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Arts Education Policy Review

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Cognition and Student Learning through the Arts

a

Steven A. Melnick , Judith T. Witmer & Martha J. Strickland

a

Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg , Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA

EduCon , Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, USA

Published online: 01 Jun 2011.

To cite this article: Steven A. Melnick , Judith T. Witmer & Martha J. Strickland (2011) Cognition and Student Learning
through the Arts, Arts Education Policy Review, 112:3, 154-162, DOI: 10.1080/10632913.2011.566100
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ARTS EDUCATION POLICY REVIEW, 112: 154162, 2011

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ISSN: 1063-2913 print / 1940-4395 online
DOI: 10.1080/10632913.2011.566100

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Cognition and Student Learning through the Arts

Steven A. Melnick
Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA

Judith T. Witmer
Downloaded by [University Of Maryland] at 20:09 10 November 2014

EduCon, Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, USA

Martha J. Strickland
Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA

In recent years, an increasing number of studies have suggested connections among cognition,
social and emotional development, and the arts. Some of this research indicates that students
in schools where the arts are an integral part of the academic program tend to have an
academic advantage over students for whom that is not the case. This study examines factors in
schools and at home that contribute most to the variance in student learning and achievement,
particularly as they relate to the arts, using a sample of more than 8,000 students in grade 5.
The findings suggest that in-school arts programs alone may have less of an impact on student
achievement than previous research has proposed. Parental influences likely have more of an
effect than school on most children, and efforts to involve parents in the arts with their children
may be more productive than simply providing arts programs in schools.
Keywords: arts education, cognition, school reform, student achievement

For as long as humankind has been able to think logically,

we have thought about thinking: What is it that enables us
to learn and what is happening in our minds physiologically, psychologically, and educationally? As a modern society, we have been trying for more than a hundred years to
understand how the brain works, and the renewed interest
during the last thirty years in formalizing cognition has intrigued both practitioners and researchers who believe that
student engagement in the arts has positive effects on academic achievement. It has taken centuries for thinkers to
uncover evidence of arts cognition, the emotive part of
who we are. The objective of this research is to explore
the relationships among school- and home-based characteristics related to involvement in the arts, their impact on
student learning, and the policy implications of these findings.

Correspondence should be sent to Steven A. Melnick, Professor of Education, Penn State Harrisburg, 777 W. Harrisburg Pike, W-314, Middletown,
PA 17057, USA. E-mail: sam7@psu.edu

BACKGROUND
From the time of Plato and Aristotle to the current day, the
actual application of what is known about how children learn
has been limited because of the lack of definitive theories
and research, particularly regarding the effect of the arts on
student academic success. In early education in the United
States, scholars views of arts education varied. In the late
1800s, Horace Mann pushed to include the visual arts and
music in common schools, and in the early twentieth century,
John Dewey commented that any intellectual idea needs the
imprint of the aesthetic for that idea to be complete. Dewey
identified and supported the idea that there was a positive
correlation between cognition and instruction in the arts; this
linkage had a strong effect on numerous curriculum decisions
in many places at that time (Gullatt 2008).
Between 1950 and 1980, most schools offered arts education for its own sake, and not to enhance any other goal. In
1974, Eisner called for the evaluation of arts programs, which
eventually produced evidence suggesting that arts education
positively affects aspects of living and learning beyond the

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COGNITION AND STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS

