Identifying methods of increasing student achievement is a focus of school administrators. The problem was there was a need for academic performance data for suburban public high school students in New Jersey that identify the difference of involvement in extra and co-curricular participation on student academic performance. The purpose of the…

It has been asserted that the test-based accountability of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) increased instruction in tested subject areas reading and math, leading to reductions in arts education. We tested this using two waves of data, before and after NCLB implementation, in a difference-in-differences design. The analyses indicated that the total…

The purpose of this study was to understand the contextual, school-level factors associated with the availability of arts education courses in the high schools of the United States. In the study, course offerings for a nationally representative sample of N = 940 high schools that were part of the National Center for Education Statistics High…

While the effect of Readers Theater (RT) on English oral reading fluency has been extensively investigated, research on the effect of RT on adolescents' English reading and listening comprehension was scant and yielded different results. This research aimed to explore how RT instruction influenced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students,…

All disciplines have particular ways of knowing, common practices, and means of using language that mediate and potentially support engagement with the discipline. For multilingual learners, language demands of a discipline can be a closed door or a facilitated entryway. Drama and theater arts, the focus of our article, are often marginalized in…

A wide body of research has been conducted which examines the relationship between arts engagement and academic performance for the general population of students in U.S. schools. To date, few studies have been conducted that examine the effects of arts-based learning experiences on African American males' academic performance. To address this gap…

This article reviews the development of a qualitative summative assessment based on the National Theater Standards to evaluate theater education classes. The authors examine the current state of the field of theater education; the use of the assessment; an overview of the results of an arts integration U.S. Department of Education project; and a…

The purpose of this qualitative research case study was to investigate leadership and funding decisions that determine key factors responsible for sustaining arts programs in public schools. While the educational climate, financial constraints, and standardized testing continue to impact arts programs in public education, Eastland High School, the…

With the economic collapse of 2008, there has been a dramatic increase in government emphasis on the value of science and technology-based study in the nation's high schools as a means for the United States to remain competitive in the world economic market. Financial, political and societal support for the hard sciences, coupled with…

In recent years, the much touted "difficult economic times" has resulted in a drastic reduction in arts and education funding in western capitalist nations (Fowles 2014; Henwood and Featherstone 2013; Murray and Erridge 2012; Smith 2013). Combined with this "age of austerity," schools have been subjected to decades of…

This case study is one of twenty cases derived from Anderson and Risner's international study of teaching artists in dance, and theatre, which investigated participants' (n=172) artistic and academic preparation in dance, and theatre, initial entry into the teaching artist field, rewards, challenges, and obstacles in participants' work, artists'…

The author reports on the formation of a performing arts-focused curriculum integration project, in which key components of curriculum integration were employed within a project-focus involving the performing arts of music, theater, and dance. The project occurred within a curricular community partnership between a public school and nearby…

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the second in their latest series of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This series explores afterschool and: the Common Core State Standards, students…

This report provides selected national data on the status of arts education in public elementary and secondary schools. The findings are based on information collected through a set of seven surveys. Using its Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES)…

The federal "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB) legislation required school districts to ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects met the requirements to be designated highly qualified by July 1, 2006. However, because no Maryland counties were able to comply with the 100 percent highly qualified designation by July 1,…