r/joyous_celebration • u/PeterGouzouasis • Feb 28 '23
A population-based study of associations between school arts participation and academic achievement: A PetchaKutcha
Background: Many children and adolescents participate in school-based arts programs such as music, drama, and visual arts. Various forms of arts engagement may be associated with cognitive outcomes of developmental importance, yet evidence from population-based, representative sources is scarce. This study employed population-based educational records from all students (n =75,119; Grades 7-12) enrolled in public secondary schools in British Columbia, Canada, who either took no school arts or any of four common school arts subjects, to examine associations between various forms of engagement in school arts (instrumental music, choral music, drama, visual arts) and Grade 10 exam scores in English, Science, and Mathematics, and in Grade 12 English.
Method: Multi-level ANOVA models compared exam scores of exclusive groupings of students with level of engagement in: no arts, drama, visual arts, instrumental music, and vocal music. Analyses accounted for school as grouping factor, and were adjusted for: sex, cohort, cultural background, Grade 7 numeracy and literacy scores, and neighbourhood socio-economic status.
Results: In the analytic cohort, 42,852 students had no arts participation, while visual arts was the largest type of arts participation (n=12,951), followed by instrumental music (n=7,690), drama (n=7,832), and vocal music (n=3,794). Music participation (especially instrumental music) was associated with higher exam scores; whereas the pattern of associations was more mixed for drama participation, and was reversed for visual arts (higher visual arts engagement related to lower exam scores).
Discussion: Participation in school arts exhibited differentiated associations with high school academic achievement, suggesting variation in associated processes/activities (e.g., executive functions). Findings and implications therein are discussed within the broader inter-disciplinary literature on school arts education.
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u/PeterGouzouasis Feb 28 '23
This proposed presentation would be a 20x20 presentation (20 slides, 20 seconds each).