Recommended reading from around the Web

Arts Educators Should Be Asking One Key Question
Column

Arts Educators Should Be Asking One Key Question

by Janet Eilber

June 2009

Researchers and educators need to collaborate to learn how arts education will inform the cognitive skills of children in the 21st century.

New on Dana

Arts Ed on the Web

June 2009

Available online: our bimonthly feature in which we highlight Web sites devoted to arts education.

Guest Column: Music Affects Many Areas of Brain Function

by Marjorie H. Weil

Battle Creek Enquirer | June 21, 2009

Statistics show that students who participate in band or choir perform better academically, have higher SAT scores, are more self-confident and are better adjusted socially.

Fine Arts Feeling the Pressure

by Sasha Heller

Baldwin County Now (Alabama) | June 20, 2009

The Baldwin County Board of Education’s $23 million deficit may affect school fine-arts programs more than other areas, although the board has not considered cutting arts altogether.

Education Secretary Receives Arts Petitions

by Jessica Nwokocha

Associated Press | June 19, 2009

The U.S. Department of Education has received 120,000 signatures on a petition sponsored by the National Association of Music Education, part of NAME’s effort to urge federal lawmakers to provide the funds needed to make music and arts mandatory core subjects for all public school students.

The Top Jazz Students Play Big Number: 1600 Penn

by Matt Schudel

The Washington Post | June 16th, 2009

During June’s Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in Washington, D.C., 150 talented young jazz musicians met with first lady Michelle Obama at the White House as part of a workshop to celebrate an original American art form.

National Arts Test Scores Offer Clouded Picture

by Libby Quaid

The San Francisco Chronicle | June 15, 2009

Students have been taking fewer field trips to art museums, a trend that began before the recession gouged school budgets.

Obama Plays It Safe with the Arts

by David A. Smith

The Wall Street Journal | June 11, 2009

President Barack Obama has announced Jim Leach as his choice to lead the National Endowment for the Humanities, a surprising choice but one in line with the organization’s goals.

Music to Her Ears: Teacher Honored for Dedication to Oakdale Elementary Children and Their Symphony

by Kirsten Stewart

The Salt Lake Tribune | June 10, 2009

Debby Wetzel is a accomplished violinist who says joy and important education skills go hand in hand in her music classes.

Summer Camp for Jazz: Brush Up with the Masters

by Howard Reich

The Chicago Tribune | June 9, 2009

Chicago-area students get an opportunity to play jazz with the masters this summer.

The Arts Will Help School Accountability

The Arts Will Help School Accountability

Commentary by Mariale Hardiman

Federal and state policy makers should expand their view of what constitutes an effective school based on the evidence of science and of experience, proposes a neuroeducation specialist at Johns Hopkins University. For example, at the school she ran in Baltimore, "as teachers designed arts-integrated lessons that fostered creative thinking, a transformation occurred in the school."

Why the Arts Matter

Why the Arts Matter

Jerome Kagan Gives Six Good Reasons for Advocating the Importance of Arts in School

“It is not possible to live by rationality alone," said cognitive-research pioneer Jerome Kagan during the Learning, Arts, and the Brain conference in Baltimore.