Frank Casale

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Professor XXX
Music Theory 101
27 October 2015
The Case for Keeping Music, Art, and Theater in the Curriculum
In a period dominated by standardized tests, stake holder dominated learning outcomes and
course objectives, and administrative pressure to contain or reduce budgets, classes in the Performing
Arts often find themselves on the chopping block. While STEM and other service orientated classes
continue to dominate current educational discourse, classes in Music, Art, or Theater are often called
upon to defend their inclusion in a school or district's curriculum. However, removing or reducing the
Fine Arts components of a child's education can be both short sighted and counter-productive. Indeed,
research demonstrates that Music, Theater, and Arts classes help students develop a wide range of skill
sets which can be applied in both artistic and STEM classes.
The importance of informing education policy makers about the crucial role the arts can play in
education cannot be understated. Bruce Whitacre has correctly noted that while key stakeholders like
companies are rallying around STEM, they have yet to fully grasp where the arts contribute to
educating the workforce we truly need: creative, collaborative, compassionate, aware as well as
technically proficient(Whitacre). One challenge faced when educating policy makers about the
importance of these classes is that art programs have fallen behind STEM programs not just in funding,
but also in quantifying and measuring the skill sets that art programs help children develop. Therefore,
creating a rubric of what the Arts can help children develop is as important as research proving that Art
programs do deliver what they promise.
Music education, for example, helps students develop far more than simply good taste.
Learning music has been found to increase student performance in many other academic areas,
including language acquisition, verbal competence, and communication. Even more exciting is that

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research has hinted that participation in music programs may increase a child's IQ score by several
points, and may also lead to improved test scores in verbal and math test performance.
Theater classes have likewise be found to aid in the development of a range of skills and
abilities. A recent report by a theater education advocacy group, the Kava Cultural Group Association,
compiled a rubric of skills and competencies developed in theater classes. Areas of higher
performance included communication competence, interpersonal competence, critical thinking, and the
ability to classify information. The need for including theater classes in a school's curriculum was
further proved by research conducted by the American Alliance for Theater and Education which found
that students involved in drama performance coursework or experience outscored non-arts students on
the 2005 SAT by an average of 65 points in the verbal component and 34 points in the math
component(AATE).
Research also indicates that Art classes help students develop several core competencies,
including many skills critical to success in STEM classes. Art classes have been found to increase
critical thinking and communication skills, and most important, boost student writing performance. To
be competitive in a global market place, America's workforce needs to be able to perform at a high
level in both oral and written communication, and Theater, Art, and Music classes appear to be an
effective avenue for delivering instruction and feedback in those crucial skills.
Theater, Music, and Arts classes help students develop critical academic skills, but they also
help students develop into fully rounded and engaged citizens. Arts classes stress the need for
engagement and community, and highlight the need for humans to express themselves clearly to other
humans, and, just as important, teach the need to listen to and make sense of what other people are
saying. All in all, an education in the Arts is a crucial part of a student's development and in the
production of a competitive, entrepreneurial American workforce.

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Works Cited
American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE)."The Effects of Theatre Education. AATE. 2014.
Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Whitacre, Bruce E. "Theatre Arts Education Programs Create Innovative Thinkers and Workers.The
Huffington Post, 7 Aug. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.