Palmer

Cutbacks in Music, Art and Physical Education School is where we all gain basic knowledge. It is where we learn what we need to live and then get interested in what we will excel at later in life. Many students want to grow up to be a lawyer, doctor or a teacher but for some students, it is the dream of being a famous musician, artist or athlete. With education budget cuts and the motion for higher standardized test scores on the raise, many schools have been forced to cut some of their programs. Those hardest hit are music, art and physical education classes. The issue is that cutting these programs may do more harm to students than good. Studies have shown that music, art and physical activity have many positive effects on student development and learning. Physical education has become especially important today. With childhood obesity become an increasing problem, physical health and proper nutrition has become a great concern. Music and art also have also shown to have an impact on physical development. These are the classes and programs that promote creativity, self-expression and individuality, and for many students are the classes that they look the most forward to and are often the highlight of their day. By taking them away are we not robbing our students of the opportunity to learn through different mediums? What about the future musicians, artists and athletes? Are we not robbing them of the opportunity to follow their dreams and be who they are? There is no question that music, art and physical education is important in many ways to the lives of students, and there are many reasons why keeping these programs in schools are a must. Many cities and school districts have begun to create programs, many outside of school, to ensure that students have the opportunity to participate in these classes even if the schools can no longer provide them. For many students, activities such as music lessons, band and choir, are merely activities they participate in just because they enjoy it, but what they may not realize is that their participation in these activities is far more beneficial. Music classes compliment and help build upon other skills such as math, reading, social interaction as well as fine and gross motor skills. Studies have shown that there is definite relationship musical instruction and reading ability and comprehension. A study done in 2009 focused on the way that learning the piano might impact the development of vocabulary and verbal sequencing in 2nd grade students. 46 students studied piano for three consecutive years while 57 did not. Results showed that the piano learning group had significantly better vocabulary and verbal sequencing scores (Hallam 273). For a long time it has been assumed that there is a high correlation between music and mathematics. In many studies, including a national US study done in 1999, found that there are positive effects for engaging in music. When looking at high math proficiency for low economic 12th graders, 33% were found to be involved in instrumental musical compared to the 15% who were not involved (Hallam 274). Research on how music participation effects social and personal development is mainly done through self-report, surveys and interviews but it has been found that there is a strong connection between self-esteem, cognitive competence, interest and involvement with school. Students have reported that involvement in music boosted their confidence, help develop friendships and a sense of team work as well as a sense of self achievement and discipline (Hallam 279). As far as fine and gross motor skills go, it is no secret of the gross motor skills it takes to do even basic dance moves such as clapping or stomping, or the fine motor skills and control that you can learn from playing a piano or any other instrument. Removing music from schools can create a decline in all of these skills, and even though students can get private instruction low income families cannot afford such as things. Many organizations such as the Music National Service, are working to get more volunteer music programs in poor cities and school districts, so that all children can reap the benefits of music education (Smiley 3). Just like music, visual art classes also have a great impact on student learning. The physical aspects of art like drawing, painting and sculpting are great for enhancing fine motor development in students Some people may think that students are not learning anything from drawing, painting or making pottery but they have actually been shown to enhance quite a few essential skills. These skills include visual-spatial abilities, self-criticism, experimentation and the ability to learn from mistakes as well as visualization, which are all important to many careers (Winner 29). In a study done in Boston on visual arts classes researchers noticed was that visual arts students are trained to look at a task in a more complex manner. For example when students were asked to draw a human face, most people will set the eyes near the top of the head. But this is not how a face is really proportioned, as the students learned our eyes divide the head nearly at the center line because” observational drawing requires breaking away from stereotypes and seeing accurately and directly”(Winner 30). Researchers also noticed that the teachers do not dwell on student errors, they instead “let mistakes lead to unexpected discoveries” (Winner 30). Just like observation, visualization is a skill many of us use every day, whether we use it to remember a familiar face or phone number, or in a more complex manner that doctors may use it to determine a patient’s condition by looking at tests and x-rays, or how chemists view the molecular structure elements. Even architects, who design our buildings and houses, need some type of artistic background in order to