A report in January 2006 on the status of arts education in California concluded that:.
"Emphasis on reading and math in both state and federal accountability systems has an unintentional impact on the provision of instruction in the arts and other required subjects. The quality and frequency of arts education in California public schools is highly inconsistent due to competing priorities and limited discretionary funding.disadvantaged and at-risk youth are often barred from school arts programs in favor of remedial instruction in reading and math. This practice contradicts research evidence that quality arts education provides even greater learning benefits to disadvantaged youth than their advantaged classmates" (Ford & McMahon, 2011).
Cognitive neuroscientists at seven major universities have found strong connections between arts education and cognitive development (i.e. thinking, problem solving, concept understanding, information processing and intelligence (The Dana Foundation, 2008).) Many studies were performed on students that are involved in an arts program vs. students that are not involved. The overall results suggest that students involved in the arts develop attention skills and long term memory that also apply to other subjects in school (The Dana Foundation, 2008). One of the studies performed concluded that students involved/experienced in music performance scored 53 points higher on the verbal portion on the SAT and 39 points higher on the math portion than students that are not involved/experienced in the arts (The Dana Foundation, 2008). .
Since the arts programs are optional courses in high levels of education, less students take those classes. "According to Shirley Brice Heath, researcher at the Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, arts education has an enormous impact on the lives of children." For example, Brice notes that those students who participate in the arts for at least three hours on three days each week through at least one full year are": (Ford & McMahon, 2011).
