The Importance of Art Education

1004 Words5 Pages
The importance of art is dying in schools. The education department has prioritized test results over learning, shown by policies such as "No Child Left Behind" and "Race to the Top". As a result, fine art programs are being cut to make room for test preparations, to ensure progress quotas are met. This shift has meant that many students in today’s schools are lacking key points in their education because some classes are deemed unimportant or a waste of time. The first subject to be affected by such thoughts is of course, the arts. Many schools try to squeeze language arts and vocational practices under the subject of the arts, but fine arts are typically defined as music, visual arts, theater or dance. With this definition in place, it’s easy to see how the arts are dying in public schools with the many cuts to these types of classes happening in modern education (Cuts). Time and time again, research has proven that involvement in the arts is correlated to academic achievement. Data collected by the College Board has shown that students who take four years of art or music courses score on average 100 points higher on the SAT. The same organization has also performed research to find that students involved in the arts are four times less likely to drop out of high school by grade 10 as compared to students with no arts involvement (Arts). Students who spend at least one full year in an arts program are four times more likely to have been recognized for academic achievement, to win an award for writing, and three times more likely to be elected to a class office position. Americans for the Arts states that these benefits are “reaped by students regardless of their socioeconomic status” (Students). This is especially important as the achievement gap seems to be increasing every year. The arts are beneficial to all students, and could be a key to decreasing the

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