Art Works: No Child Artist Left Behind

Everybody knows we’ve got to pay teachers test-based merit bonuses, and that we simply can’t afford the useless expense of arts education.

Both these alleged facts may be false. In September, Vanderbilt University scientists completed the first-ever long-term study of teacher merit pay. “It doesn’t work,” said Matthew G. Springer of the National Center on Performance Incentives. For three years, Nashville teachers got $5,000 to $15,000 bonuses over their $36,000 to $64,000 salaries. Kids with bonus-paid teachers progressed no faster than other kids.

Carnation Elementary kids getting ahead by getting creative in ArtsEd’s Principals’ Art Leadership program. Courtesy of ArtsEd Washington.

So if merit pay doesn’t work, what does? Arts education. “There’s a strong connection between sustained involvement in the arts and students’ success in school,” says Una McAlinden, mother of two Bellevue schoolkids and executive director of ArtsEd Washington. “Students in band or orchestra throughout middle and high school were twice as likely to get top scores in math as their peers not involved in music.” Sandra S. Ruppert’s report Critical Evidence shows that kids with over four years’ immersion in the arts have SAT verbal scores fifty-eight points higher and math scores thirty-eight points higher than kids with half a year or less.

It isn’t just about getting better at an art form, says McAlinden, important as that is. The arts appear to improve performance in other subjects. Kids who act out stories get better at writing and reading comprehension. Dancing seems to improve abstract thought. Kids required to analyze and explain visual art comprehend science illustrations better. 

McAlinden chalks it up partly to what experts call “transfer,” the idea that learning in one context assists learning in a different context. “[The arts provide] multiple lenses through which to view and understand critical concepts. “ Learn about  patterns in music, and you’ll be better at grasping patterns in math. 

Not so fast, says UW and SPU brain scientist John Medina, author of the addictively readable new book Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five. “The evidence is kind of mixed,” says Medina. “Some of the literature suggests that there is ‘bleed-through’ [a scientific term for ‘transfer’].” But some of it suggests there isn’t. Doing crosswords may just make you better at crosswords. Associations don’t necessarily mean causation.

Medina says the problem is that nobody funds educational research as they do more profitable pharmaceutical research. “Districts spend $20 million on a curriculum change, and they have no idea if it works.” But while many people support testing teachers, few bother to test curricular theories. 

To some, the proof that arts education has an all-around benefit is self-evident. When Carnation Elementary imposed an ArtsEd arts-teaching program, reading scores climbed 23 percent, and 70 percent fewer kids got sent to the principal’s office. 

Last year, McAlinden says, the arts – a “core subject” along with math and reading, according to the No Child Left Behind law – were targeted for Bellevue budget cuts. “No other core subject was singled out on the list. We would’ve balanced the budget on the back of a core subject.” Belle-vue High’s jazz band protested at the school board meeting, and the ax stopped in midair. “People who care about the arts should start showing up now,” urges McAlinden. “Don’t wait until March for the next crisis. Bellevue high schools are in the top hundred in the country – don’t fail to make the connection between that and strong arts programs.” •