Cardamone 1

Nicole Cardamone

Mrs. Lynch

AP English III

31 March 2019

Bettering the Mind Through Arts

The development of the mind helps to create a well-rounded student and better prepare

them for a successful future. To integrate certain characteristics into a students’ mind, there must

be a balance among core courses as well as fine arts in schools. The education in the arts

contribute to many benefits to the mind, but it often gets pushed aside by the schools. Students

miss out on the importance of the arts and how they can benefit from them in so many ways.

Having the arts integrated into the student’s education creates a benefit for students and helps

them develop personal skills and ongoing development of the mind, to help lead to further

success.

Currently, the ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act is the basis to providing educational

opportunities and outcomes for all children. The fine arts become included in a way that says,

states must use the federal funds to support activities and programs that offer well rounded

educational experiences for all students, and the fine arts are included there (Parker, Steffen).

The problem lies where persuading people that the fine arts programs promote constructive

student engagement and problem solving.

While looking closely at education in the arts and why it should be better integrated into

school systems, it must be understood that the arts bring many benefits to the development of a

student. Those benefits develop the characteristics of collaboration, communication,

creativeness, organization, problem-solving, self-directedness, social responsibility, and fluency

 Cardamone 2

with technology (Informational Illustration). The National Center for Educational statistics

reported from a 2016 evaluation that a sample of almost 9000 eighth grade students scored a 147

in music and 149 in visual arts on a scale of 300. The NCES found students’ lack of access to

arts education significantly contributed to their underwhelming scores. Students who took art

classes or music lessons inside or outside of school, visited museums, or attended theater

performances generally scored better on the test, stated Peggy Carr, commissioner of NCES

(Miller, Hayley). In the classroom today, students experience an integration of fun and

interactive activities that lean towards the same opportunity to grow into these characteristics,

but students often do not feel much freedom in a pure educational environment opposed to an

environment revolved around the arts. Having that extra class to give a little push to the students

can help them to explore their own selves in a comfortable area alongside much support. In

addition to the benefits of the mind, it is shared by John Hopkins researchers that the arts

education can also rewire the brain in positive ways, helping to develop more skills that

contribute to higher test scores and overall grades (Studies). This contributes to having a well-

rounded experience in school and the ability to use life skills given to you, specifically through

the arts, to better the future of one’s life. A prime example of this is shown through the acronym

of “STEAM” which portrays the arts into one of the hardest areas of study but contributes a

whole new prospective to the specific classrooms (Bear, Ashley, and David Skorton). Integrating

an area of study that is so lowly looked at with one that excels in many ways proclaims the

importance of the arts and the benefits it brings to students in their studies. Having these arts

programs will forever flourish the minds of students with positive characteristics and areas

helping them to live in the real world. Another study completed by James S. Caterall, a professor

at UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, found that regular participation
 Cardamone 3

in fine arts classes raises SAT scores by an average of 91 points and improves coordination

between hemispheres of the brain. In another report by the President’s Committee on the Arts

and the Humanities reports that arts involvement in school is “linked to high attendance,

reduction in dropout rates, participation in student government” and demonstrates the value of

persistence (Thomas, Alex). Through all these studies, it shows that the arts are a very crucial

element to students’ development both in and out of school. Even the SAT score improvement

mentioned can open the eyes of many. Too often, schools base a student’s intelligence on tests,

especially when applying for colleges. Because of this, students need all the help they can get to

improve scores and knowledge, and the education in arts is the correct resource for that.

While wrapping our knowledge around the benefits of the arts, programs are set into

place to fulfill a common purpose of helping to spread the same knowledge to schools and create

a place for this unique learning style. One of the most well-known programs that promotes many

teachings of the arts is The National Art Education Association which invests many resources

into their work and belief to where they developed what is now known as the National Art Honor

Society in schools today (Encyclopedia). Within this program, the successful outcome

demonstrates the possibility of integrating the arts into everyday schooling. There stands many

ways to interpret such a teaching whether it includes joining a club, or organization, or taking a

required/extra class throughout all years of schooling. The NAEA also mentions that the local,

state and federal government officials know little about the importance of the arts, which helps

contribute to the reason why the government so often cuts the arts before anything else in school

districts (Encyclopedia). With the schools having more information, it can be better understood

that the arts are a main contributor to the success of a student outside of any strict educational

classroom. The schools’ better understanding will help the students develop and understand their
 Cardamone 4

own selves while discovering their own path and journey to the future.

Recognizing the benefits of the arts is the first step to integration into the schools. The

policy makers act too quickly on this issue without realizing truth and value behind opinion.

