Purposefully poetic

Arts education has no firm place in Hawaii's public school system. Even the Board of Education plan and the State Department of Education's plans differ in how they refer to and make recommendations about the place or purpose of arts education. This article reviews examples of competing policy to suggest how arts-integrated style teaching could both bridge the gap and extend strategic goals. The article provides examples of how drama-integrated style teaching has positive social and academic benefits for English language learners that specifically build their self-efficacy, helping such students to become better learners. Using these examples, the article suggests potential strategic plan revisions.