Browse Research


Using Multi-Genre Arts Programming to Support Creative Engagement and Social and Emotional Learning in Middle-School Students With Autism

Eve Müller, et al. | 2020

Müller, E., Nutting, D., Keddell, K. “ArtAbility: Using Multi-Genre Arts Programming to Support Creative Engagement and Social and Emotional Learning in Middle-School Students With Autism.” The Journal of the Arts and Special Education, 1(1) (2019): 25-48. Abstract: This report focuses on ArtAbility, a multi-genre arts program for middle school students with autism. The evaluation of […]


“The Music I Was Meant to Sing”: Adolescent choral students’ perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy.

Shaw, J.T. | 2016

This article is based on a multiple embedded case study, the purpose of which was to explore adolescent choral students’ perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in an urban nonprofit children’s choir organization.


The Effects of Musical Training on Child Development: A randomized trial of El Sistema in Venezuela.

Alemán, X., Duryea, S., Guerra, N.G. et al. | 2016

This study aims to assess the effects of a largescale music program on children’s developmental functioning in the context of high rates of exposure to violence using Venezuela’s “El Sistema” program which emphasizes social interactions through group instruction and group performances.


“Searching for an entrance” and finding a two-way door: Using poetry to create East-West contact zones in TESOL teacher education

Cahnmann-Taylor, M., Zhang, K., Bleyle, S. J., & Hwang, Y. | 2015

Several scholars have argued for the importance of aesthetic and autobiographic narratives to democratize the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) field and showcase varieties of minoritized perspectives.


The art of empathy: A mixed methods case study of a critical place-based art education program

Joy G. Bertling | 2015

This mixed methods case study examined middle school students’ empathy with the environment within a critical place-based art education program.


The process of social identity development in adolescent high school choral singers: A grounded theory

E.C. Parker | 2014

The purpose of this study was to describe the process of adolescent choral singers’ social identity development within three midsized, Midwestern high school mixed choirs.


Creating cultural consumers: The dynamics of cultural capital acquisition

B. Kisida, J.P. Greene, D.H. Bowen | 2014

The theories of cultural reproduction and cultural mobility have largely shaped the study of the effects of cultural capital on academic outcomes.


Cross-Study Findings: A View into a Decade of Arts Integration

Duma, A. L., & Silverstein, L. B. | 2014

The Kennedy Center’s CETA (Changing Education Through the Arts) program is a professional development partnership designed to support teachers’ employment of arts integration practices in their classrooms.


Program Evaluation: Art Around the Corner

Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. | 2012

The National Gallery of Art (NGA) conducted a program evaluation of its long-standing initiative, Art Around the Corner (AAC).


Arts enrichment and preschool emotions for low-income children at risk

Brown, E. D., Sax, K. L. | 2013

This study examines the effects of arts integration on preschool students’ emotional expression and emotional regulation.


Prelude: Music Makes Us baseline research report

Eason, B. J. A., & Johnson, C. M. | 2013

Researchers from the University of Kansas sought to establish a baseline understanding of the effects of existing music programs in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) in order to better understand the potential effects and implications of Music Makes Us, an enhanced music program launched in 2011 by the Mayor’s office, music industry leaders, and philanthropists.


Arts education and positive youth development: Cognitive, behavioral, and social outcomes of adolescents who study the arts

Elpus, K. | 2013

This study examined the influence of adolescent participation in the arts on cognitive, behavioral, and social outcomes.


Partnerships in arts Integration Research final reports.

Scripp, L., Burnaford, G. Vazquez, O. Paradis, L. & Sienkiewicz, F. | 2013

The Partnerships for Arts Integration Research (PAIR) final report summarizes results from a four-year, federal Department of Education Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) project administered by the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) and the Chicago Public Schools from 2007-2010.


Creativity in an Arts Integrated Third Space: A Case Study of Elementary School Students in an International Collaboration

Susan Hyatt | 2014

This qualitative case study examines the impact of an arts-integrated international collaboration the creativity of elementary school students when students are communicating and creating exclusively through a technological third space.


