Enhancing School Engagement Through the Arts in the Primary Grades: Validating Diverse Expressions of Knowledge

• In Event: Roundtable Session 86
  In Roundtable Session: School Engagement

Abstract

Arts have been increasingly eliminated from low-performing, urban schools because of the focus on standardized assessments. The current paper investigates the impact of an art program on school engagement of kindergarten through second grade students in a large, urban school district. School engagement was measured through both student attendance data and teacher reports. Students were more likely to attend school on days that the art program was offered. Teachers reported that the art program increased student engagement by allowing children to express themselves and show their competencies in a range of ways not traditionally measured in classrooms. Implications of findings are discussed.

Authors

• Briana Hinga, University of California - Irvine

• Liane R. Brouillette, University of California - Irvine

• George Farkas, University of California - Irvine

• Doug Grove, Orange County Department of Education