After a number of years of being put on the back burner, students at California schools will now have arts education included in their curriculum. Drama, music, and visual arts were once dismissed as being mere fluff, but now they are considered a tool to helping improve overall student performance. This is an interesting twist of events in light of major budget cuts being forced due to decreasing district revenues.

Students at California Schools Need to Have a Well-Rounded Education

When students attending the California schools take a course in drama, they are not just learning about acting they are also learning how to think creatively and work well with others and perform under pressure. They are making connections between their own lives and the experiences of other people. Many students who pursue these types of classes also experience an increase in their self-confidence. All of these factors mean that these students tend to receive better test scores, whether they are attending California schools or not.

Having a broad base of knowledge will only benefit students as they go on to higher education or to work after they have finished their education. Unfortunately, too many California schools have focused their attention (and available funds) on math and reading, since these skills are being measured in standardized tests.

Benefits to Art Education at California Schools Shouldn’t Be Ignored

With this type of tunnel vision about the standardized tests and having students score well on them, it’s easy to see why anything not covered on the test could be discounted at California schools. The fact is that school should be about more than the students’ performance on Test Day. Simply because a student’s performance in art cannot be marked in the same way as a math exam, doesn’t make it any less important to students attending California schools.

Since including the Arts in the curriculum does lead to better test scores, then those young people going to the California schools should definitely be exposed to them. If the goal is to increase student performance on the standardized tests, then let’s encourage the administrators at California schools to use all the resources at their disposal to help the students to perform well. It’s a well recognized fact that multiple learning styles exist, and students who are visual learners thrive and make important synapse connections through creating.

Students who perform well on the standardized tests are more likely to stay in school, and we should be doing everything we can to help them do well. When young people attending California schools get off track and discouraged, they are at risk for dropping out of school. It is in all of our interests to encourage them to stay in school. Kids that drop out have fewer options than those who complete their education.

If the price we have to pay to keep kids in California schools until graduation is to invest in an art or music program, then I would consider that money well spent.

Author Bio: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit California School Ratings – Private and Public

Category: Education
Keywords: California School Ratings – Public and Private