intrinsic values of the arts themselves. Shortly afterward,

Jarrett (1993) raised questions concerning the lack of educational theory addressing expressive feelings in teaching and
learning.
In the 1990s, some arts educators began developing new
programs and practices grounded in the idea that the arts
are cognitive and therefore their study could have serious
academic benefits beyond the arts disciplines themselves.
As a result, educators began integrating arts into other subject areas. Qualitative data noted that these programs energized teachers, leading to broader school change when
teacher schedules were changed; additionally, parents became resources, teachers became leaders, and teaming ensued (Rabkin and Redmond 2006; Witmer 1996; Witmer
1997a; Witmer 1997b).
Recent findings in cognitive science and neuroscience are
now helping to explain the arts potential as a powerful tool
to enhance teaching and learning, showing that the brain and
body make up a single, fully integrated cognitive system.
Researchers have found that most thought occurs at a level
well below conscious control and awareness and involves a
continual stream of sensory information (Gullatt 2008). They
posit that the very emotional and personal content of the arts
is part of what causes the arts to become cognitively powerful
(Gullatt 2008).
The work of Efland (2002) has become central to understanding the relationship between art and cognition. His
work offers a strong argument for the possibility of transfer,
providing a research base for seeing works of art as social
conventions. It is particularly important, he claims, to direct
arts learning toward the understanding that a society is reflected in its art, and that the artist plays a central role in
representing that society.
Efland (2002) also demonstrates imagination as the cognitive process that enables individuals to organize or reorganize images, bringing the element of innovation to the
creation of meanings that are generally less dependent on
conventional ways of thinking. It is necessary, he says, to
understand that visual images are embodiments of meanings
and, thus, become objects of inquiry. In short, understanding artistry involves cognition. He supports two influential
arguments developed by Arnheim (p. 155): first, sensory perception is already cognitive, in that it requires the perceiver
to select, generalize, and abstract aspects of the objects received by the mind; and second, representation of objects
also requires the ability to think within the means provided
by a given medium (Efland 2002). Efland further claims that
works of art are also social conventions, in that one grasps
meaning from the art form in various ways, including social
context and often through verbal mediation (i.e., teaching).
Eisner (2002) has also examined how the arts contribute to
the growth of mind. He unabashedly argues that the ability to
create a form of experience that can be regarded as aesthetic
requires a mind that animates our imaginative capacities,
be they visual, choreographic, musical, dramatic, literary, or

155

poetic: ergo, the arts require many forms of thinking. Eisner

reminds us that we initially learn of our environment through
sights, sounds, tastes, and smells, which are the first avenues
to consciousness and become a means through which we
pursue development, reminding us that a major cognitive
function the arts perform is to help us notice the world in
new ways and prompt awareness of things not previously
noticed.
Although Eisner insists that the value of the arts does not
reside in its linkages with math and language (Brown 2001),
he remains a staunch supporter of the centrality of learning
processes and imaginative thinking in all disciplines (Darby
and Catterall 1994) and argues that the arts can serve as models for educational aspiration and practice. His five principles
of art education have helped to guide other researchers who
agree that each field of study provides a framework through
which children can experience, organize, and understand the
world by the use of different techniques and materials.
The Impact of Cognition Research on Arts
Education
Sousa (2006) outlines the findings of neuroscience research
that have shown the impact of arts instruction on students
cognitive, social, and emotional developmentspecifically,
that certain brain areas respond only to music while others
are devoted to initiating and coordinating movement. He also
notes that studies consistently show that students in schools
where the arts are an integral part of the curriculum enjoy a
number of advantages over their peers in schools without the
arts. These benefits include the development of the imagination (Greene 1995), greater motivation to learn (Csikszentmihalyi 1997), increased student creativity, lower dropout
rates, and increased social skills (Smithrim and Upitis 2005).
Various studies and reports indicate that students involved
in the arts exhibit higher academic achievement than their
peers who are not involved in the arts (Smithrim and Upitis 2005). However, it should be noted that in the midst of
this research, Winner and Cooper (2000) warned researchers
and practitioners not to leap beyond the evidence and make
causal claims where only correlation was indicated. As a result, researchers next began to look at scientific findings, and
specifically breakthroughs in cognitive science, for possible
causal links to the influence of the arts on learning. Among
the researchers and practitioners who have been doing research and development in cognition as it applies to education are Caine and Caine (1997), Diamond and Hopson
(1998), Jensen (1998), Kovalik (1999), Silver and Hanson
(1995), Stevens (1999), Sylwester (1995), and Wolfe and
Sorgen (1990), to name only a few.
While not as well known, Hurley and Eisan (1996) have
measured the affective impacts of integrating the arts and
note that an increasing amount of research supports the belief that the arts can enhance learning in other subjects. Tishman, MacGillivray, and Palmer (1999) found that children

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MELNICK ET AL.

