Lesson 2

I would like my research project to focus on the methods that the professional world incorporates the arts. More specifically, I would like to see the relationship between the amount of art involvement that a company or career uses and their attitude toward art education within the schools. It is my hypothesis that more positive attitudes and desired emphasis on the arts would be supported by those that have encountered community art resources within their career. In addition, it would be beneficial for art students to develop a better grasp on the wide variety of art opportunities within their community, especially those careers often not in the spotlight. The community is a major focus for the future of art education; a better understanding of the community’s view of art is needed for measuring improvements and identifying new focal points for the next strategic plan.

Lesson 3:

My research is about how test scores are improved with students that are enrolled in the arts. The research is varied and there are definitely two sides which are prevalent – those in favor of the arts curriculum and the positive effect on students academically and those who feel that the arts are “frivolous” and take away from the “real academics.” This step of the research is not easy in any case, because even though I want to prove my personal case that what I teach impacts students in more ways than just self-expression and being the “fun” class, the class has meaning and we have a significant impact on the student than what some might say (or wish to recognize). With researching all the parts of this idea I find myself placing things in categories like: no child left behind, right brain and left brain studies in the arts, motivation with students, achievement of students who are in an art curriculum, etc. With most of these that I have listed, they support the arts and show how it improves the students as a whole and that there is definitely a positive effect on test scores as well as in the motivating of the students. Once I break down the categories that provide the best support of my subject, it should be less complicated in arranging these studies into a cohesive and presentable statement and supporting material.

Rabkin, N. (2002). Connections between education in the arts and student achievement . Perspectives on Relevant Research , 13(3), 38-44. doi: Supporting a Creative America

Israel , D. (2009). Stay in school. Arts Education and New York City High School Graduation Rates , 01-26. Retrieved from www.caenyc.org/Staying-in-School/Arts-and-Graduation-Report

Dana. (2008). Learning, arts, and the brain. The Dana Consortium Report of Arts and Cognition, 01-129. Retrieved from www.dana.org

Beveridge, T., & , (2010). No child left behind and fine arts classes . Lower Columbia College, Longview, Washington, USA, 111, 4-7.

Lesson 4:

My research will focus on how the arts affect the students entire academic profile with respect to looking at grades, attendance, motivation and the classes they are taking in middle school. I will be surveying the students and parents, interviewing students and other elective teachers in the arts at my school and looking at this information to come up with my research. In reading different journals, viewing web sites about the arts and other research projects, I find that these authors are all doing about the same thing in the collection of their data. The two items I’m presenting in this are doing just that.

I think that doing my research in this manner will really get the student’s voice as well into the research and can help show administrators, parents, teachers, and maybe even district or state wide authorities that students are seeing an impact in other classes and it is not just the elective teachers that are supporting their subjects and showing student motivation in school. With having my research interviewing students, parents, and teachers and even though it’s a small study, isolating it to one school (the school I’m teaching at),which is a Middle School and only dealing with these students, it will at least show my administration and other teachers and parents that our classes are not just fun or “dumping ground classes.” It will show that we, those teachers within the art curriculum, have an impact on students and our subjects strengthen skills and help motivate the students to come to school, want to keep grades up, help with self-esteem, reading, writing, and so much more.

Sandra , R. (2006). Critical Evidence . How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement, 01-20. Retrieved from www.aep-arts.org

Oldfather, P. (1992). When students do not feel motivated for literacy learning . How a Responsive Classroom Culture Helps, 1-18.