Beyond the Core: Advancing Student Success through the Arts. Education Trends

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which passed in late 2015, is the first major federal law in more than 30 years offering states a significant degree of flexibility to broaden--rather than narrow--curricula, and strongly encourages states to ensure all students have access to a well-rounded education, which includes the arts and music. Armed with the evidence presented in this report highlighting the impressive effects education in and through the arts can have on student success, state policymakers have an opportunity and incentive to take advantage of the flexibility awarded under ESSA related to the arts. This Education Trends report explores research on how the arts bolster the development of deeper learning skills, provides examples of programs that successfully increased access to the arts in education in public schools, and includes state- and local-level policy considerations.