who were able to draw inferences about fine art were able
to transfer their reasoning to images in science. Lopez et al.
found a strong relationship between academic and artistic efficacy, suggesting that there is a significant cognitive transfer
from arts education to other academic areas (2000, 1).
The guiding principle of the work of Caine and Caine
(1997) is that brain research confirms that multiple complex and concrete experiences are essential for meaningful
learning and teaching, and that everything being learned becomes linked to the learners current experiences, past knowledge, and future behavior. However, the concern of some
researchers and practitioners is that critical thinking cannot be taught in isolation, but must be included in content
knowledge (Strauss 2008). Thus, opportunities must be provided for students to practice and experience skills that will
become ingrained and transferred to other situations.
Robert Sylwester notes:
From my perspective, thinking is somewhat similar in that
how one derives conclusions is far more important than
the conclusions drawn, for it is the process which includes/excludes and focuses on different aspects toward combining them in a conclusion of action or thought. . .. The
problem in evaluating arts is our inability of codifying particulars. Most have looked at the results of skills rather than
the thinking processes which underpin them. . .. If one only
looks at specifics of art that may be transferred, rather than focusing on the process, few skills may be demonstrated or applied elsewhere. However, the thinking processes are probably used throughout. (personal communication between Sylwester and Witmer, February 24, 2000)

Catterall, whose 1999 landmark study on transference

followed over 25,000 students in American schools for ten
years, has noted a renewed interest in transference and findings that show success with at-risk and failing students who
frequently characterize their success as a result of induced
or revived enthusiasm for school attained through the arts
(2002, 155). He also calls for further inquiry into the possibility that sustained and deep learning in the arts may
cultivate habits of mind and dispositions impacting future
problem-solving behavior (157).
The seminal work of Winner and Hetland (2000) did not
show the causal results that arts educators expected, but it
did provide encouraging findings, including some relationships between arts study and verbal and mathematics skills.
Their meta-analysis notes that the study of transfer effects
from the arts is important (a) educationally, because any
transfer effects that do exist can be put to effective use by
teachers; and (b) scientifically, because it can increase our
knowledge of how the mind works and how certain skills
are or are not related in the brain. The authors conducted
an exhaustive search for all relevant studies published in
English from 1950 to 1998 but could find no experimental
studies that tested which causal mechanism might underlie
academic improvement as a function of arts study. Thus, the

research can only reveal correlations between arts study and

academic achievement and whether academic achievement
improves when students are exposed to the arts, not causal
effects.
It should be noted, however, that not all scholars agree with
the Winner-Hetland approach and findings. Deasy (2002)
cites other analyses that contradict some of Winner and Hetlands (2000) findings and notes that while arts education
research today is at an early stage of its development, the
accumulation of studies over time should refine both educators and policymakers understanding. Gullatt (2007) also
notes that studies on the relationship between the arts and student achievement within academic disciplines have typically
been more theoretical than empirical, and Eisner (1999) has
always cautioned that the purpose of the arts is not to raise
achievement in other disciplines.
Implications
In 2004, the Dana Foundation brought together cognitive
neuroscientists from seven U.S. universities to study the
question of why arts training is associated with higher academic performance. Their findings allow a broader understanding of how to define and evaluate the possible causal
relationship between arts training and the ability of the brain
to learn in other cognitive domains (Gazzaniga 2008). Forthcoming conclusions are expected to lead to more definitive
results in the field of cognition.
Even more recently, Stevenson and Deasy (2005) found
that the arts allow students to become more engaged in school
and learn to make meaning of the world from different perspectives, helping them make sense of other kinds of information. Stevenson and Deasy further note that the arts and
non-arts content and skills are best taught in tandem, with
the content and methods of the disciplines woven together
for mutual reinforcement. This approach places students in
active and meaningful roles in the classroom and connects
the schools to the students own lives and cultures.
Both the government (Murfee 1997) and arts organizations periodically list priorities for arts education research,
and, as expected, their lists are similar. The Arts Education
Partnership (AEP) is perhaps the most visible organization
for identifying and sponsoring areas of research priorities.
The organizations most recent list of priorities proposes further study on the specific cognitive characteristics and effects
of each of the art forms, their relationship to other domains
of learning, and their roles in the intellectual development of
children and adolescents (Arts Education Partnership [AEP]
2004).
In recent years, an increasing number of school-based research studies have strongly suggested connections among
cognition, social and emotional development, and the arts.
As seen from the evidence discussed previously, students in
schools where the arts disciplines are integrated with other
subjects tend to have an academic advantage over students

