Brief Overview
Published in 2013 by the Wallace Foundation, “Something to Say: Success Principles for Afterschool Art Programs from Urban Youth and other experts” is an expansive compilation of research into the lack of access, interest, and utilization of meaningful art programs amongst tweens and teens considered to be low income. Broken down into two chapters, the article explores elements such as stigma, parental values, safety concerns, youth opinions, and quality of art programs, as it relates to utilization of school art programs. However, the elements mentioned above are only a handful of the things captured and explored throughout the article. This information was found using various methods of research, but it seems as if focus
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Instead, children that were moderately or highly engaged in the arts were viewed as market consumers . This approach allowed researchers to gather insights on market demand directly from consumers.
Further, the research being conducted consisted of four components:
• Literature reviews
• Key opinion leader interviews (KOL)
• Case studies
• Consumer Research (Included: Focus group and in-home ethnographic interviews)
To simplify the process further, KOL and case study research was separated from the consumer research. This separation allowed for a comparison between field experts’ opinions on what young people need from an arts program and what works while simultaneously gathering information on what kids felt they wanted. In all, more than two dozen focus groups were conducted consisting of six to ten youth at a time. There were also separate parent and caregiver focus groups.
After determining which methods of research would be most efficient, approximately 48 exemplary art programs were narrowed down to a list of 8 in order to conduct the actual case studies.
These were the selected programs:
• National/ 826NYC
• Fleisher Youth Art Programs
• National Dance Institute of New Mexico
• Playworks
• RiverzEdge Arts Project
• SAY Sí
• Spy Hop
• Youth Speaks
Findings and Interesting Insights
Chapter 1: Research and Analysis
Chapter one
All around the United States, art programs are being cut out of the budget in public schools. The arts include dance, band, chorus, theatre, film, drawing, painting, photography and literary arts. Some school board members feel these art programs are not necessary and do not benefit the students in any way. Elementary, middle, and high school students are forced to quit their passion and feel that their talents are not supported by their schools. Although many are not aware, there is a strong connection between arts education and academic achievement. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts in many public schools, the art classes are first on the list to be cut. It is important that the students, parents and teachers
These courses teach students specific technical and thinking skills needed to succeed in school and college. Students need to have the chance to be creative, too, though. Budget cuts and limited funding can cause problems for school arts programs, but many people are willing to support arts education in public schools if they see how much it really benefits the students. Courses in the arts deserve just as much appreciation and recognition of just how important they are to students’ lives as math, science, history, and literature
When children take the arts classes it promotes self-directed learning, school attendance improves, and their critical and creative skill improve along with it.
Through the recent years, school budget cuts have led to the discontinuation of many classroom and extracurricular activities, including the visual and performing arts. Yet, because of this, classrooms are losing out on a very effective tool that can help aid the academic and social-emotional developments. According to Lorie Scott, Sallie Harper and Mathew Boggan, “Art integration helps students to engage in meaningful learning as well as understanding at a much more defined and deeper level” (2012, p.83). Unfortunately, arts programs are limited to only the wealthier schools and have been eliminated from those schools for the more marginalized youth including English language learners and that of inner cities (Lorimer, 2011).
The fine arts program in public schools is detrimental to the success of students. Studies have shown that 90 percent or more of secondary schools offer instruction in music or the visual arts. With this many schools offering music in their curriculum there are numerous students that take these classes yearly. Taking away this classes would rob youth of their chance to excel in something other than academics. The fine arts program has multiple benefits to students. Youth who take music, art, and/or drama excel in the educational aspect of their lives. Music has been proved to be able to allow students to access parts of their brain that are not used in different daily activities. Fine arts also teaches children many values that can be used
Budgets cuts are being made to music and art classes in schools across the country. While they are among the most expensive programs for a school to maintain, parents and communities are finding themselves concerned about the declining exposure to the arts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of elementary schools offering performing arts has dropped over 60% since 2008. The argument can be made that large amounts of money are saved by terminating art programs, but art programs have been shown to have positive impacts on student learning, with some of the most impressive improvements being made outside of art class. Are the experiences art classes provide worth the money?
