Investigating the Educational Benefits of K–12 School Arts

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Arts Education Policy

Abstract

The arts provide an abundance of formative educational opportunities, but the extent to which schools realize educational benefits from these opportunities remains largely unknown. We investigate the educational benefits of K-12 students’ arts course taking by linking and analyzing eleven years of data from multiple datasets from Boston Public Schools and EdVestors, an organization dedicated to expanding access and equity in arts education in Boston Public Schools. We find from our student-level fixed effects analyses that taking arts courses significantly improves student attendance, student-teacher relationships, learning engagement, and parent-school engagement. These findings have important policy implications regarding pressing COVID-related concerns and efforts to strengthen connections between students’ learning and engagement in community spaces, families, and schools.

Authors

• Daniel H. Bowen, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Brian Kisida, University of Missouri