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COGNITION AND STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS

in schools where this is not the case. The students in these

studies appear to make cognitive connections that their counterparts in less arts-infused schools do not. Research further
indicates that arts educators themselves believe that the arts
support success across the entire school curriculum, and that
the arts should be studied because they help students improve
in both other subject areas and school attendance. Hamblen
(1993) examined this tendency in a brief review of learning
theory, and while she cautions educators against exaggerating the academic benefits of an arts curriculum without
instrumental claims that are firmly grounded in theory and
research, she does find many justifications for arts education in the body of work on learning theory. One of these
arguments holds that arts education gives students access to
multiform forms of knowing.
The literature suggests strong correlations between involvement in the arts and student achievement, with cognitive factors serving as the link. However, despite all research
and rhetoric, these relationships have not yet been shown to
be causal. What is needed is a study that will move closer
to an examination of causal connections. If we could establish causal connections, decision-making would be informed
from a new base, and the door would be opened to systemic
school change.

METHOD
This study builds upon the work of Kienzl et al. (2006) in
their descriptive analysis of the prevalence of arts instruction received by first- and third-grade public school students
using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal StudyK
to determine the students receipt of arts instruction and the
changes in weekly arts instruction between the grades. By
extending our research to fifth grade and including both
school- and home-based characteristics, we aimed to explore the relationships between those two sets of characteristics as they relate to involvement in the arts and its impact
on student learning. We investigated five specific research
questions:
1. Is there a significant difference between students who
are involved in the arts out of school and students who
are not involved in the arts out of school with respect to
teacher ratings of student proficiency regarding reading
and math concepts?
2. Is there a significant difference in teacher ratings of student proficiency regarding reading and math concepts
by race?
3. Is there a significant difference in teacher ratings of student proficiency regarding reading and math concepts
by gender?
4. Is there a significant difference between students who
receive no arts instruction in school and students who
receive some kind of arts instruction in school with re-

157

spect to teacher ratings of student proficiency regarding

reading and math concepts?
5. Are there any significant differences in teacher ratings of student proficiency regarding reading and math
concepts by type of community (large/mid-size city;
large suburb/mid-size suburb/large town; and small
town/rural)?
Data Source
We analyzed the fifth grade 2004 secondary data from the
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of
199899 (ECLS-K), which includes more than 11,600 children. This federal dataset provides detailed information on
childrens health, early care, and early school experiences.
The database includes student demographic and achievement
data in addition to principal, teacher, and parent surveys.
The ECLS-K began in the fall of 1998 with a nationally
representative sample of approximately 21,000 kindergartners from about 1,000 kindergarten programs, both public
and private. These children were followed longitudinally
through the eighth grade, with data collections occurring
in the fall and spring of kindergarten (199899) and first
grade (19992000), the spring of third (2002) and fifth grade
(2004), and the eighth grade (2007). The children came from
both public and private schools and diverse socioeconomic,
racial, and ethnic backgrounds. As a follow-up to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) ECLS-K study using
kindergarten and third grade data, our research focused on
fifth-grade data and included only children in the regular
classroom (N = 8,048).
There were 3,915 boys (48.6%) and 4,133 girls (51.4%)
in the sample. Approximately 60% of the sample was white,
while 40% were nonwhite (11% black, 16% Hispanic, 7.5%
Asian, and 5.5% other).
Procedure
Our research examined teacher perceptions of the proficiency
level of reading and mathematics competencies of their fifthgrade regular classroom students (see table 1). Teachers were
asked to rate the extent to which each student was proficient
on each competency using a five-point scale (1 = not yet,
2 = beginning, 3 = in progress, 4 = intermediate, and 5
= proficient). The scale reflects teacher perceptions of the
degree to which each child has acquired and demonstrated
the mandated skills, knowledge, and behaviors. To control for
variation in ratings for regular and special needs students, any
student with an individualized education plan (IEP) on file
was excluded from the sample. Thus, the sample size was
reduced to 8,048 children.
To determine the statistical difference between group
means, t-tests were calculated using the group means for
those students who received some form of arts exposure afterschool and those who received arts exposure only in school.
In addition, t-tests were calculated to determine if there were

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MELNICK ET AL.

