The results are in...

Study after expert study concludes arts education is the special ingredient helping our young people learn better in school. Do better at math. Perform better at complex, higher-order thinking tasks. Achieve better reading and language skills.

Arts education plays a remarkably powerful role in the education of our young people for 21st Century jobs and happy, successful lives.

Not only must we support arts educators in our schools, we must constantly remind the rest of the schools' community – parents, school administrators, school board members and the business community – about the importance of quality arts education experiences.

Promoting arts education is a special kind of advocacy that depends on the power of grassroots outreach and the involved commitment of people like you who appreciate how much educational excellence can be enriched by arts education.

Arizona’s official education policy says the arts must be taught in our K-8 schools

Source: 2018 Arts Education Data Project sponsored by the Arizona Department of Education, the Arizona Commission on the Arts and Arizona Citizens for the Arts, and produced by Quadrant Research from information reported in the education department’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System.

Despite vast amounts of data that the arts improve student learning

796 Arizona schools offer no arts education.

Among schools with more than 75% of students on free and reduced lunch, 35% provide no access to arts education, representing 40% of ALL students in Arizona without access to arts education.

Too many Arizona young people are missing out on the opportunity for the quality arts education they deserve.

At Arizona Citizens for the Arts, we’re committed to giving them that opportunity.

Along with parents, teachers, school boards, school administrators and people like you, Arizona Citizens for the Arts is building a coalition to ensure that arts education is available in every Arizona school.

The goal of our Arts Education Outreach and Advocacy Initiative  is to ensure that there is one strong voice speaking up for arts education in our schools.

But we need you – join our coalition, so together we can work to make arts education a priority in our schools.

 

Arts education plays a dramatic role in ensuring that young people are receiving a well-rounded education, but some schools are not meeting the standards for arts education as outlined in various Arizona statutes and policies.  Find out whether students in your local schools are receiving the required arts education.

Arizona Arts Education Standards for K-12 schools were updated in 2015 to ensure that arts education supports the need for students to learn and practice 21st Century thinking skills and behaviors. 

Arts programs can help schools achieve the goals of Title I by facilitating student engagement and learning, strengthening parent involvement, and improving school climate and school wide behavior. Find out what's in your toolbox.

There is an abundant amount of research supporting the necessity of a strong arts education and its connection to a number of invaluable skills such as increased critical thinking and verbal reasoning, which result in more confident and successful students.