Found in translation: Interdisciplinary arts integration in Project AIM

Ingram, D., Pruitt, L., & Weiss, C. | 2014

Researchers and staff from Project AIM, an interdisciplinary arts-integration program in Chicago, designed a study to research arts integration as a method of translation.


Enhancing empathy and theory of mind

Goldstein, T. R., & Winner, E. | 2012

This quasi-experimental study assessed the levels of theory of mind (understanding others’ various mental states) and empathy (matching the emotional state of another) in students who took acting classes versus art or music classes.


“A unified poet alliance”: The personal and social outcomes of youth spoken word poetry programming

Susan Weinstein | 2010

The researcher conducted an ethnographic study of youth spoken word primarily through participant observation of the programming offered by WordPlay in Baton Rouge.


Correlations among social-cognitive skills in adolescents involved in acting or arts classes

Goldstein, T. R. | 2011

This quasi-experimental study measured correlations between the development of empathy, theory of mind (“an everyday understanding of what someone else is thinking or feeling” (p.


Partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector: Evaluation of impact on student outcomes

Imms, W., Jeanneret, N., & Stevens-Ballenger, J. | 2011

This study examines how arts partnerships impact student engagement, student voice, social learning, creative skills, and arts-related knowledge and skills; the five student outcomes linked to the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS).


Creating destiny: Youth, arts and social change

Lauren M. Stevenson | 2011

This ethnographic study examines how a company of high-school-aged artists in a community arts program, makes social change while creating an original hip hop, modern dance, and theater production.


Singing one’s way to self-regulation: The role of early music and movement curricula and private speech

Winsler, A., Ducenne, L., & Koury, A. | 2011

Investigators studied the effects of music classes on a child’s self regulation through private speech.


Voices from the field: Teachers’ views on the relevance of arts integration

Kerrie Bellisario and Lisa Donovan | 2012

This two-year study undertaken by researchers at Lesley University (LU), funded by the Ford Foundation, examined the relevance of arts integration in today’s educational climate from the perspectives of teachers who completed a graduate program in arts integration at LU.


Graffiti, poetry, dance: How public library art programs affect teens

Crawford Barniskis, S. | 2012

This article examines the impact art programming for teenagers in public libraries has on teenage civic engagement.


Passing on: The old head/younger dancer mentoring relationship in the cultural sphere of rhythm tap

Donna-Marie Peters | 2010

This case study examines the phenomenon of mentorship within inner-city black rhythm tap dancing communities in New York City through an investigation of three different tap dance communities: “La Cave”, “Swing 46” and “On Tap.


Drama and possibility thinking – Taiwanese pupils’ perspectives regarding creative pedagogy in drama

Lin, Y. | 2010

The researcher used a descriptive case study to consider how and what kind of creativity is developed through participation in drama-integrated learning, and how students respond to creative pedagogy (using drama-based and imaginative teaching approaches to enhance learning with the goal of cultivating creativity) in a Taiwanese context.


Applied theatre at the heart of educational reform: An impact and sustainability analysis

Gallagher, K., & Service, I. | 2010

Researchers analyzed the impact of a theater-based intervention on teacher-student relationships and communication, teaching practice, and general understanding of issues of poverty.


Helping children cross cultural boundaries in the borderlands: Arts program at Freese Elementary in San Diego creates cultural bridge

Brouillette, L., & Jennings, L. | 2010

In 2001-2002, Freese Elementary, an inner-city elementary program in the U.


Oklahoma A+ Schools: What the research tells us 2002-2007. Volume three, quantitative measures.

Barry, N. H. | 2010

Researchers conducted a five-year evaluation study of how the A+ arts integrated school reform strategies (developed in North Carolina) played out in Oklahoma’s growing network of A+ Schools.


Enhancing fluent and flexible thinking through the creative drama process

Sema Karakelle | 2009

This study uses two sub-parts of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (1974), to measure flexibility and fluency, key elements of divergent thinking, in relation to creative drama instruction.


Musical training shapes structural brain development

Hyde, K. L., Lerch, J., Norton, A., Forgeard, M., Winner, E., Evans, A. C., & Schlaug, G. | 2009

This study investigates whether instrumental music training leads to brain and behavioral changes.


Impact of arts integration on voice, choice, and access.

