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Dance,
music, visual and theater arts
have big impact in Gwinnett schools
By Robert Andrews
Fine Arts Coordinator
Gwinnett Public Schools
Special to GwinnettForum.com
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Robert
Andrews
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APRIL 23, 2002 -- All the arts are flourishing within the framework
of the Gwinnett County Public Schools?
Yes, dance, music, theatre arts, and visual arts are continuing
to have such a positive effect on each school's community.
You can especially see it during February and March, the months
designated for middle and high school band, chorus, and orchestra
festivals. These volunteer musical groups are judged by professionals
at festivals in the areas of performance and sight reading. They
are given a festival rating of superior, excellent, good, fair,
or poor.
It is evident, based on the many superior ratings given to Gwinnett
performing organizations, that the county has exceptional talent
among its student musicians, and also depth in its music teachers
and conductors in our county. Listening to of our middle and music
students is scintillating. Most awe-inspiring were the performances
of the students in schools with more diverse populations, as these
schools received superior ratings and accolades from judges.
As the Fine Arts Coordinator of Gwinnett public schools, I was privileged
to listen to many groups at the music festivals. While listening
to these talented musicians, I kept grappling with the question,
"Does performing music, playing one of the various instruments,
memorizing music, or reading of music help these students perform
better academically?"
As I looked at the smiles on the choral students faces, their attentiveness
to every motion of the conductor, and their desire to present a
pleasing musical performance, I thought, "Is there is a correlation
with the arts and academic achievement?"
Research studies supports a correlation. Studies from Harvard from
1950-1999 found certain connections between experiences with music
and drama and increases in various cognitive skills. In truth, however,
many areas showed no connections between arts education and students'
academic achievement.
The arts must also be measured not only quantitatively, but also
qualitatively. After all, the arts are a large part of a school's
culture. When we look at past civilizations, we determine the success
of the culture by the arts they produced.
The question still remains, "When the arts are integrated
into the curriculum, are test scores increased?" The answer
is a resounding yes, and the data supports this. A study of the
arts may not always result in improved test scores; however, you
may get fewer dropouts, higher attendance, better team players,
an increased love of learning, greater student dignity, enhanced
creativity, a more prepared citizen, and greater cultural awareness
as a bonus, according to Jensen (2001).
Gwinnett County Public Schools is proud of the accomplishments
of the 94,000 plus fine arts students and will continue to encourage
high academic standards, but also recognize the intrinsic value
of the arts.
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