This survey records the habits of mind, personal attitudes and social abilities intrinsic to arts education. Moreover, review of the article has identified that students learning the arts would have the better influence on their mind for other subjects such as mathematics, reading, and social studies. Students who are enrolled in art classes experience improvement in other domains of life and course subject to learning. A report of the national survey, which has used a federal database of more than 25,000 students, the analyst found that students who were involved in any program of arts in any way gave better performance on standardized achievement exam than students who do not participate in the education of arts. A very general viewpoint about learning experience is that it includes some transformation both in education and life inside the school or outside the school life. However, the extent and nature of this transformation remain a subject of interest for the researchers. (Ellen,
Hi Mahmood, I find your topic interesting because there is a lot to discuss about. I have heard about the negative aspects that you mentioned such as video gaming being an addiction. Also, I heard another argument that video games leads people into becoming violent because they might copy violent moves from video games and do them in real life. Personally, I don’t think that it is video games that make people violent because people have a choice to do something or not. It is interesting that you will also discuss how video games affect parents because most discussions regarding video games is only about how it affects children and teens. The mix and matching portion was also useful during the beginning of my research topic. I agree with you
There are many key components of every student’s high school experience: classes, social events, planning for the future, and, of course, homework. Some get more assignments than others depending on the rigor of one’s courses, but everyone is bound to be assigned homework in high school; in some cases, it can make or break students’ GPAs. Despite its appearances in nearly every high school across the country and the world, homework has become a hotly debated topic as of late due to increasing quantities of assignments and the immense pressure put on students to complete them. Some feel that it’s the natural course of the education system, while some believe that it’s all becoming nearly uncontrollable. The different perspectives on this issue have put teachers, parents, students, and
Parsad, B., and Spiegelman, M. (2012). Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999–2000 and 2009–10 (NCES 2012–014). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC.
According to this article, the term the "Dark Ages" refers to the time period after the fall of Rome and before civilization was reborn. Although the Christian Church existed, it was not a very strong or unifying force. The real power belonged to barbarians, and brute force was used to keep law and a sense of order for the people living during this time. In terms of "government," this article explains that the concept of government during this era was very different from what we think of as government today, with its three branches and elected officials to ensure that citizens are treated fairly and justly. In the Dark Ages, "governing" meant groups of soldiers going out into people's homes to collect money, or "tributes." Then, as now, money was important in government. However, the means of collecting it was much more brutal and much less just.
These subjects have been deemed considerably prevailed in a competitive global economy (See, 2015). Brazenly, some government officials have described the arts to be nothing more than, a "luxurious add-on that the government can't afford" (Gregory, 2017, pg.1). Seemingly, education has classified that some subject matter, while others do not; even if it strengthens ties to peers, the community and help children become more committed to their work (Gregory, 2017). Art, music, and dance have been deemed effective and help improve collaboration, motor, and spatial language skills (Gregory,
The "Tip of the Iceberg" article was very intriguing and I gained more information about Diabetes. I am a type 1 diabetic so it was beneficial to know all of the body parts that diabetes can affect. I was not aware that one could retain cardiovascular disease from uncontrollable blood sugars.
Recently, more and more schools have been cutting out artistic programs out of their curriculum because of the lack of funds. The arts may seem like a useless tool to some, but to others, it’s a necessity. The arts may not be for everyone, but the arts may be the key to one’s future. The only way to know if the arts are for them, the arts should be an option for high school students. With this option, students may be able to express themselves, while learning numerous of different tools that may be beneficial later in life.
Most programs include people who are disadvantaged, such as people living in poverty, ethnic minorities, or at-risk youth, and educate these disadvantaged people about ideas such as multiculturalism, aesthetic neighborhood improvement, and proper behavior mechanisms (Guetzkow). Community arts programs are goal-oriented, working to improve the face of the community and those in it. The prevalence of arts organizations in communities may even drive the relocation of businesses and residents to improve the image of the community (Guetzkow). The same notion applies to schools, in which music programs attract new city residents, schools, and bring attention and pride to the school district. Schools state-and-nationwide are recognized for their talented students, creating a healthy competition between neighboring schools to have the best programs and most-recognized