Private Drum Lessons • Tacoma • Federal Way • Gig Harbor
Why an Arts Education Matters:
As the State continues to tighten its budgetary belt, music and art classes in our public schools are continually in danger of being marginalized or eliminated altogether. Support for these vital programs varies from school to school and from district to district. Their survival depends on the vigilent efforts of committed schools, teachers, administrators and you.
We might believe intuitively that music and the arts are important, but their specific benefits are often hard to describe. Doing so can be difficult because of the abstract nature of art; its influence cannot easily be measured on a standardized test. Yet the skills required to perform well individually and in ensembles cross a significant range of disciplines. Much has been learned through the efforts of advocacy groups, research scientists and educators about the dramatic influence that music and art programs have on our children academically, socially and mentally. Studies conducted throughout the United States have shown that:
Schools with music programs have graduation rates of 90.2 percent, as compared with a 72.9 percent rate for schools without music education, according to a 2006 Harris Interactive poll of high school principals funded by the National Association for Music Education and International Music Products Association (NAMM). The poll also found that schools with music programs have attendance rates of 93.3 percent, compared with 84.9 percent for those that don’t.
In 2006, SAT takers with course work or experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the college entrance exam and 43 points higher on the math portion than did students with no such experience in the arts. Scores of those with course work in music appreciation were 62 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, according to the College Board’s 2006 Profile of College-Bound Seniors National Report.
A November 2007 Harris poll found that 86 percent of college graduates had some music education when they were in school, compared with 65 percent for those who had not completed or completed only high school. Eighty-three percent of people earning $150,000 or more had a music education, the poll found.
In 2003, California schools participating in the Math+Music program (piano lessons in conjunction with math software) scored 25% higher in math proficiency than schools not participating in the program. From: "Unlocking Math's Mysteries With Music," Orange Coast Magazine, August 2004.
A study done by Bredekamp and Copple in 1997 found that children need daily musical activities to help with expressing ideas and feelings. From: "Self-Esteem: A Byproduct of Quality Classroom Music," by Laverne Warner. Childhood Education, Volume 76, Issue 1, page 19; Copyright 1999.
Art students were more likely to score higher on creative thinking test questions than the non-arts control group. From: "Does Studying the Arts Engender Creative Thinking? Evidence for Near but Not Far Transfer," Erik Moga, Kristin Burger, Lois Hetland, and Ellen Winner, Journal of Aesthetic Education, Fall 2000 34 (3-4): 91-104
Studies such as these are important but they do not necessarily address what it means for a child to be inspired to excellence. Music and art provide all of humanity a connection to universal themes that transcend science. Themes of love, passion, power, longing, anguish, perseverence, triumph: even the most sublime nuance of our interaction with the world is inter-woven into the arts. Learning to harness, organize and create form from the deep wells of the imagination brings artist and audience to a greater understanding of who we are. The rewards are profound, perhaps best summarized not by research facts and data, but by artists immortal:
The earth has music for those who listen.
-William Shakespeare
Music takes
us out of the
actual and whispers to us dim
secrets that
startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the
inexpressible is music.
-Aldous Huxley
Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
-Ludwig van Beethoven
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
-Berthold Auerbach
I listened, motionless and still; And, as I mounted up the
hill, The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more.
-William Wordsworth
No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing
when they are feeling sensible.
-W. H. Auden
If for one minute you think you're better than a sixteen year
old
girl in a Green Day t-shirt, you are sorely mistaken. Remember the
first time you went to a show and saw your favorite band. You wore
their shirt, and sang every word. You didn't know anything about scene
politics, haircuts, or what was cool. All you knew was that this music
made you feel different from anyone you shared a locker with. Someone
finally understood you. This is what music is about.
-Gerard Way
Music is the shorthand of emotion.
-Leo Tolstoy
The advice I am giving always to all my students is above all
to
study the music profoundly... music is like the ocean, and the
instruments are little or bigger islands, very beautiful for the
flowers and trees.
-Andres Segovia
Music can change the world because it can change people.
-Bono
Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot
remain silent
-Victor Hugo
Who hears music feels his solitude peopled at once.
-Robert Browning
Most people live and die with their music still
unplayed. They never dare to try.
-Mary Kay Ash
If you would like to become actively involved in promoting music and arts education in your own school:
Ask teachers and administrators directly how State funding has impacted their programs, and how you can help influence decisions about funding for the arts.
Attend school board meetings.
Read the vision statement adopted by the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) regarding the arts in schools:
"The Arts, which include dance, music, theatre, and visual arts, will be effectively integrated into student educational experiences in all Washington state schools. Our belief is that quality instruction in The Arts shall be provided by Arts specialists and classroom teachers and supported by partnerships with professional organizations and community programs in the Arts. This partnered instruction will enhance both student literacy, and meaningful, purposeful, and enjoyable educational learning opportunities. It will also support student preparation for life as a contributing 21st century citizen. We further believe that the arts integrate with all other subject areas to create learning opportunities for all learners that communicate achievement, respect, freedom, and fun."
Attend concerts and performances put on by the school.
Learn about the advocacy efforts of teachers' organizations at the local, State and Federal level, including:
Music Educators National Association (MENC)
Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)
Music For All Advocacy Resource Center