Prompted by the question raised during my parent discussion, I decided to update myself on what the current research tells us about the impact of the arts on the development of young people. I knew the research on this topic was extensive. I was astounded, however, by the sheer volume of studies as well as the range of scholarly and educational journals in which the research appears. This discovery moved me to share some ideas and insights in upcoming blogs.

The visual and performing arts help students expand their cognitive capacity and academic achievement on a number of levels.

Consider the following:

• Research studies, ranging from early childhood through high school and college, show a positive correlation between the arts and mathematics. Music and dance, in particular, relate to mathematics achievement.
• Music training not only improves scores on achievement tests like the SAT, but also improves verbal reasoning. 
• There is a compelling body of research which has established a positive relationship between the arts (particularly drama) and literacy and language development. Early childhood exposure to theater helps children develop oral language skills and understand the concept of story, which in turn cultivates their reading and writing skills. The acquisition of musical skills for young children helps develop phonological awareness and reading development.
• Multiple studies show a correlation between student participation in the arts and higher GPAs and SAT scores.
• Music training develops the same neural frameworks used for numerical and mathematical tasks (e.g., understanding ratios and proportion).
• The visual arts create greater capacity for sustaining focus and powers of observation.
• Listening to music helps stimulate and develop part of the brain responsible for recall and visual imagery.
• There is a strong correlation between the visual and performing arts and the development of critical thinking skills (e.g., comparing and contrasting, hypothesizing, and problem solving).
• The visual arts help improve learning and retention by developing students’ capacities for imagination and creating mental imagery.
• There is a large body of PK-12 research demonstrating that students involved in the arts are more engaged in school and exhibit higher levels of motivation.
• Involvement in the arts helps students develop their capacity for abstract thinking.
• Students who practice a specific art form and commit with sustained attention demonstrate improved fluid IQ scores. Fluid intelligence is defined as, “the capacity to think logically and solve problems in novel situations, independent of acquired knowledge.
• At the middle and high school levels, participation in the arts provides valuable opportunities for students to see themselves as producers and creators of knowledge.
• A study of young children who studied keyboarding for six months demonstrated that the students made considerable gains in spatial and temporal reasoning during that time.
• Integrating the arts into other subjects can enhance students’ abilities to learn new concepts. For example, drawing can provide a visual representation for an idea. A dramatic presentation of an event can help students better understand historical characters and events. 

Clearly, the resonance between cognitive development, academic achievement, and the arts is profound. So much so, that the number of studies highlighting the relationship between arts education and academic achievement have led some to call for greater funding and access to the arts in schools as a major educational reform initiative.

Sadly, while the research on the positive impact of the arts continues to grow, the arts are typically the first casualty when cutting budgets or making time to prepare for high-stakes testing. I’m happy to report that the arts are alive and well at Country Day. We have an outstanding faculty who are passionate about the visual and performing arts and the critical role they play in our Mission. Our newly revised master plan puts our commitment to the arts front and center with the plans for a Center for the Arts. As we move closer to making this project a reality we anticipate the impact of the arts on our students to be even greater.

The next Just Thinking will look at how the visual and performing arts impact the emotional and social development of students.