SP3 Gap Analysis project success overview.

Americans for the Arts’ State Policy Pilot Program's gap analysis of Policy vs. Practice.

State Leaders Find Factors as Barriers to Successful Policy Implementation

An overview of Arizona's participation in the State Policy Pilot Program.

In their The Arts in Early Childhood literature review, the NEA explores the relationship between arts participation and positive social and emotional development in early childhood. We learn that children whose parents sing to them on a consistent basis reportedly have more sophisticated social-emotional skills than children whose parents do not and that toddlers who participate in long-term integrated music programs tend to be more cooperative and independent.

The 2012 CPS Arts Education Plan elevated the arts to a core subject and articulates that a quality arts education must include instruction in every art form—visual art, music, dance, and theatre—that is ongoing and sequential. Additionally, this instruction is delivered in the following ways—by credentialed arts instructors teaching discipline specific classes, by non-arts credentialed instructors authentically integrating the arts with other content areas, and by community arts partners connecting students to professional works of art and practices both in school and in

This report examines the level of arts instruction in Chicago Public Schools. It sets the benchmark against which district-wide efforts to expand arts instruction will be measured. Ever since Chicago Public Schools elevated the arts to a core subject in the 2012-2013 school year, students from K-6 grades have been experiencing two hours of weekly instructions in the arts and notice an increase in the number of certified arts instructors in their classrooms. This progress report shows the strides that Chicago is taking with its city-wide Cultural Plan, the

Maybe you know first-hand the powerful education that the arts can provide or maybe you’ve seen it change a child’s life. We’ll give you the tools to empower you to spread, encourage, and share arts education. This Getting Started Navigator will provide some basic information about the field of arts education, particularly ideas for how to support the arts as part of our country’s K–12 education system.

At the inaugural Learning, Arts and the Brain Summit hosted by The Johns Hopkins University School of Education Researchers, researchers hypothesized that the many changes in brain composition as seen in artists translates to improved math and learning skills and improved cognitive functioning. Though research in this area remains inconclusive, authors Mariale Hardiman, Susan Magsamen, Guy McKhann and Janet Eilber use this research to advocate for integrated arts education.