Performing Arts in the Education System

The research in this paper will be examined to look at the relationship between the performing arts and academic achievement in students. Many students partake in the performing arts in high school as an extracurricular. Sometimes, these activities are offered for credit, other times, performing arts are extracurricular activities that students must partake in on their own time. The idea that these activities are offered as part of the education curriculum proposed the question if they created an increase in academic achievement for students. Research on this topic is important because the performing arts are well known for teaching students’ various skills and life lessons that could be reflected not only in their daily lives but in their academia as well. This paper proposes to find what the performing arts do for students’ grades and if the incorporation of these activities into education is helpful for students.

Keywords: Performing arts, education, academic achievement

Performing Arts in the Education System

The performing arts have been culturally important since man discovered theatrics. Music, spoken word, dance. Schools have been produced plays, musicals, band concerts, and dance recitals that many parents have sat through and many students have participated in. Some students despise it, others seek it out. Many schools offer performing arts classes such as band, choir, and theatre. There are many opinions that these courses are important and should be considered core classes, rather than extracurriculars. A great thought to be carried through this research is that “the evidence is clear: study of the arts contributes to student achievement and success. Its multiple benefits are academic, basic and comprehensive. What is less clear is how to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn about and experience the arts in school” (Ruppert, 2006, pg. 17).

The purpose of this research is to determine if incorporating the performing arts into the education's curriculum increase academic achievement for students. To come to a conclusion for the stated question, research was conducted through reading multiple articles, conducting interviews with academic staff, and conducting surveys.

According to the article “Context and Implications Document For Impact of Arts Education on Children's Learning and Wider Outcomes,” the authors explored the importance of the performing arts in an academic setting and beyond. See and Kokotsaki (2016) stated that the arts should “be part of the core curriculum to encourage the development of creativity, critical thinking, motivation and self-confidence—skills necessary for innovation” (pg. 1).

Literature Review

Creativity

The performing arts in the education system helps students be creative and learn how to problem solve differently. Incorporating the performing arts into the curriculum helps student who struggle with basic skills like math and science understand it from a different perspective. Students who struggle in the core classes and do not have the performing arts in their schools will often struggle until they graduate. A student who does not do well with standardized tests and a strict curriculum without any creativity will not do well in school. Creativity has become, “limited to rhetorical flourishes in policy documents and/or relegated to the borderlands of the visual and performing arts” (Budge, 2012, Pg. 8). Students who do not have the performing arts or visual arts in their curriculum are left to be creative in their core classes and that hinders any creativity that some may have. Students who do not do well in their core classes, will often find their strengths in other classes. Increasing student performance, “on standardized tests has driven schools to implement reforms designed to support math and reading achievement” (Dunstan, 2014, Pg. 27). By putting the emphasis on math and increasing the importance on the core curriculum takes away from the performing arts curriculum. It decreases the chances of schools to have a budget for their performing arts programs, so they make budget cuts and the arts are the first thing to go. A student may find their strengths in their performing arts/visual art classes and that transpires over to their core curriculum. Often, the performing arts/visual arts classes will teach students to have an opinion and to not be afraid to speak it. Or, it will teach them to have confidence to raise their hands in the classes that they struggle with. Children associated with, “the performing arts contexts reported higher perceptions of self-efficacy than their mainstream counterparts” (Burkitt & Lowry, 2015, Pg. 36). By using their strengths and showcasing them in the arts, students can feel more confident in the traditional classroom setting. If a student believes in themself and believes that they can succeed than their academic performance can increase.