Mason, C. Y., Steedly, K. M., & Thormann, M. S. | 2008

VSA arts conducted this study to investigate the relationship between substantive arts involvement and social, cognitive, and artistic development among students with disabilities.


Art student perceptions of the role of community service in Israeli teacher education

Bachar, P. and Ofri, V. | 2009

This study examines Israeli pre-service art teachers’ experiences participating in arts-based community service projects in a prison, battered women’s shelter, drug rehabilitation center and other sites.


Growth in motion: Supporting young women’s embodied identity and cognitive development through dance after school

Mira-Lisa Katz | 2008

This research examines embodied learning, how we know and learn through our body, from the perspectives of 30 teenage women participating at two community-based dance studios in Oakland, CA.


Emotional development in adolescence: What can be learned from a high school theater program?

Reed W. Larson and Jane R. Brown | 2007

Grounded-theory analyses were used to formulate propositions regarding the processes of adolescent emotional development.


Arts for academic achievement: A compilation of evaluation findings from 2004-2006.

Ingram, D., & Meath, M. | 2007

The summative evaluation of two years of the Arts for Academic Achievement (AAA) program examines student learning outcomes of arts-integrated instruction measured by standardized tests, as well as effects not captured by standardized tests.


Using Freirean pedagogy of just IRE to inform critical social learning in arts-informed community education for sexual minorities.

Andre P. Grace and Kristopher Wells | 2007

This study investigates the development and implementation of two arts-based community programs for sexual minority young adults.


Community-based arts program for youth in low-income communities: A multi-method evaluation

Wright, R., John, L., Alaggia, R., & Sheel, J. | 2006

The article presents findings from a quasi-experimental evaluation of the National Arts and Youth Demonstration Project (NAYDP).


Studio thinking: How visual arts teaching can promote disciplined habits of mind

Winner, E., Hetland, L., Veenema, S., Sheridan, K., Palmer, P., Locher, I., et al. | 2006

This study first provides an overview of prior meta-analytical research about the notion of transfer between arts learning and non-arts domains, concluding that with only few exceptions, transfer could not be proved because existing studies yield insufficient evidence.


Exploring the outcomes of rock and popular music instruction in high school guitar class: A case study.

Scott Seifried | 2006

This research explored the impact of popular and rock music on high school students’ music education.


Whole brain learning: The fine arts with students at risk

Respress, T., & Lutfi, G. | 2006

Researchers used a quasi-experimental research design to examine the impact of arts education on students involved in the after-school program HEARTS (Health Education in the Arts Refining Talented Students).


The effects of a creative dance and movement program on the social competence of head start preschoolers.

Lobo, Y. B., & Winsler, A. | 2006

This study assesses the effects of a creative dance/movement program on the social competence of preschool children.


Evaluation of a theater-based youth violence prevention program for elementary school children

Kisiel, C., Blaustein, M., Spinazzola, J., Schmidt, C. S., Zucker, M., & van der Kolk, B. | 2006

The researchers used a quasi-experimental research design to investigate the effectiveness of Urban Improv, a 27-week interactive drama-based youth violence prevention program.


Exploring moral values with young adolescents through process drama

Marie Gervais | 2006

This qualitative, arts-based research study examines adolescents’ experiences in a process drama program and explores the general decision making processes of junior high school students (grades seven, eight, and nine) related to their moral values.


Culture and antiracism in adult education: An exploration of the contributions of arts-based learning

Clover, D. E. | 2006

This qualitative comparative case study investigates the value of arts-based programs in facilitating cooperative learning with the aim of addressing pertinent issues within communities.


Children’s perceptions of live arts performances: A longitudinal study

Schiller, W. | 2005

The researcher conducted a three-year longitudinal research study and evaluation entitled “Children’s Voices,” in which five to twelve year old children were exposed to live arts performances in order to learn what the impact of attending arts performances is on school-aged children in public schools.


“We are more than jailbirds”: An arts program for incarcerated young women.

Lazzari, M. M., Amundson, K. A., & Jackson, R. L. | 2005

This qualitative study examines the effects of an arts project on juvenile female offenders who are incarcerated.


