The arts boost student learning,

The data is in: The arts boost student learning, particularly for English Language Learners

Posted by Marna Stalcup On September – 10 – 2014

 Arts instruction has long been used as a tool for reaching English Language Learners. In fact, the origins of the children’s theatre genre lie in the Settlement Houses of Chicago in the early Twentieth Century, where Jane Addams utilized theatre and poetry to help students learn English (this tradition can be seen today in the plethora of children’s books adapted for the stage.)

There is a wealth of information available today about the usefulness of the arts for reaching multiple learning styles but there are few studies that directly link arts integration with student test scores (particularly long-term, richly collaborative integration models). Read more…

Arts Integration Works: Right Brain Initiative

John M. Eger Headshot

Arts Integration Works Says Portland’s “Right Brain Initiative”

Posted: 09/07/2014 4:14 pm EDT Updated: 09/10/2014 6:59 am EDT

The Right Brain Initiative (RBI) serving the greater Portland region released a report that confirms “There is a meaningful and quantifiable link between integrated arts education and student learning,” specifically:

• Students’ reading and math scores increase at least 2.5 times
more than the average annual rate of increase.

• This growth is even greater for English Language Learners. Student’s scores
increased 10 times more after schools partnered with Right Brain.

• For all children, scores continued to rise as schools engaged more deeply
with the Initiative, with a particularly large rate of increase for English
Language Learners.

READ MORE…