Recognition shines upon the fact that the state arts agency stands separate from the federal

agency in which they are restricted from gaining money from (State Policy Brief). The funds

primarily come from grants which perhaps benefited “more than 16,000 communities in 2016”,

and which by law, the National Endowment for the Arts dedicated 40% of grant-making funds to

the art agencies (State Policy Brief). While it seems as if the grants contribute in a positive way,

in the end, they are not an easy access for teachers. These grants are not something you can plan

for because there stands no direction or hint as to the amount of money you will be given or

when it will be given. This becomes a true obstacle when teachers who stand with a strong

opinion on improving the arts in schools are held back from physically re-building their position

because they get no other funding outside of grants and never know when grants will be handed

to them. What is surprising is the fact that it takes all state, federal and local governments to keep

the arts going and being sure the communities are benefiting from them through their health and

educational/workforce areas (State Policy Brief). When the government cannot fully support the

arts there is no true fix to the issue because the programs set in place can only do so much. It

must be first understood what we must do in order to convince and educate the public in the

program of the arts to help them better understand benefits to a student and why the arts should

be fully integrated into every school system.

While the arts can fully benefit each family in a school system, it is argued that the arts

remain necessary to cut back on, due to the resources outside of a purely educational building.

This stance is taken by the anti-art education proponents who believe there does not need to be a
 Cardamone 5

source of teaching in the arts in schools because there is an opportunity outside of school, if

students are truly invested into a branch of the arts (Kirchner). Although this can stand true, at

the same time, it makes it hard for families who are less fortunate and cannot pay for an outside

teaching in the arts opposed to getting it for free in a classroom. The out-of-school art programs

can instead serve a purpose to contribute to a further interest, instead of just revolving around

finding an interest. Having an opportunity as a student to discover new interests in a school is

vital to the development of their own mind. On the other hand, in Sacramento, a bill was passed

replacing the arts with career training programs which can be very beneficial (Kirchner). While

career programs are very vital to the future, the issue with this arguement is that the arts should

have inclusion in the career training programs because it is a profession even if it is not

recognized in a formal manner. No matter the situation, the arts need to be a primary focus in

each school and promote a beneficial lifestyle and path of success.

While the government takes no true stance in this issue and while the different art

programs cannot hold the whole responsibility of incorporating the arts, there remains some

ways to correct the issue, if both the government and the programs come together as one.

According to a European couple, who bettered their own system of the arts in Europe through a

program called solfeg.io, the U.S. needs to increase school funding, diminish standardized

testing, increase training for a better integration of the arts and start focusing on each student as a

whole (Post, Guest). The U.S. is too focused on passing tests to determine a true ability and the

arts do not require that, so they see little importance to its purpose. The better training and focus

on the arts and each student revolve around the teacher themselves which is clearly shown. The

teachers must first learn to be innovative so that they can maintain a strong music program, and

schools must value the arts in every way, in order to make a change and satisfy most of the
 Cardamone 6

parents and students. In order to fill these needs of the teachers, a program, AiE, Arts in

Education, allows teachers to effectively build the arts into their classroom due to the lack of

attention outside of the classroom (International Journal). Along with the benefit from the

program, it is shown that the arts even benefit teachers themselves as it impacts “teaching

effectiveness, styles, and strategies” as well as having a positive effect on “teacher behavior”

(International Journal). When something like the arts becomes taken away from a majority it

takes away the development of many because of the arts showing to be such a vital key to

students and teachers. If we really take the time to pick out the pieces of the puzzle that may be

leading the arts to a low point, then we can work to rebuild each piece if we have the materials

we need and dedicate ourselves to such work.

When coming down to the pieces of the arts, the true importance of the arts shines

through. It is realized that the education in the arts is necessary for a well-rounded education and

that it is something that needs to hold greater value from the community, schools and

government, as a whole. The education in the arts needs a place in schools and must not be

looked at as an area of little importance anymore. “Schools need to continue to remind the

community of the importance that a well-rounded student is one who has had the opportunity to

sing, dance, draw, perform sculpt and create using the other side of their brain where math,

science and English do not reside” (Parker, Steffen).

 Cardamone 7

Works Cited

Miller, Hayley. “U.S. Students Are Struggling In The Arts. Donald Trump’s Budget Would

Make The Problem Worse.” HUFFPOST, 28 Apr. 2017, http://www.huffpost.com.

Accessed 31 Mar. 2019.

Parker, Steffen. “Value of Fine Arts in New ‘Every Student Succeeds Act’.” National Federation

of State High School Associations, 7 Nov. 2017, http://www.nfhs.org. Accessed 31 Mar.

2019.

Thomas, Alex. “Common Core’s Orphaned Subjects: Music and the Arts.” THE QUAD,

httpp://thebestschools.org. Accessed 31 Mar. 2019.