‘Seeing it for real?…?’—Authenticity, theatre and learning in museums

Jackson, A., & Leahy, H. R. | 2005

Researchers used a naturalistic and case study model to examine and compare the museum theater-based and non-theater -based learning experiences of students in two United Kingdom history museums: the People’s History Museum (PHM) in Manchester and the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London.


Music lessons enhance IQ

Schellenberg, E.G. | 2004

This study is the first to directly test the hypothesis that music training transfers to cognitive intelligence.


InsideOut: Facilitating gay youth identity development through a performance-based youth organization

Halverson, E.R. | 2005

This article presents a case study of youth—who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ)—participating in About Face Youth Theatre (ABYT), an arts-based program aimed at promoting positive youth development through workshops, discussion, narrative writing, script writing, and performance.


A continuing inquiry into the school as parkland metaphor

Craig, C. | 2002

The researcher utilized an ethnographic study format to understand how fifth grade students attending a magnet school in an historic African American neighborhood made meaning of the 9/11 events.


Music education and mentoring as intervention for at-risk urban adolescents: Their self-perceptions, opinions, and attitudes

Shields, C. | 2001

This study examines the role of music education as an intervention technique for at-risk urban adolescents.


The art of community transformation.

Lowe, S. S. | 2001

This study describes how community arts programs support the development of a sense of community.


Becoming somebody! How arts programs support positive identity for middle school girls

Holloway, D. L., & LeCompte, M. D. | 2001

This ethnographic case study examines how participating in the arts empowers preadolescent middle school girls.


Art and community: Creating knowledge through service in dance

Ross, J. | 2000

Sixty at-risk and incarcerated adolescents participated in jazz and hip-hop dance classes for ten weeks.


Arts Education in Secondary Schools: Effects and Effectiveness.

Harland, J., Kinder, K., Lord, P., Stott, A., Schagen, I., Haynes, J., Cusworth, L.,White, R., & Paola, R. | 2000

The purpose of this large-scale study was to examine the effects of secondary school arts education (in visual arts, drama, dance, or music) in England and Wales.


Learning in and through the arts: The question of transfer.

Burton, J. M., Horowitz, R. & Abeles, H. | 2000

The study investigates whether transfer occurs such that learning in the arts affects learning in non-art subjects and if there are effects, what they are, how they occur, and what circumstances within schools influence the realization of such effects.


Imaginative actuality: Learning in the arts during nonschool hours

Shirley Brice Heath and Adelma Roach | 1999

This research draws upon data from a ten-year national study that describes academic, personal, social and civic outcomes of out-of-school programs on students.


Involvement in the arts and human development: General involvement and intensive involvement in music and theatre arts

James S. Catterall, Richard Chapleau, John Iwanaga | 1999

This briefing presents results from a two-year exploration of interactions between the arts and student achievement.


Artistic talent development for urban youth: The promise and the challenge

Baum, S., Oreck, B., McCartney, H. | 1999

The researchers studied three cohorts of students enrolled in the Young Talent Program, an arts program offering instruction in music and dance to students enrolled in New York City public schools beginning at grade three and extending outside of school into early adulthood.


Living the arts through language-learning: A report on community-based youth organizations

Heath, S. B., Soep, E., & Roach A. | 1998

A team of researchers conducted fieldwork in a sample of communities to better understand the arts programs operated by community organizations and their impact on participants.


A meta-analysis on the effects of music as reinforcement for education/therapy objectives

Standley, J.M. | 1996

The purpose of the study meta-analysis was to examine the effectiveness of music as a reward (or removal of music as a punishment) in education and therapy settings.


The effectiveness of creative dramatics and storytelling in a library setting.

Anthony, A., Emans, E., & Ziegler, E. | 1973

This study examines the impact of library-based creative dramatics and storytelling programs on children’s interest in books, confidence in expressing ideas, self-image, and ability to empathize.


Role of imaginative play in cognitive development

Fink, R. S. | 1976

This study addresses the potential roles of imaginative play (or creative role-playing) on two foundational cognitive abilities of children initially identified by pioneering developmental psychologist and educational theorist Jean Piaget— “conservation” and “perspectivism.