Why is it so important to keep the arts strong in our schools?
How does the study of the arts contribute to student achievement
and success? These and other important questions are addressed
in a new booklet published by the National Assembly of State
Arts Agencies (NASAA) in collaboration with the Arts Education
Partnership (AEP). Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit
Student Achievement responds to the needs of policymakers,
educators, parents and advocates for fact-based, non-technical
language documenting the most current and compelling research on
the value of arts learning experiences. Critical Evidence
updates and expands on the case made for arts education in
NASAA's earlier collaboration with the Arts in Education
Partnership, Eloquent Evidence: Arts at the Core of Learning,
originally published in 1995. "Ten year's after its release,"
observes Critical Evidence author Sandra S. Ruppert, "the
evidence is even more eloquent, and the need to demonstrate the
link between the arts and student achieveme