel that the incorporation of Arts into your classroom boosts academic achievement?" His response was "It may not boost academic achievement directly, but it definitely assists in student engagement. Since we are a performing arts school, students, for the most part, are interested in “the arts”. Incorporating the Arts into our lessons is a “best” practice and allows our students to use their creative abilities in the “academic “ classroom. The domino effect is that the more they use their strengths the better they perform(hopefully!)"(Jason Denard Arts High).