English Language Arts and Mathematics - Elementary School

 

Below is the research linking arts strategies to specific success at the elementary school level in English Language Arts.  Click on any of the study citations to link to a full summary of the study in ArtsEdSearch, the online database of arts education research.

 

English Language Arts - Reading

 

• Arts integrated instruction helps strengthen elementary school students’ reading readiness, fluency, and comprehension (Brouillette, 2010; Dupont, 1992; Ingram & Meath, 2007;  McMahon et al., 2003; Wandell, Dougherty, Ben-Shachar & Deutsch, 2008). 

 

• Third and fourth grade students in arts integrated classrooms outperform students in traditional settings on reading assessments (Ingram & Reidel, 2003).

 

English Language Arts - Writing

 

• Arts integrated instruction helps students become better, more imaginative writers (Cremin et al, 2006; Crumpler & Schneider, 2002).

 

• Programs that integrate drama and English Language Arts instruction, in particular, help students make better use of details, develop their perspective as writers, and write more persuasive arguments (Moore & Caldwell, 1993; Peppler, 2010; Wagner, 1986). 

 

English Language Arts - Speaking and Listening

 

• Students in arts programming learn new ways of articulating their ideas (Brouillette & Jennings, 2010; Heath & Wolf, 2005; Ingram & Meath, 2007, Varelas, et al, 2010).

 

• Students with substantive involvement in the arts improve their communication and collaboration with peers and become more active participants in classroom activities and learning communities (Mason, Steedly & Thormann, 2008; Imms, Jeanneret & Stevens-Ballenger, 2011; Malin, 2012; Wolf, 1999).  

 

English Language Arts - Language

 

• Arts and arts integrated programming helps elementary school students develop language proficiency and expressive abilities (Brouillette & Jennings, 2010; Heath & Wolf, 2005; Hui & Lao, 2006). 

 

• Students participating in programs that integrate drama with English language arts, are more fluent and elaborate in their storytelling compared with other peers (Hui & Lao, 2006).

 

• Students in visual art programs demonstrate increases in their use of complex language and sophisticated vocabulary (Heath & Wolf, 2005, Korn, 2007).

 

• Students with significant involvement in music outperform peers on standardized tests of vocabulary and verbal sequencing assessments, two fundamental measures of language development (Foregeard, Winner, Norton & Schlaug, 2008; Piro & Ortiz, 2009). 

 

English Language Arts - Skills and Competencies

 

• Arts learning experiences help students develop the critical thinking and reasoning skills needed to master English language arts content, such as analysis, critique, and use of evidence-based reasoning and conjecture (Catterall & Peppler, 2007; Stevenson & Deasy, 2005; Montgomerie & Ferguson, 1999; Tishman, MacGillivray & Palmer, 1999).

 

• Through drama programming in particular, students gain an awareness of multiple viewpoints and develop greater cultural sensitivity (Bellisario & Donovan, 2012; Brouillette & Jennings, 2010).