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TABLE 1
Reading and Mathematics Competencies
Reading Competencies
1. Conveys ideas clearly when speaks
2. Understands and interprets text read aloud
3. Uses strategies to gain information
4. Reads books fluently
5. Reads and comprehends expository text
6. Composes multi-paragraph story
7. Reflects on writing
8. Makes mechanical corrections
Mathematics Competencies
1. Subtracts number that requires regrouping
2. Reduces fractions to lowest denominator
3. Money management skills
4. Recognizes shape properties
5. Uses measuring tools accurately
6. Understands place value
7. Estimates quantities and checks answers
8. Uses strategies for math problems
9. Divides multi-digit problems
10. Demonstrates algebraic thinking
Notes. Each student in the sample was rated by the classroom teacher on
each of the above competencies using the following 5-point Likert scale. 1
= child has not yet demonstrated skill, knowledge, or behavior; 2 = child
is just beginning to demonstrate skill, knowledge, or behavior but does so
very inconsistently; 3 = child demonstrates skill, knowledge, or behavior
with some regularity but varies in level of competence; 4 = child demonstrates skill, knowledge, or behavior with increasing regularity and average
competence but is not completely proficient; 5 = child demonstrates skill,
knowledge, or behavior competently and consistently.

any significant differences in gender (boys vs. girls) and race

(whites vs. nonwhites). T-tests were also calculated to determine any significant differences between children who were
not offered any arts as part of the school curriculum and
children whose school curriculum included art and/or music.
The one-way analysis of variance procedure was used to
determine if there were any significant differences among
teacher ratings by type of communities (large/mid-size
city; large suburb/mid-size suburb/large town; and small
town/rural). Finally, teacher ratings were compared by socioeconomic group (SES) on both reading and mathematics.

FINDINGS
The first research question focused on determining if any
significant differences existed between students who were
involved in the arts out of school and students who were not
involved in the arts out of school with respect to teacher ratings of student proficiency regarding reading and math concepts. All comparisons were significant (p .001). For all
reading and mathematics competencies, students who took
dance, art, or music lessons and/or participated in organized
performances outperformed their peers who only had exposure to arts instruction in the school curriculum.
The second and third research questions examined the extent to which there were significant differences in gender and

race with respect to teacher ratings of student proficiency

on reading and mathematics competencies. There were significant differences on all reading competencies by gender
(p .05). In each case, girls scored significantly higher than
boys in reading. Interestingly, the results for mathematics
showed that girls are not significantly different than boys in
six of the ten competencies, demonstrating that the historical gap between girls and boys is closing. Math competencies 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 10 showed no significant differences
(see table 1, p .001). Whites scored significantly higher
than nonwhites in all reading competencies and all but one
math competency. There was no significant difference between whites and nonwhites in recognizing shape properties
in mathematics (competency #4).
The fourth research question sought to determine any significant differences between teacher ratings of student proficiency on reading and mathematics competencies for students who had no arts instruction in school and students
whose schools included regular arts instruction. Students in
schools with no arts instruction rated significantly lower in
all reading competencies than students in schools with arts
instruction. In addition, the same pattern occurred in mathematics for eight of the ten competencies. Only the competencies for subtracts number that requires regrouping and
recognizes shape properties were not significantly different.
The fifth research question examined the teacher ratings of reading and mathematics competencies by type of
community (large/mid-size city; large suburb/mid-size suburb/large town; and small town/rural). There were significant
differences among the three types of communities on both
reading and mathematics competencies (p .05). Overall,
two groups (large/mid-size city; large suburb/mid-size suburb/large town) were not significantly different from each
other, but they did differ from the small town/rural group.
Only one competency in reading (reflects on writing) and
two in mathematics (subtracts number that requires regrouping and uses measuring tools accurately) had a different
result.
Table 2 describes how the frequency of art and music
offerings in school differs by type of community. Note that
in table 2, the highest concentration of students who have
never been taught music in school comes from the large/midsize city and the small town/rural groups (19.2% and 18.5%,
respectively), which are typically the less wealthy schools.
Furthermore, readers can see that the large suburb/mid-size
suburb/large town group tends to offer art and music more
frequently than do the other two groups.
Table 3 indicates the extent to which students have taken
dance, music, and art lessons or participated in organized performances by type of community. Small town/rural schools
tend to have fewer opportunities for students to participate
in the arts, whereas the large suburb/mid-size suburb/large
town group tends to offer more opportunities. We speculate
that the results presented in tables 2 and 3 may be highly
related to SES and school-district wealth.