do their job. From personal experience I’ve learned that art can also help students better understand the visual concepts of geometry and molecular compounds in math and science as well as geography. Understanding class material is easier when you can visualize what the teacher is examining. Childhood obesity has increasingly become a problem in the US. 35.5% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 are considered obese according to data from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and there is no reason to believe that the possible removing of physical education in school will make this any better. In New York that number is 40%. This information comes from a recent interview with Lori Rose Benson, Executive director for the Office of School Wellness Programs in New York City, on NPR. Benson says “I think it’s important that the Department of Education needs to continue to work with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. I think we have to continue helping principals understand how physical education is a core component of the school day and how we can make it easy for them to understand the connection not between just the health components, but also the connection between academic achievement and health levels of fitness because that’s what we’ve seen. We’ve seen student that have higher levels of fitness are also higher academically achieving.” The Naperville district of Chicago feels the way. A recent television viewing of PBS’s Need to Know profiled Naperville Central High School, a public high school transforming their academics by having students take physical education directly before their toughest class. On average students who signed up to have physical education directly before reading comprehension read half a year ahead of students who did not. In math who participated in physical education before pre-algebra did two-four times better on standardized tests. Psychiatrist John Rady gives the analogy that “exercise is to the brain as exercise is to muscle.” He explains that the way this works is that “when you exercise neurotransmitters are released in the brain, which keeps us awake and alert. The after a couple of minutes your nerve cells are stimulated to grow and connect, creating a perfect environment of learning”. Last year, First Lady Michelle Obama started the Let’s Move campaign, the goal being to solve the challenge of childhood obesity. In February 2010, the Healthier U.S. Schools Challenge, or HUSSC established new standards for school food quality, participation in school meal programs and nutrition education and provides recognition for schools that met those standards. So far 943 schools in 38 states have been recognized and they hope to have 1250 schools recognized by summer 2011. In December 2010 The House of Representatives passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which contains the most significant improvements to school lunches and child nutrition programs (Review 6). It is clear that the government notices the important of physical education and nutrition, which is all the reason to keep the program in our schools. Yes, taking away these programs may help the budget and allowed schools and teachers to focus more on basic subjects such as reading, writing and math. Putting more focus on these subjects should raise test scores, but is that all we want our students to be? Just a group of test scores who all think and learn the same? Arts and physical education classes encourage creativity and create interests. Taking away creativity and interest in school can result in a lack of motivation of students wanting to go. Granted there may be some students who do not particularly care for music, art or physical education class for various reasons, but rarely will you find a student who simply does not like all three. It is not uncommon to find very proficient math student who also plays an instrument or student that is great in science also like the draw. As teachers it is also important to encourage and support student’s creativity and different styles of learning. Allowing the students to make connections to class materials through drawings, poems, songs or even dances will help promote a better learning environment and make it more engaging. If it is test scores that we are worried about, research has clearly shown that the arts help develop critical and creative thinkers. Critical and creative thinking are both skills that are needed to succeed on any important test, and when you combine those skills with the “brain charging” power of physical education test scores can improve even greater. If there so many advantages and reasons in keeping these programs, then schools should fight to save them and teachers should new ways of including these type of activities into their lesson plans. Using these advantages that research has found, can not only help students do better on standardized tests, but also promote creativity in teaching as well as learning.

Bibliography
Catterall, James S. "The Consequences of Curtailing Music Education." December 2010. Tavis Smiley Reports. 4 March 2011 <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/reports/2010/12/the-consequences-of-curtailing-music-education.html>.
Hallam, Susan. "The power of music: Its impact on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people." International Journal of Music Education 28.3 (2010): 269-289.
Martin, Michel. "New York Probes Solutions For City's Overweight Children." Tell Me More. NPR News, 14 September 2010.
Meacham, Jon. "A physical education in Naperville." Need to Know. PBS, 11 February 2011.
"The Let's Move Campaign Keeps Moving Forward." Curriculum Review 50.5 (2011): 6-7.
Winner, Ellen. "Art for Our Sake School Arts Classes Matter More Than Ever-But Not for the Reason You Think." Arts Education Policy Review (2008): 29-32.