A Reader's Guide to Scientifically Based Research - by Robert E. Slavin. Learning how to assess the validity of education research is vital for creating effective, sustained reform.

A Well-Tempered Mind: Using Music to Help Children Listen and Learn - A Well-Tempered Mind: Using Music to Help Children Listen and Learn documents an acclaimed music and education program developed a decade ago by Winston-Salem Symphony conductor and music director Peter Perret. Written by Perret with arts and education writer Janet Fox, this charming story straight from the classroom begins as the program did in 1994, when five musicians walked into a first-grade classroom in Winston-Salem, N.C., instruments in tow. Without a word, they began playing, to enthusiastic response from the children. The program's aim was to try to improve the general academic performance of at-risk, economically disadvantaged children in a Winston-Salem public elementary school. Its intent was not to educate the children about music itself, but rather to use music as a means to learn. The results have been significant and thought-provoking. Published by the Dana Press.

Arts PROPEL - Student-directed learning is the goal of Arts PROPEL, a five-year, collaborative effort involving Harvard Project Zero, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), and the teachers and administrators of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Model programs combining instruction and assessment were developed for middle and high school students in three art forms: music, visual arts, and imaginative writing. Arts PROPEL researchers developed two major instruments that use an ongoing process of assessment and self-assessment to reinforce instruction. One, the domain project, encourages students to tackle open-ended problems similar to those undertaken by practicing artists. The other instrument, the portfolio or process folio, traces the development of examples of student work through each stage of the creative process.

ARTS SURVIVE - Many arts education partnerships between schools and professional artists and/or arts organizations are started but far too few survive beyond their first years and initial sources of funding. ARTS SURVIVE, a three year national research study which began in July, 1997, investigated arts education partnerships in schools in order to ascertain why some partnerships survive and others do not. The study provides a greater understanding of what survival means to arts education partnerships and, specifically, what circumstances, activities, and interactions among teachers, parents, administrators, artists, community members, students, and others, are essential to build and sustain lasting partnerships. Through careful study of how leaders of surviving partnerships have negotiated the integration of arts partnerships into the life-and budget-of their schools, ARTS SURVIVE identifies critical keys to partnership survival. In order to define "survival" in this context, ARTS SURVIVE focused on particular partnerships in specific schools around the country. Two types of partnerships have been researched: 1) those that are securely positioned in and supported by school and community; and 2) those that are less mature, perhaps less secure, and reflect some common difficulties faced by many partnerships.

Reviewing Education and the Arts Project (REAP) - The arts have too frequently played a relatively unimportant role in American schools. Arts educators have tried to strengthen the position of the arts in our schools by arguing that the arts can be used to buttress the 3Rs. The arts, they said, could help children learn to read and write and calculate and understand scientific concepts. The reasoning was clear: perhaps schools under pressure would value the arts because the arts strengthened skills in "valued" areas. This approach became a favored strategy in the United States for keeping the arts in the schools and for making sure that every child had access to arts education. There is a danger in such reasoning. If the arts are given a role in our schools because people believe the arts cause academic improvement, then the arts will quickly lose their position if academic improvement does not result, or if the arts are shown to be less effective than the 3Rs in promoting literacy and numeracy. Instrumental claims for the arts are a double-edged sword. It is implausible to suppose that the arts can be as effective a means of teaching an academic subject as is direct teaching of that subject. And thus, when we justify the arts by their secondary, utilitarian value, the arts may prove to have fewer payoffs than academics. Arts educators should never allow the arts to be justified wholly or even primarily in terms of what the arts can do for mathematics or reading. The arts must be justified in terms of what the arts can teach that no other subject can teach. REAP has conducted the first comprehensive and quantitative study of what the research on academic outcomes of arts education really shows.

Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) - CORD is a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging research in dance and related fields, foster the exchange of ideas, resources, and methodology, through publication, international and regional conferences, and workshops, and promoting the accessibility of research materials.

Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development - The nation's schools are being challenged to make sure "no child is left behind" as they strive to help all students reach the level of achievement essential for success in school, work, and life in the 21st century. This new Compendium of arts education research studies explores critical links between learning in the arts and the nation's ability to successfully meet this goal. Critical Links, for the first time, brings together a group of studies focused on understanding the cognitive capacities developed in learning and practicing the arts and the relationship of those capacities to students' academic performance and social development. Compendium studies also examine achievement motivations, attitudes, and dispositions toward learning and fostered through learning and practicing the arts and the link between these motivations and academic performance and social development. The studies suggest that for certain populations--including young children, students from economically disadvantaged circumstances, and students needing remedial instruction--learning in the arts may be uniquely able to advance learning success in other areas.

Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning - is a 1999 report that compiles seven major studies that provide new evidence of enhanced learning and achievement when students are involved in a variety of arts experiences. As a result of their varied inquiries, the Champions of Change researchers found that learners can attain higher levels of achievement through their engagement with the arts. Moreover, one of the critical research findings is that the learning in and through the arts can help "level the playing field" for youngsters from disadvantaged circumstances.

Highlights from Key National Research Arts Education - presented by the Americans for the Arts, findings are listed in the following categories; multiple arts, dance, drama, music and visual arts. The findings from various studies recorded on this website are presented with a quick introduction to some of the high quality work being done regarding the effects of arts in education on children.

The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation - A new report by the National Governors Association (NGA) shows how the arts can help build a highly skilled 21st century workforce. The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation documents the positive outcomes of integrating the arts into education and youth intervention programs. Prepared by the NGA's Center for Best Practices in consultation with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), the report describes how economic vitality depends on a highly educated and creative workforce. Findings from current research linking the arts and learning are highlighted, as are examples of innovative arts programs across the country. This Issue Brief provides examples of arts-based education as a money-and time-saving option for states looking to build skills, increase academic success, heighten standardized test scores, and lower the incidence of crime among general and at-risk populations. It offers examples drawn from states that are utilizing the arts in education and after-school programs, and it provides policy recommendations for states looking to initiate or strengthen arts education programs that improve productivity and foster workforce development.

NASAA - An Introduction to Scientifically Based Research - Monograph - In recent years, the arts education field has been challenged and encouraged to consider scientifically based research methods in evaluation of their programs. The intent of this monograph is to familiarize the state art agency field and its colleagues with an understanding of scientific research as a tool for making informed recommendations. The information provided is a useful guide for planning and initiating diverse research agendas.

Schools, Communities and the Arts: A Research Compendium - A selection of available applied and academic research, this publication is designed as a tool that can help address the kinds of questions local government, business, and community leaders might ask about arts education. It provides concrete information on topics from student achievement and perceptions to the status of arts education. This compilation of research summaries builds on past examples. Commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts

Third Space: - tells the riveting story of the profound changes in the lives of kids, teachers, and parents in ten economically disadvantaged communities across the country that place their bets on the arts as a way to create great schools. The schools become caring communities where kids - many of whom face challenges of poverty, the need to learn English, and to surmount learning difficulties - thrive and succeed and where teachers find new joy and satisfaction in teaching.