COGNITION AND STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS

159

TABLE 2
Counts and Percents of Music and Art Classes in the School Curriculum, by Type of Community

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Frequency of Music in School Curriculum

Never
Less than Once A Week
Once or Twice a Week
Three or Four Times a Week
Daily
Frequency of Art in School Curriculum
Never
Less Than Once a Week
Once or Twice a Week
Three or Four Times a Week
Daily

Large/Mid-Size City

Large Suburb/Mid-Size Suburb/Large Town

Small Town/Rural

490 (19.2%)
280 (11.0%)
1647 (64.4%)
85 (3.3%)
54 (2.1%)

353 (12.6%)
392 (14.0%)
1915 (68.2%)
117 (4.2%)
29 (1.0%)

336 (18.5%)
200 (11.0%)
1101 (60.7%)
128 (7.1%)
49 (2.7%)

490 (19.2%)
280 (11.0%)
1647 (64.4%)
85 (3.3%)
54 (2.1%)

353 (12.6%)
392 (14.0%)
1915 (68.2%)
117 (4.2%)
29 (1.0%)

336 (18.5%)
200 (11.0%)
1101 (60.7%)
128 (7.1%)
49 (2.7%)

DISCUSSION
This study began with the goal of exploring the relationship
of school- and home-based characteristics related to involvement in the arts and their impact on student learning. The
ECLS-K data for grade 5 offered a rich body of knowledge
to inform this investigation. The IES work done with the
ECLS-K data for grade 3 afforded additional insight for the
following discussion. Our review of the literature exposed
the complexity of defining the learning process, as well as
the work that continues to fall short of establishing a causal
relationship between engagement in the arts and enhanced
achievement.
Our study took a careful look into both the school and
the home context in which the arts are found. The ECLS-K

TABLE 3
Counts and Percents of Participation in Dance, Music,
Arts, and Organized Performances, by Type of
Community (N = 7,202)

Arts Participation
Takes Dance Lessons
Yes
No
Takes Music Lessons
Yes
No
Takes Art Lessons
Yes
No
Participates in
Organized
Performances
Yes
No

Large/MidSize
City

Large
Suburb/MidSize
Suburb/Large
Town

Small
Town/Rural

394 (15.4%)
2169 (84.6%)

428 (15.2%)
2379 (84.8%)

180 (9.8%)
1652 (90.2%)

834 (32.5%)
1730 (67.5%)

991 (35.3%)
1816 (64.7%)

463 (25.3%)
1369 (74.7%)

289 (11.3%)
2275 (88.7%)

324 (11.5%)
2483 (88.5%)

184 (10.0%)
1648 (90.0%)

642 (25.0%)
1923 (75.0%)

752 (26.8%)
2055 (73.2%)

