Arts integration across the curriculum: engagement in the arts ignites creativity and provides students with opportunities to critically interpret the world around them.

In considering the theme of this issue of Leadership, it is difficult to avoid invoking the spirit of Leonardo da Vinci, who was, both literally and figuratively, the prototypical Renaissance man--artist, astronomer, mathematician and scientist.

We know that da Vinci drew inspiration from the world around him, using his varied talents to creatively depict and better the condition of those dwelling therein. "Everything is connected to everything else," is a statement attributed to da Vinci; one need only leaf through his anatomical drawings or "Design for a Flying Machine" to appreciate the merits of this simple, yet profound, declaration.

Arts education in California's schools has experienced peaks and valleys over the decades, due to budgetary cutbacks and an almost exclusive focus on literacy, mathematics and science achievement. Gradually, the tide is beginning to turn, and interest in arts education has experienced a resurgence of sorts, resulting from new fine arts requirements at the university level, keen interest in using multiple modalities and intelligences and research that shows that the arts help better prepare students for college or the workplace.

Intuitively, we know that the arts inspire creativity and intellectual curiosity. This excitement easily becomes tempered when faced with questions about where the arts fit, how much they cost, and their impact on test scores and the Academic Performance Index.

The irony of having to make a case for the arts in the modern era, particularly in the Golden State, would not have been lost on da Vinci. Indeed, in an economy driven in large part by the entertainment industry and inventiveness in aerospace, technology and design, the idea of offering a comprehensive education without the arts seems perplexing.

Relegating the arts to the periphery of the educational experience, to use them as a reward for good behavior or merely to celebrate the holidays, is equally confusing. What would da Vinci say?

Making the case for the arts in school

In da Vinci's time, the arts were an integral part of education, community life and reflection upon the human condition; they were inseparable from the sciences and other academic disciplines. Today, education is characterized by scarcity of resources--human, fiscal and time among them; pressures associated with curricular adoptions; high-stakes testing; demographic, linguistic and socioeconomic diversity; and the Gordian knot that weaves together state and federal standards, frameworks, adoptions, legislation and court decisions.

So, how does the 21st century instructional leader make a powerful case for the arts in schools? Fortunately, it is possible to summarize much of the research in an easily digestible format.

Arts transform environment for learning

The body of work on arts education points to a number of encouraging findings for educators and schools. It shows that the arts positively impact cross-curricular achievement and teachers' abilities to use multiple modalities and intelligences (see box "What the research shows: Benefit of arts integration").

There is evidence that in creating a safe environment for learning (one with no right or wrong answers where everyone participates), engagement in the arts helps to develop academic language proficiency among English learners. Moreover, through the arts, English learners are introduced to a variety of ways to learn and use vocabulary, and benefit from collaboration with other pupils.

The research points to the many ways in which the arts cultivate the cognitive and behavioral skills necessary for success in any part of the K-12 curriculum, in the postsecondary environment and in the workplace. It also suggests that through the arts, the environment for learning is transformed into a safe haven for inquiry for all students and members of the school community. With the arts, all students have a chance to succeed--and better yet, to showcase their success.

The arts--in all forms--stimulate the brain. They ignite creativity and provide students with opportunities to critically interpret the world around them. In a very real way, arts integration transforms the curriculum--and not just in K-12 schools. For example, residents at a number of prestigious medical schools are using training in the visual and performing arts to better hone their diagnostic skills, searching for patterns and identifying outliers.

Arts integration requires careful planning

The arguments are indeed quite convincing. However, it is important to note that simply reserving time during the day or the week to immerse pupils in the arts is not enough. Injecting the arts into the curriculum in bits and pieces is not a panacea. As you will see in the next section, arts integration requires careful thought, planning and assessment.

As is the case with any other facet of education, building a long-term curriculum plan for the arts at the site and district levels is essential. In developing this plan, it is critical to recognize the reciprocal relationships between the arts and other subject areas.

In other words, the enlightened administrator understands that the arts are worthy of study in and of themselves--as well as a means to facilitate learning across subject matter areas. You will also find the reverse to be true--facility in mathematics and literacy also positively impacts proficiency in the arts.

Though every arts plan is unique, there are common themes and implications for administration and instructional leadership that warrant consideration. Among them are the following:

* Districts and school sites should work collaboratively to build a long-term plan for arts education, one that is aligned with curricular adoptions, standards and frameworks in the visual and performing arts and other disciplines. Identifying connections across subject areas is fundamental.

* The long-term arts education plan should encourage integration across the curriculum and include opportunities for showcasing student work through project-based learning.

* Administrative and practitioner buy-in and participation in the plan is key. The plan should highlight the benefits of arts integration rather than establishing the arts as a reward for pupils, a rainy day activity, or merely something to pursue when "extra time" is available.

* Comprehensive professional development that offers resources and strategies for planning, implementation and assessment is critical.

* Providing opportunities for pupils to showcase their work in the arts provides a sense of closure and brings together parents and others in the school community in celebration of achievement.

Professional development considerations

Beyond the prospect of having to sing or dance in front of a room full of students, the greatest source of reluctance for educators pursuing the arts for their schools lies in finding the resources for effective professional development. Although the district may have designated arts specialists on staff, with effective training, every teacher has the potential to provide meaningful arts experiences for students.

Certainly, there are artists in the field who can help, but where can they be found? What might entice them to work in a school or a district? The majority of museums, symphonies, performing arts centers and university arts departments/schools in California have dedicated outreach and education centers that regularly work with schools and districts. Many resources--including lesson-planning templates and case studies of best practices--are available online.

