Arts education for disadvantaged children improves test scores and behaviour

This research was conducted by Adam Winsler and four others at George Mason University and the University of California Irvine, USA.

Summary

This paper charts the early school years of more than 30,000 children from low income backgrounds at 190 schools in Florida, USA. It concentrates on children aged 11 to …

Treating dementia using arts interventions

This research was conducted by Kate de Medeiros and Anne Basting at Miami University and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA.

Summary

Effective care for people with dementia is made more challenging by a lack of effective treatments for the condition. Arts interventions are becoming more popular due to their ability to effect …

By | 20 July 2017 |

The viability of a theatre depends on the character of its local population

This research was conducted by Ken Willis, Jen Snowball, Colin Wymer and Jose Grisolia at Newcastle University, UK, Rhodes University, South Africa and Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

Summary

This paper describes the findings of research that built a statistical model to identify what determined the likelihood that …

By | 9 May 2014 |

Using an after-school arts programme to help ‘at-risk’ children

This research was conducted by Michael J. Mason and Susan Chuang at the University of Rochester, USA [Now at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA]

Summary

This paper reports the findings from an intervention that sought to prevent anti-social and delinquent behavior amongst children from low-income families in Rochester, New York. They found …

By | 16 April 2014 |

Music lessons enhance IQ while drama increases social skills

This research was conducted by Glenn Schellenberg at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, Canada

Summary

The researchers randomly assigned 144 six year old Canadian children to one of four groups: one received music tuition for the keyboard, another got voice coaching using the Kodaly method, and (by way of contrast) …

By | 16 April 2014 |

After-school arts programmes can increase the educational attainment of 'at-risk' students

This research was conducted by Trinetia Respress and Ghazwan Lutfi at Florida A&M University, USA [Now at Tennessee State University, USA]

Summary

This paper reports the results of an after-school arts programme in Florida. It attempted to develop the attainment of 'at-risk' African American students. The authors claim that the usual …

By | 10 April 2014 |

Dance can help improve young children’s social skills

This research was conducted by Yovanka B. Lobo and Adam Winsler at George Mason University, USA

Summary

The paper reports the results of an experiment in the US where young children from low-income families participated in a creative dance programme. When compared with a control group, the children in the dance …

By | 10 April 2014 |

Theatre and performance can improve the social skills of 'at-risk' youth

This research was conducted by Robin Wright, Lindsay John, Ramona Alaggia, and Julia Sheel at McGill University and the University of Toronto, Canada [Now at the University of Windsor, Canada]

Summary

The paper reports the results of a substantial evaluation of a national arts education programme in Canada. The results suggest …

By | 10 April 2014 |