IMPACT
We're here because we know...
- Arts education levels the "learning field" across socio-economic boundaries, improves student retention and reduces the achievement gap
- Professional development of teachers is an essential component of student academic achievement
- Teachers who receive training and support, including instruction in the arts, are more likely to remain in their profession
- Most students in California do not receive instruction in the arts even at the level required by state law
- 29% of California's public schools offer no study in any arts discipline
- Students who attend schools with high levels of poverty have the least access to arts instruction
- Children with limited English-language proficiency are at especially high risk of academic failure
- Only 48% of African-American and Latino students who start 9th grade graduate four years later
- Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District are among the nation's most at-risk to drop out of school
Although the full impact of bringing the arts to children's lives is beyond measure, the programs offered at Inner-City Arts support creative and intellectual development in ways that can be quantified.
A recent evaluation of Inner-City Arts programs by the US Department of Education proved conclusively that children who attend classes at Inner-City Arts, and whose teachers actively participate in Inner-City Arts programs, score dramatically better in math, creativity and language arts on statewide standardized tests:
Independent research proves that students who attend our programs improve their language skills, increase their test scores and graduate from high school.
A recent evaluation of Inner-City Arts programs by the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS) proved conclusively that children who attend classes at Inner-City Arts, and whose teachers actively participate in Inner-City Arts programs, score dramatically better in math, reading and language arts on statewide standardized tests:
Learning and Achieving Through the Arts: US Department of Education, Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program, Executive Summary
Four-year partnership project between Los Angeles Unified School District and Inner-City Arts. The project implemented a collective and systemic model for bringing arts integration to the core of learning in elementary schools.
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Arts for Language and Learning: Project ALL Evaluation, Executive Summary
Inner-City Arts-conducted 3-year study on the effects of arts learning on academic achievement and teacher training.
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Arts in the Middle Project: Mid-Term Evaluation Report
Inner-City Arts-conducted study examining growth in language learning and arts learning in middle school students engaged in an in-depth theater, visual art and language arts program at Inner-City Arts.
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Learning in the Visual Arts and the Worldviews of Young Children, Cambridge Journal of Education. Executive Summary and Article
James Catterall evaluates the effect of an Inner-City Arts 3rd-grade visual art program on the motivation, transference and worldview of students.
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Publications of the Arts Education Partnership (www.aep-arts.org)
Champions of Change: The Impact of Arts
Researchers found that learners can attain higher levels of achievement through engagement with the arts. Moreover, one of the critical research findings is that the learning in and through the arts can help level the playing field for youngsters from disadvantaged circumstances.
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Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development
Compendium of arts education research bringing together studies focused on understanding the cognitive capacities used and developed in learning and practicing the arts, and the relationship of these capacities to a student's academic performance as well as to social interactions and development.
Learning and the Arts: Crossing Boundaries
Written report of presentations delivered by academic researchers, practicing leaders in education, and representatives from effective arts education programs.
Coming Up Taller
Report from The President's Committee for the Arts and Humanities, with Americans for the Arts. Identifies community programs in the arts and humanities that reach at-risk children and youth and describes the principles and practices that make these programs effective.
A Marriage of Art and Learning: An Interview with James Catterall. Brain Connection http://brainconnection.positscience.com/content/7_1
“What you all do is so amazing for your kids. The lessons they learn last a lifetime… build their confidence and many times give kids that don’t have a voice or a way to express themselves the way to do so. I can’t thank you enough!”
– Lisa C. 3rd Grade Teacher who attended Inner-City Arts with her students
