As academic pressures and budget scarcities heighten, arts education is challenged to a new level of performance. Thankfully, a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) suggests that significant arts participation provides an academic and civic lift for students—particularly for those from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

The report, titled “The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth,” is based on four different studies: 1) The National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, 2) Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (Kindergarten Class of 1998-99), 3) Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, and 4) National Longitudinal Survey of Youth of 1997.

The extent of arts participation in school and afterschool was studied in comparison to academic achievement and civic engagement in students of low and high socioeconomic status (SES). Collectively, the studies tracked more than 70,000 young people from as young as five years old up to 27 years old, from 1988 to 2009.

A sample of key findings for students in the high-arts/low-SES group, suggesting better academic and civic outcomes, includes:

• Post-secondary education. 71% went on to post-secondary education compared to 48% in the low-arts/low-SES group; 39% went on to four-year colleges compared to 17% in the other group.
• Science and writing. Eighth-grade students who demonstrated significant participation in the arts from kindergarten through elementary school scored higher in science and writing than students who had lower arts participation.
• College degrees. Low SES students with high-arts participation in high school were three times more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than the low-arts participation group and more likely to earn “A’s” in college.
• Extracurricular activities. High school seniors with arts-rich backgrounds were twice as likely to participate in other extracurricular activities in school, such as sports, yearbook or newspaper, or an honor society—even twice as likely as low-arts/high-SES students.
• Civic engagement. High-arts/low-SES students in eighth grade were more likely to read a newspaper, while high school seniors participated in student government and school clubs four times more than their low-arts counterparts.
• Reading and library visits. Young adults who were high-arts from middle school through high school were more likely to have read a book or visited a library in the past year.
• Volunteering and voting. 47% of high-arts/low-SES young adults were more likely to have volunteered in the last two years versus 26% in the low-arts/low-SES group; 43% of the high-arts group voted in a local election compared to 29% of their low-arts peers.
• Career aspirations. Compared to 21% in the low-arts group, 49.5% of the high-arts young adults anticipated serving in a professional occupation by age 30, with teaching emerging as the fourth most common occupation.

The report concludes: “Teenagers and young adults of low socioeconomic status (SES) who have a history of in-depth arts involvement show better academic outcomes than do low-SES youth who have less arts involvement. They earn better grades and demonstrate higher rates of college enrollment and attainment.”

Download the full report: http://www.nea.gov/research/research.php?type=R