Although professional development philosophies and strategies in the arts vary by provider, it is important to consider the following in planning:

* One-shot arts engagements do not work. As with other areas of the curriculum, professional development in the arts should be ongoing and reinforced throughout the year.

* Where possible, professional development should be delivered in partnership by teaching artists/arts providers (who have expertise and experience in working with standards and adoptions).

* Practitioners should be provided with follow-up opportunities to share outcomes from their work with pupils and offer feedback on implementation.

* Connections to cross-curricular standards and frameworks as well as to other areas of the curriculum must he made explicit from the start and built into long- and short-term lesson/project plans.

* Professional development should provide teachers with strategies they can use to reinforce arts learning throughout the school day.

* Although elements of professional development may be effectively delivered away from the school site, it is imperative that support also occurs within the classroom context, attending to the needs of individual practitioners and pupils.

* Professional development for administrators and teachers should include training on formative and summative assessment, particularly for arts projects that are integrated throughout the curriculum.

The next section highlights an example of a successful collaboration between arts providers, schools, a county office of education and the University of California in which professional development is provided to educators during an intensive summer institute and a follow-up session during the fall.

The OCPAC Summer Institute

The OCPAC Summer Institute is a collaborative arts education outreach venture involving The Orange County Performing Arts Center; University Extension at the University of California, Irvine; the Orange County Department of Education; The California Arts Project and local providers specializing in the visual and performing arts.

Since its inception two years ago, the institute has invited teachers and administrators from schools across Southern California to participate in a series of intensive summer trainings. The week-long institute, hosted by OCPAC, provides an in-depth review of standards and frameworks across the curriculum and practical strategies to engage pupils through integrated arts projects in the visual and performing arts.

Participants not only learn what the arts teach, but participate in a series of projects that can be implemented immediately in the classroom. These projects may involve creating a storytelling dance to highlight a salient point in history, or using self-created instruments to teach the relationship between rhythm and mathematics.

Participants learn by doing and by observing. Everyone dances. Everyone sings. Everyone draws. Everyone reflects and engages in dialogue. Participants then proceed to synergistically create arts-in-fused project plans to implement and assess when they return to the classroom. No magic bullets or blanket solutions are provided.

Much to the delight of the involved educators, every institute includes attendance at a professional stage performance at OCPAC (often a sold-out "Broadway" show) that is debriefed the next day to identify "teachable moments" and arts learning opportunities. The show and debrief provide a critical capstone experience that enables participants to demonstrate what they have learned about the arts in a very real and meaningful way.

In the late fall, participants reconvene at OCPAC to share their experiences--epiphanies, what worked well, what did not, and changes observed during the course of delivery. More often than not, participants were taken aback by what they were able to do using the arts, and surprised by the changes they observed in their students when the arts were integrated across subject areas.

The OCPAC Summer Institute is just one example of a professional development partnership in the arts. A bit of online research will yield a number of similar opportunities available throughout the state.

Taking the first step

When infused throughout the curriculum in a meaningful way, the arts have limitless potential to impact learning, teaching and the school community in a holistic fashion.

Perhaps da Vinci said it best: "As every divided kingdom tails, so every mind divided between many studies confounds and saps itself." Looking ahead to a future that demands creativity in all of its forms, every school and district deserves at least one renaissance administrator willing to take the first step.

References and resources

Deasy, R. (ed.) (2002). Critical Links: Learning, in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. Washington, D.C.: Arts Education Partnership.

Fiske, E. (ed.) (1999). Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning. Washington, D.C.: Arts Education Partnership.

Harvard University, Project Zero: www. pz.harvard.edu.

National Endowment for the Arts: arts. endow.gov/pub/artslearning.php.

New Horizons for Learning: www.new horizons.org/strategies/arts/front_arts.htm.

RELATED ARTICLE: What the research shows: Benefits of arts integration.

While by no means comprehensive, findings from the research on arts inclusion, both generally and disaggregated by arts discipline, speak volumes, as can be seen below.

* Arts integration (general). Research indicates that arts inclusion enhances cognitive engagement among students; provides a better sense of ownership of learning; improves attention, engagement, attendance and perseverance among students; provides unique avenues for parent and community involvement; and inspires positive transformation of school community and culture.

* Visual arts. Research shows that meaningful integration of the visual arts enhances reading skills and interpretation of text; improves content and organization of writing; develops reasoning abilities (mathematical and scientific); improves attention to detail and detail in context; and improves the ability to find outliers (useful in mathematics and science).

* Music, Students who engaged in music infused throughout the curriculum exhibited improved cognitive development; enhanced spatial and temporal reasoning; improved mathematics reasoning; increasingly positive self concept/ confidence; improved literacy and performance on SAT (verbal); and enhanced English fluency for non-native speakers (when combined with an English as a Second Language curriculum).

* Drama. Students participating in drama showed enhanced story comprehension; better understanding of characters and motivation; improved peer interaction/collaboration; enhanced writing proficiency and prolixity; better understanding of conflict, resolution, relationships and empathy; enhanced problem-solving abilities and better understanding of complex relationships.

* Dance. Research indicates that participating in dance positively impacts self confidence; social tolerance; connections to history, civics and social studies (through the use of storytelling dances); organization, creativity and non-verbal reasoning; development of individual and collaborative work skills; applications and concepts in mathematics; creative expression and learning persistence.

Morgan P. Appel is director of education programs for the University Extension at University of California, Irvine.