10 Things to Know About Arts Education

1. The arts improve student learning and engagement.
2. 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.
3. Arts and music education programs are mandatory in countries that consistently rank among the highest for match and science test scores, like Japan, Hungary, and the Netherlands.
4. The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (and many state education laws) clearly mandates the arts as a core academic subject.
5. Federal funding for the arts and humanities $250 million a year, while the National Science Foundation is funded at around the $5 billion mark.
6. Arts education encourages the kind of creative and critical thinking necessary for our world.
7. Sustained learning in music and theater correlates strongly with higher achievement in both math and reading.
8. Arts in the schools help close the achievement gap: high-poverty schools in cities around the country that participated in arts education initiatives made huge strides in closing the achievement gap between high and low-income students.
9. In-school and out of school art studies and activities help keep high-risk students in school.
10. New brain research shows that not only does music improve skills in math and reading, but it promotes creativity, social development, personality adjustment, and self-worth.

And finally, the arts make kids happy! We know that the more creative outlets kids have, the happier they are.

You can find out more about Arts in Education Week(opens in a new tab) here, and let us know on Twitter what you’ve done #BecauseofArtsEd!