Arts Education: Why It Matters and What Evidence Shows
Arts education, encompassing visual arts, music, drama, and dance as school subjects and as integrated elements of broader education, has been squeezed by decades of accountability-focused school reform that prioritized reading and mathematics as the subjects that matter most. Research on arts education has grown in response to these pressures, attempting to document both the intrinsic value of arts learning and the broader educational benefits that arts education produces. The evidence on both fronts is more robust than the field's declining status in American schools would suggest.
The intrinsic case for arts education does not depend on transfer effects to academic subjects and should not be reduced to them. Learning to make and understand art, music, theater, and dance develops aesthetic sensibility, creative capacity, cultural knowledge, and forms of expression that are valuable in themselves and that contribute to human flourishing in ways not measured by academic assessments. The reduction of arts education to its instrumental effects on reading and math scores misses what is most important about arts learning.
That said, the research on transfer effects of arts education has produced findings that are relevant to arguments about arts' place in the curriculum. Meta-analyses of studies on music education and academic outcomes find positive associations between music participation and verbal and mathematical achievement. Studies on arts integration, in which arts are woven into instruction in other academic subjects, find improvements in engagement and academic outcomes for participating students. The causal mechanisms are debated, and selection effects, the possibility that students who study arts are already different in ways that explain the academic associations, are difficult to rule out in many studies.
Arts participation and student engagement show consistent associations across multiple studies. Students who participate in arts programs report higher engagement with school, stronger connections to teachers and peers, and greater sense of belonging in school. For students who struggle with traditional academic subjects, arts can provide an accessible entry point to school success and to positive school identity. Research on arts-based alternative programs for at-risk youth documents benefits for engagement, attendance, and persistence.
The distribution of arts education across schools is highly unequal. Students in low-income schools and districts have significantly less access to arts instruction, certified arts teachers, and arts facilities than students in more affluent settings. Schools that have experienced the most pressure to increase tested subject performance have been most likely to eliminate or reduce arts programs, even though these are often the schools serving students who benefit most from the additional learning opportunities arts provide.
Music education specifically has a substantial evidence base connecting participation to early language development. Research documents that music training develops phonological awareness and auditory processing skills that support reading acquisition. Randomized studies of music instruction in early childhood find improvements in phonological awareness and early reading skills. The mechanisms may involve shared neural processing of rhythmic patterns in music and language.
Community arts programs, which provide arts education and arts participation opportunities outside of schools, serve populations that school-based programs do not reach and reach students in settings with less accountability pressure and greater creative freedom. Research on community arts programs documents benefits for social-emotional development, community belonging, and creative development, particularly for youth from marginalized communities. Youth arts programs designed for community development purposes often combine arts practice with explicit attention to social justice and community change.
Teacher preparation and professional development for arts education are areas where the field has significant work to do. Elementary teachers who are responsible for teaching visual arts and sometimes music often have limited arts education in their preparation, and classroom teachers who seek to integrate arts into their instruction need sustained professional development that goes beyond single workshops. Building the knowledge and confidence to teach arts effectively requires investment in teacher preparation that many preparation programs have not fully made.
