1. What is the impact of arts education on students' social-emotional development?
2. How is arts education connected to various academic outcomes for students?
Advocates have long fought for equity in arts learning, making the case for arts as core and not “special” curriculum. These cries were heard when the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gave states the opportunity to expand student access to quality instruction in the visual and performing arts. The latest issue of NASBE’s State Education Standard gives state policymakers good reasons to pay attention to the depth and breadth of instruction their schools offer in music, drama, theater, dance, and media arts—all key components of students’ well-rounded education. In one of several articles in this issue, University of Chicago researcher Camille Farrington and Steve Shewfelt, director of data and research at the Chicago-based arts nonprofit Ingenuity, explain their theory on the interplay of arts and social emotional development.