Curriculum

Academic success is linked to the arts in the education system because it teaches students the basic skills of literature and reading comprehension. The curriculum of performing art/visual art classes are essential to a student understanding things like Shakespeare and older plays or understanding older artists. Early development, “of oral English plays a vital role in the future English reading comprehension of all students, but research on cross-linguistic transfer indicates that it is especially important for the English literacy” (Greenfader, Brouillette, & Farkas, 2015, Pg. 187). Learning how to speak properly and learning many different types of literature happens in performing art classes. Drama classes teaches students how to read Shakespeare or shows them the shows that have lasted over hundreds of years. It is essential that a student learns the different styles of literature because it helps them develop their own language and how to portray themselves in a manner that would get them to a point where they could convey themselves to achieve in the classroom. The performing arts/visual arts also teaches math and science when it is applied in the classroom. Art classes teaches a student spatial awareness and it can teach a student science. Or, set building for a play can teach geometry and spatial awareness too. Since they are learning this in their art classes it crosses over into the core curriculum and students ostensibly are doing better in those classes. And this all ties back to the fact that performing/visual arts classes building up a students sense of self-concept. One explanation for why self-concept impacts achievement and adaptive behavior (or domain-specific skill such as participation) is because self-concept has motivational properties” (Mansour, Martin, Anderson, Gibson, Liem, & Sudmalis, 2018, Pg. 241). There is more motivation in a student when they are given the initiative to succeed. The arts are very important for teaching students how to be independent and to motivate themselves. The difference between the arts and the core curriculum is that they teach different problem solving techniques. The core curriculum teaches the traditional way of problem solving and the arts does it in a more conventional way.

Problem solving

Problem solving is taught in many ways across all curriculums, but the way that performing arts students learn it is a little different. They learn to tackle a problem in different ways and angles. They will learn different techniques in the classroom as a way to solve a problem. In integrated schools where they learn core curriculum in their other classes they can learn to strive by learning it through a different medium. For example, if a student is struggling in math class, they may learn how to do it in their art class. This is because all students do not learn the same way. Students, “often strive when given the opportunity to showcase themselves differently in performing art/visual art classes” (Dunstan, 2014, Pg. 30). Their problem solving skills are enhanced when they are given many techniques to solving a problem. They are taught how to deal with tough people in the world and learn how to deal with certain circumstances calmly. The performing arts/visual arts classes teaches students how to be well-rounded human beings. It teaches them communication skills, self-concept, and problem solvers. The idea that these classes can build up a students self-confidence proves the fact that these classes are beneficial for students. Also, the teachers want to teach them to have appreciation for the art they are studying as well as teaching them to be well-rounded human beings. Teachers have, “reported that the aims of art and drawing are to enhance skills, explore different materials and to develop a sense of artistic appreciation and not simply production” (Burkitt & Lowry, 2015, Pg. 28). To teach a student to appreciate an art is a lifelong skill that that they can carry out throughout their entire life. It is not just teaching them to be good students, but rather to carry out these skills into their later jobs and life.

Skills

Theatre can help students develop their public speaking skills, and reading comprehension, but it can also help students learn a new language. A school in San Diego has implemented a theatre program within their academic program to overcome language barriers in the classroom. (Brouillette & Missakian, 2012, ) Students act out short scenes, practice reading scripts, and even do a small amount of theatrical improvisation. This program was grant funded, and is intended to keep students engaged while improving their literacy, and english comprehension. This became After two years there has already been a significant rise in test scores specifically in ESL (English as a Second Language) courses (Brouillette & Missakian, 2012).

Performing arts programs in schools connect students with other students with similar interests. Performing arts promotes social skills, presentational skills, and conversational skills (Martin, & Marsh (2009). “As children enter their teen years, their involvement in arts programs provides opportunities to collaborate and interact with others, develop leadership skills, and become global citizens” (Dustan, 2016).

A study focusing on factors influencing University students academic success, notes that students are grades are positively impacted, when they connect socially with the people around them. “Ensuring student success has been a ubiquitous and enduring goal of institutions of higher education, making it paramount to identify how this goal can be achieved” (Hepworth, Littlepage, & Hancock 2018).

Most individuals who are involved with performing arts begin their training at young age, which is also when social skills are developed (Hepworth, Littlepage, & Hancock, 2018). Students involved with performing arts learn how to communicate and collaborate with one another, which are two important skills that can be carried over to their future academic studies and adult lives. (Martin & Marsh, 2009) Students who learn music learn how to work with the students around them, in order to play in unison, determine who will play the melody, and troubleshoot any issues with the piece they are working on. Students in theatre communicate with one another scripted and unscripted. Additionally, scripts can help students with reading comprehension and conversational flow (Brouillette & Missakian, 2012).

