Study shows evidence that arts education can greatly benefit at-risk youth

The National Endowment for the Arts has released a report examining the benefits of arts education for at-risk youth titled The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies (James S. Catterall et al., March 2012).

The report examines the results from four separate longitudinal studies of at-risk youth engaging in arts education. The authors distinguished populations who did or did not intensely engage in the arts, as well as populations of students of high and low socioeconomic status (SES). They then compared the academic achievement, civic engagement, and labor market outcomes of each of those populations as they related to each other.

The report found three major correlative conclusions:

1. Socially and economically disadvantaged children and teenagers who have high levels of arts engagement or arts learning show more positive outcomes in a variety of areas than their low-arts-engaged peers.
2. At-risk teenagers or young adults with a history of intensive arts experiences show achievement levels closer to, and in some cases exceeding, the levels shown by the general population studied.
3. Most of the positive relationships between arts involvement and academic outcomes apply only to at-risk populations (low-SES). But positive relationships between arts and civic engagement are noted in high-SES groups as well.

The full report can be found here.