418 (22.8%)
1414 (77.2%)

database supplied us with three key variables that have been

previously noted as important factors when considering the
impact of arts engagement on student learning and school,
community, and family involvement. A number of findings
emerged that are particularly noteworthy.
The location of the public school has long been a focal
point in considerations of the relationships among equity of
access, funding distribution, preserving arts learning opportunities (AEP 2004), and academic success (Kozol 1992).
Conditions in urban schools usually stand out in bold relief.
Our study predictably revealed that large and mid-size city
(urban) schools have the highest concentration of students
who have never been offered arts or music in school. However, it is important to note that significant numbers of rural
schools are also in the same situation. Based on anecdotal
evidence, it has been postulated that when funding is cut
for such areas as the arts, urban schools, which are historically funded at a lower level than suburban schools, lose arts
involvement at a faster rate than other schools. What is noteworthy, however, is that the teacher-reported student math
and reading competencies are not significantly different for
urban and suburban schools, but both are different from the
rural schools. This information enhances the current arts-inschools discourse in two ways.
First, the results for rural and urban schools reflect growth
patterns in the United States. According to the 2000 U.S.
Census, the nation experienced a 12% growth in rural areas
and a 14% growth in urban areas nationally in the 1990s.
Correlations between growth patterns and opportunity lead
to an important question: if there is little difference between
urban schools and suburban schools in most math and reading competencies, and yet there is a significant difference in
the amount of opportunities provided for students to engage
in the arts in school, to what extent do these results suggest
that the impact that arts engagement has on learning is not
necessarily grounded in the number of opportunities a student has within a week, but rather depends on whether they
have any access to arts study and engagement? Researchers
have recently begun to address the needs of arts study and

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MELNICK ET AL.

engagement in rural education settings, but more work needs

to be done (Duffy and Friend 2003). It may prove informative
to disaggregate arts data by type of disciplinary engagement,
such as music, theater, dance, and visual arts, to get a richer
view of the accessibility and impact of various art forms for
students attending schools in one of these types of communities.
Second, we suggest that family involvement, as it relates
to arts engagement of their children, significantly impacts
learning. Identifying out-of-school arts engagement as one
indicator of family involvement, we looked at differences
between students who had enjoyed out-of-school arts study
and engagement and their achievement in reading and math
and students who had only experienced in-school arts study
and engagement. Our findings reveal significant differences
between the groups, suggesting that family involvement in
such activities as out-of-school arts does introduce a stronger
base for math and reading competencies. This result reveals
the need to look more closely at individual student and family
factors impacting the connection between arts and academic
competencies. Factors such as dispositions and student motivation may be important areas to explore as well. Similarly,
family factors such as parental involvement, parent education
levels, and income may also play a role. This studys findings indicate a need for further work to gain a more detailed
understanding of the characteristics of students who engage
in arts study. Thus, studies including such issues as frames
of mind (Gardner 1983) and mindset (Dweck 2006) might
more clearly inform data.
The literature on arts education seeks to understand how
engagement in the arts affects student cognition. As we noted
previously, the continuing discourse on this subject reveals
a plethora of definitions of cognition that, in turn, provide
multiple perspectives related to the impact of arts study on
cognition. The majority of the work seeks to reveal a causal
effect between arts study and other achievement. Particularly in this present climate of high-stakes testing, claims
of causation play a powerful role in providing policymakers and teachers with much needed support for retaining the
arts in the school despite cuts in budgets and other resources
(AEP 2004). Causal evidence, however, remains elusive. The
complexity of the learning process continues to obviate neat
conclusions and the development of adequate research designs.
In light of this reality, it is important to note that our
analyses make a strong case for further exploring arts engagement in the schools and the relationship between arts
study and cognition as a part of the dynamic whole of the
learning process. We thus suggest framing future studies to
explore the transformative nature of school arts study. Even
when some form of arts study is only offered less than once a
week, our findings reveal a significant difference between the
achievement of fifth grade students involved in out-of-school
arts programs and students not involved in out-of-school arts
programs. This pervasive impact, which appears to be irre-

