Ralph Pearson's Design Workshop was a center of progressive art education in New York. However, based on the correspondence courses that he developed, he was able to reach artists and art educators across the United States. Women artists and art educators dominated his courses and went on to play an important role in spreading progressive art…

In the United States, broad study in an array of different disciplines--arts, humanities, science, mathematics, engineering--as well as an in-depth study within a special area of interest, have been defining characteristics of a higher education. But over time, in-depth study in a major discipline has come to dominate the curricula at many…

In schools across the country, educators recognize the power of the arts to change young lives. They know that students' sustained engagement with enriching, high-quality experiences in the arts promotes essential skills and perspectives--like the capacity to solve problems, express ideas, harness and hone creativity, and persevere toward a job…

Many arts-focused colleges and universities in the United States offer their undergraduate students coursework in science. To better understand the delivery of science education at this type of institution, this article surveys the science programs of forty-one arts-oriented schools. The findings suggest that most science programs are located in…

This study had three goals: (1) to investigate the potential connection between music experiences in early childhood and later music making as a parent, (2) to report the frequency of music making in a sample of American families with young children along with parents' opinions on possible benefits of music classes, and (3) to compare frequency…

The school field trip has a long history in American public education. For decades, students have piled into yellow buses to visit a variety of cultural institutions, including art, natural history, and science museums, as well as theaters, zoos, and historical sites. Schools gladly endured the expense and disruption of providing field trips…

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…

This field-based action research practicum investigated how students who have completed culinary training programs in Massachusetts public secondary schools perform in post-secondary coursework. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has developed the Vocational Technical Education (VTE) Framework for Culinary Arts that outlines…

High-quality youth arts programs that take place outside the formal education system play a vital role in supporting the developmental needs and well-being of today's youth, particularly youth at risk of negative outcomes. Out-of-school time (OST) youth arts programs provide opportunities for youth to learn about themselves and their world while…

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…

Late in 2007 New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City reform organization, received a grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation to organize select high schools and community partners into delivery systems that could improve student achievement. New Visions asked Policy Studies Associates, Inc. to provide research support for this effort in the…

In this bulletin, the author shares his observations on the status of art education in America. The study for this report is based upon the writer's own contacts in the education and industrial world and upon returns of a questionnaire which was sent to leading art educators, directors, supervisors, and teachers throughout the country. The author…

The summer 1973 Title I, Elementary Secondary Education Act of 1965 project was conducted in three communities of the Silver Lake Regional School District; Halifax, Kingston, and Plympton. The program consisted of instruction in reading, mathematics, physical education, art, speech therapy, and counseling and psychological testing. The target…

This report examines arts engagement in ten key states in the U.S. by analyzing data from the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). It is organized into ten state profiles that summarize key demographic characteristics, the arts landscape, and public participation in the arts. Because the regions profiled here are not a random…

High parental involvement has been linked to increases in student achievement and engagement in school (Moore, 1992; Swap, 1993; Henderson and Berla, 1994; Fuller and Olsen, 1998). Schools with large populations of low-income students or students of color often have difficulties in engaging a majority of parents due to a variety of social and…