The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Welcoming School Climates." Contents include: (1) Welcoming and Safe Schools…

AISD promotes access to sustained learning for all students in music, visual art, drama, and dance. This report discusses the relationship between sequential fine arts participation and student outcomes for the school year 2017-2018 and how the relationships differ based on student characteristics (i.e., race, ethnicity, special education status…

AISD promotes access to sustained learning for all students in music, visual art, drama, and dance. This research brief summarizes key points from the full report (published separately) which discusses the relationship between sequential fine arts participation and student outcomes for the school year 2017-2018 and how the relationships differ…

This white paper presents a selection of model schools who all have, to some degree, fostered deeper learning. Schools were selected by internet search, or through references in "deeper learning" reports and documents. It should be noted that information in these reviews is based on information from school web-sites, in some cases the…

Significant numbers, moles, and stoichiometry were the chemistry learning objectives introduced through full arts integration in a small, East Texas high school as a part of a study designed by the authors for their advanced degrees. This article describes how a chemistry teacher and art teacher collaborated in a semester-long journey into full…

This report presents Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examination participation and performance results in Texas public schools for the 2019-20 school year. Data are provided by student characteristics, including race/ethnicity; gender; and economic, at-risk, dyslexia, English learner, foster care, homeless, immigrant,…

This report presents Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examination participation and performance results in Texas public schools for the 2018-19 school year. Data are provided by student characteristics, including race/ethnicity; gender; and economic, at-risk, dyslexia, English learner, foster care, homeless, immigrant,…

This report presents Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examination participation and performance results in Texas public schools for the 2017-18 school year. Data are provided by student characteristics, including race/ethnicity; gender; and economic, at-risk, dyslexia, English learner, foster care, homeless, immigrant,…

Research evidence suggests that summer breaks contribute to income-based achievement and opportunity gaps for children and youth. However, summertime can also be used to provide programs that support an array of goals for children and youth, including improved academic achievement, physical health, mental health, social and emotional well-being,…

This study assessed the relationship of an Arts Summer Learning Program (Arts Program) to student academic performance and college readiness. A North Texas school district collaborated with a research-based Arts Program in 2010, and a new approach was implemented in the summer school program for low-performing students who had failed courses in…

As the nation's first standards-based art event, the Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) is opening doors and creating opportunities for art students. VASE is the brainchild of passionate art educators who believe that high-school artists have potential far beyond the basic juried art exhibition. They believe that students should be able to create…

There is renewed interest in the role of arts education in the curriculum of U.S. public schools not only because of the intrinsic value of the arts and its believed impact on achievement, but because cultivating creativity is thought to promote innovation and fuel economic growth. Still, we know little about basic access to arts education. Using…

Arts education has been a low priority in the nation's public schools for more than 30 years. In some communities, a countermovement to this dwindling presence of arts education in the schools has developed in the form of initiatives aimed at coordinating schools, cultural institutions, community-based organizations, foundations, and/or…

In the summer of 1970, the members of the New Orleans Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals understood clearly the realities of race in the South. Houston, Texas, like other Southern cities, had made haste toward racial school desegregation as slowly as the White Southern Federal courts would allow. When the High School of Performing and Visual Arts…

For over 30 years, arts education has been a low priority in the nation's public schools. Arts teaching positions were cut, and arts education in schools has dwindled as schools try to increase test scores in mathematics and reading within the time constraints of the school day. Some communities have responded with initiatives aimed at…