spective of race, gender, and the type of community in which

the school is located, cries out for additional exploration.
Therefore, the relationship of arts study to math and reading competencies that this article confirms may necessitate
a renewed look at Eisners (2002) contention that the necessary focus for understanding the impact of arts study on
learning is not academic competencies, but the introduction
of the imaginative mind. In their comprehensive work on
the learning process, Bransford et al. (2000) made it clear
that learning is about a dynamic interplay of the developing learner in a complex relationship of organism to natural
environment context. They noted that learning is not about
what strategy may cause learners to score better on math
or reading tests; rather, it is about working with a complex
system called learning in context. The Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) project has shown that when
arts experiences were introduced into the curriculum of the
city schools, school culture was transformed and learning
conditions improved (Catterall and Waldorf 2000). Surveys
revealed the CAPE teachers outscored the non-CAPE teachers on their perceptions of both the school climate and their
own relationship to the parents and the community. Additionally, the students in these classes reported a generally positive
opinion of arts integration, and their state test scores revealed
a positive trend upward, with a noticeable gap widening between the CAPE and non-CAPE scores over time (Catterall
and Waldorf 2000).
When considering whether the arts serve as an agent of
school culture transformation, issues of diversity and culture
should also be addressed. The current movement from a local
to a global perspective challenges our schools. Researchers
have found that engagement in the arts enhances understanding among diverse groups (Mandell and Wolf 2003). The
pattern recognition and visualization skills obtained through
music study are known to be important in developing crosscultural understanding (Gardenfors 2007). Exploring arts engagement and learning as defined in context or through a
sociocultural lens (Vygotsky 1978) may be a necessary approach to move the subject of arts in the schools out of the
typical funding discourse and into the transformative education discourse (Hicks, Berger, and Generett 2005).
Although this discussion exposes a broad understanding of the relationship between arts in the schools and
community- and home-based factors, we recognize clear
limitations of our study. First, defining reading and math
competencies purely by teacher reports is not ideal, since
teacher biases may be present. This approach also does not
provide for a broader understanding of the learning process
that is found to be more efficacious as the basis for studies
focusing on arts in the schools (Eisner 2002; Fiske n.d.). Second, aggregating the arts disciplines and considering them as
one entity is limiting. To enrich further study, disaggregating
the data by music, drama, theater, and visual arts may prove
more helpful for explaining variation in student achievement,
particularly for those math and reading competencies that

COGNITION AND STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS

appeared significantly different for students engaged with

arts study.
On the other hand, our findings reflect a key issue with
rural schools showing the impact that even a few arts opportunities in the schools can have and providing a framework
for exploring arts engagement and the learning process as an
integrated dynamic whole. Ongoing research in this area has
the potential to add to the discourse relating the complexities of student learning through the lens of arts study and
ever-changing family constellations.

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CONCLUSION
To be clear, some of the research findings in the area of arts
education are purely scientific, while others are associated
with advocacy groups who may have biases regarding the
importance of arts education and its effect on schools. We
have made a concerted effort to include multiple perspectives
in this article, but much of our theoretical rationale stems
from primary sources of original research. Policymakers are
cautioned to carefully consider the origin of any research on
which policy decisions are based.
As we consider engagement in the arts and home- and
community-based factors, we find that the work has just begun. As we anticipate the dynamic school context that is
embedded within a globalized society, the exploration of
the relationship of the arts in schools and student learning
may not be fully understood without a comprehensive dynamic understanding of learning as unleashing imaginative
thought (Eisner 2002). It is with this frame of mind concerning the arts in the schools that we look toward informing the
discourse at a broader and deeper level as research moves forward into a transformative understanding. Clearly, parental
influences likely have more of an effect on most children,
and efforts to involve parents in the arts along with their children may be more productive than providing arts programs
in school alone.
Based on the results of this study, it is clear that student
involvement in the arts has a positive relationship with higher
student achievement at some level. When arts programs are
eliminated altogether, achievement scores tend to decrease.
Given the strong emphasis today on increasing high-stakes
test scores and with funding levels often being tied to performance, school administrators and state policymakers would
be well advised to consider this positive relationship between
achievement scores and arts study in making budget and program decisions that adversely affect children. Furthermore,
many parents may be unaware of the positive influence that
involvement in the arts may have on their childs academic
performance in other areas. Involving parents of high and low
achievers alike in programs designed to inform them of the
many benefits that arts involvement has for schooling and life
in general may encourage greater support for such programs
and higher student involvement. Furthermore, schools need

161

to find ways to include professional development programs

for teachers that focus on a team-based approach to teaching
wherein the arts teachers are included with regular classroom
teachers in curriculum decisions and planning across all subject areas. Such professional development efforts have been
shown to be an effective approach to fully integrating the arts
with core subjects.

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