Rationale
In the following portion, we have provided a rationale for the CREATE initiative. It summarizes the comprehensive needs assessment by describing the process with the school to determine the need for the project in the community, the availability of resources for the center, and the data used to determine the need. It also includes numerous studies done nationally and internationally that support the importance of art in our after school programming.
Local Data
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Student statistics and data (GPA, Attendance, At-Risk Population, and Interest Surveys)
PUBLIC ART MAP
The CREATE team constructed the following Google Map. This map focuses on 3 areas: City of Chicago, City of Naperville, and the Communities within District 218 (Blue Island, Alsip, Calumet Park, Robbins, Crestwood, Oak Lawn, Palos Heights, Worth, Chicago Ridge). The map compares the access to public art in each of these communities. The City of Chicago is home to hundreds of works of art, which locations were found on the City of Chicago website. Naperville, IL, is home to 41 works of public art, which locations were found on the Century Walk website. Within the nine communities CHSD 218 serves, there are six public art locations total. These locations were discovered through a range of research and websites, which you may find links to from the map's link.
Student statistics and data (GPA, Attendance, At-Risk Population, and Interest Surveys)
PUBLIC ART MAP
The CREATE team constructed the following Google Map. This map focuses on 3 areas: City of Chicago, City of Naperville, and the Communities within District 218 (Blue Island, Alsip, Calumet Park, Robbins, Crestwood, Oak Lawn, Palos Heights, Worth, Chicago Ridge). The map compares the access to public art in each of these communities. The City of Chicago is home to hundreds of works of art, which locations were found on the City of Chicago website. Naperville, IL, is home to 41 works of public art, which locations were found on the Century Walk website. Within the nine communities CHSD 218 serves, there are six public art locations total. These locations were discovered through a range of research and websites, which you may find links to from the map's link.
National and International Data
In the following portion, evidence is presented through numerous studies about the function of arts in our students, particularly in the out-of-school environment. Most of the studies included here are data driven utilizing qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method research strategies.Most of the studies were taken from The Arts and After-school Programs: A Research Synthesis, by Suzan Stiegelbauer, PhD.
The following studies showed that the arts:
Study #1: Heath and Roach (1998)
To help determine if arts education programs benefit youth in the nonschool hours, Heath and Roach (1998) conducted a 10-year study to answer this question: What happens in learning environments outside of schools that attract young people to sustained participation, performance, and productions of high quality? Over a decade, approximately 30,000 young people in 120 youth-based organizations were sampled in 34 regions of the country. The research included 300 broad-based case studies of youth that extended for at least 3 years and 60 detailed case studies. The findings present a unique way of looking at after-school or non-school activities and programs providing developmentally meaningful activities for youth.
Overall, the study found that out of the three focuses in out-of-school programs (athletics, community centered, and arts based), the arts program had the greatest effect on attitude, self-confidence, and skill development. The study also raised the question: Do low-SES at-risk students who are intensively involved in the arts through afterschool organizations perform better in school than those who are not so involved? They were:
Study #2, Susan Otterbourg (2000)
This study investigated the key elements of after-school programs in a report for the U.S. Department of Education and the 21st Century Community Leaning Centers program. She notes that through arts education students have the opportunity to have, "closer and more collaborative relationships with teachers, artists and eachother", is the "...single most important factor in the success of programs." Smaller working groups or afterschool settings that facilitate collaborative relationships made the biggest difference to outcomes.
The following studies showed that the arts:
- Reach students in ways that they are not otherwise being reached
- Reach students who are not otherwise being reached
- Connect students to themselves and each other
- Transform the environment for learning
- Provide learning opportunities for the adults in the lives of young people
- Provide new challenges for those students already considered successful
- Connect learning experiences to the world of real work
- Enable students to have a direct involvement with the arts and artists
- Require significant staff development
- Support life-long and occasionally professional engagement with the artistic process.
Study #1: Heath and Roach (1998)
To help determine if arts education programs benefit youth in the nonschool hours, Heath and Roach (1998) conducted a 10-year study to answer this question: What happens in learning environments outside of schools that attract young people to sustained participation, performance, and productions of high quality? Over a decade, approximately 30,000 young people in 120 youth-based organizations were sampled in 34 regions of the country. The research included 300 broad-based case studies of youth that extended for at least 3 years and 60 detailed case studies. The findings present a unique way of looking at after-school or non-school activities and programs providing developmentally meaningful activities for youth.
Overall, the study found that out of the three focuses in out-of-school programs (athletics, community centered, and arts based), the arts program had the greatest effect on attitude, self-confidence, and skill development. The study also raised the question: Do low-SES at-risk students who are intensively involved in the arts through afterschool organizations perform better in school than those who are not so involved? They were:
- Two times more likely to win an award for academic achievement
- Four times more likely to win school-wide attention for academic achievement
- Four times more likely to participate in math or science fairs
- Three times more likely to win an award for school attendance
- Over four times more likely to win an award for an essay or poem
- Nearly twice as likely to read for pleasure
- Over four times as likely to engage in community service
- Eight times more likely to win a community service award.
Study #2, Susan Otterbourg (2000)
This study investigated the key elements of after-school programs in a report for the U.S. Department of Education and the 21st Century Community Leaning Centers program. She notes that through arts education students have the opportunity to have, "closer and more collaborative relationships with teachers, artists and eachother", is the "...single most important factor in the success of programs." Smaller working groups or afterschool settings that facilitate collaborative relationships made the biggest difference to outcomes.
Study #3, Ruppert (2006) for NASSA
Arts participation and SAT scores co-vary—that is, they tend to increase linearly: the more arts classes, the higher the scores. This relationship is illustrated in the 2005 results shown below. Notably, students who took four years of arts coursework outperformed their peers who had one half-year or less of arts coursework by 58 points on the verbal portion and 38 points on the math portion of the SAT.