The President's Committee on Arts and Humanities has been asking that question, too. For 18-months actually. Recently they released of their study and guess what? The results confirm that our Award-Winning Education Project is meeting an essential need for our children, communities, business and future generation!

Click here for the full report.

Summary of the PCAH Report on Arts in Education

The Committee reports that robust data clearly shows the effect of arts education on student academic achievement and creativity.

Study results show that US schools invested in arts improve test scores and foster students’ workforce competitiveness. They also reaffirm that arts education provides critical benefit to the private sector. Business leaders are increasingly looking for employees who are creative, collaborative and innovative thinkers— essential skills for the jobs of tomorrow.

PCAH Recommendations for Arts Education

Recommendation 1: Build robust collaborations among different approaches to arts education including:

Standards-based arts curricula

Formal and informal arts integration strategies

Short and long-term teaching artist residencies

Arts programs need to focus on quality and flexibility to meet community needs.

AAEP provides all of these approaches to Whatcom County schools and works with individual teachers, schools and districts to customize their arts programs.

Recommendation 2: Develop the field of arts integration.

Arts integration relies on having Professional Teaching Artists or school Arts Specialists to work with teachers to integrate arts and subject areas.

Results show increased test scores, greater school pride, more engaged students and teachers and demonstrated creativity  with arts integrated schools.

Our Arts Impact Teacher Training Program and many of our classroom programs meet these goals! See examples in our Education section.

The report finds Teaching Artists are an untapped, important resource for enriching our schools. Artists need rigorous training in curricula and teaching strategies.

AAEP requires teaching artists to understand and use state standards. We offer training in lesson-planning, assessment and classroom management.

Recommendation 4: Utilize federal and state policies to reinforce the place of arts in K-12 education.

School policy makers need simple guidelines and examples of arts efficacy in schools. Arts programs need to assess and report on successful strategies.

Recommendation 5: Widen the focus of evidence gathering about arts education.

PCAH recommends support for research on arts education, especially showing links between arts and creativity, engagement attendance, behavioral problems and other factors critical in student dropout rates. While it is hard to find the resources for these evaluations, they are vital to demonstrating the ability of the arts to solve a number of problems at once.