Positive impacts of dance

The effects of dance training on children has been studied and examined for years. A study focusing on the connection between physical activity and attention, introduced a short daily dance lesson into an elementary school dail. This study concluded that physical activity has a positive effect on children's ability to concentrate “The findings of this study suggest that the acute bouts of physical activity during physical education in the form of aerobic dance significantly improved Year 5 and 6 students’ processing speed and concentration performance but not accuracy” (Kulinna, Stylianou, Dyson, Banville, Dryden, & Colby, 2018).

Traditional dance classes consist of a series of combinations. Students are required to learn combinations and repeat them back a number of times. As a student progresses in their dance training, their instructor will start to spend a shorter amount of time teaching those combinations, and rely more heavily on the students ability to pick up the movement. The researchers in this experiment stated that if the aerobic dance experiment had been done on students who had already received dance training for a significant amount of time, the results might of been different.

Funding

Arts programs are usually the first to be cut despite the research that has been done to save them. David Dustan, a professor from the University of Southern California conducted a quantitative survey in hopes of understanding these cuts, and finding information to stop them. The arts have the potential to promote motivation, confidence, and social skills among children and teens. Children have the potential to embrace a life- long appreciation for the arts through school curriculums that support comprehensive, interdisciplinary arts programs. (Dustan, 2016) Dustan’s research reviews past case studies, as well as his own to determine a positive correlation between performing arts and academic success. He found that different types of performing arts courses seemed to affect different cognitive skills. (Dustan, 2016)

Methodology

Participants

In this research, we are looking to understand if participating in the performing arts affects academic achievement by students. The participants in this study include, teachers, professors, school faculty, and college students. An email (see Appendix A) was sent to two staff members from the West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics, (WMAAA) and the Drama teacher at Cedar Springs High School. This email explained the research we were conducting and asked to specify a time and date for an interview.

WMAAA is a school thinks highly of incorporating the arts into the academic curriculum. They currently teach their students by involving many aspects of performing arts into the classroom. By reaching out to the drama teacher at Cedar Springs High School, we were aware that this high school does not currently incorporate the arts into the classroom so we believed this contribution to the data would provide important insights to juxtapose the findings from WMAAA.

We also sent a survey to performing arts students in GVSU’s Music, Dance, and Theater departments to find out how they think performance arts classes affect their academics at the K-12 and collegiate level.

We chose to use college students currently studying the arts because it has likely impacted their upbringing and the years of experience will help add useful information to our research. We chose to speak with the professor, faculty and staff because they have likely had years of noticing trends within students throughout the years which would be helpful to our data.

Measurements

We used several measurement techniques for this research. When it came to the demographic of all of our participants, we used numerical data in the form of percentages for age and gender. Categorical data was used for area of focus, while an interval scale was used to measure any grade point average data. Since we are taking a qualitative approach, we will categorize the data into sections with other key words or terms that have similarities.

The type of measure that was incorporated into this research was a survey. The survey was sent to Grand Valley students that are currently in the performing arts programs (theater, music and dance) offered at the school. The survey was created through SurveyMonkey.com and included ten multiple choice and Likert Scale style questions. This allowed for generalizations about a larger population. We chose to use a survey as it is cost-efficient and time-effective so that we can focus on preparing for our interview sessions.

When conducting the interviews, we recorded the participants responses. We also took notes of the participants body language and facial expressions. We took note of the adjectives used to describe the students, academia and incorporation of the arts.

Data-Collection

For our research, we decided that interview and surveys would be the best form of data collection. While talking to the faculty of West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics (WMAAA), we asked questions in an interview (see Appendix C) about the success of their young students, who attend an arts-based school. We will travel to WMAAA’s campus to conduct the interview. During the interview, we began by thanking the participant for their time. We recorded their answers and took notes of their answers and their verbal and non-verbal cues (body language, facial expressions, etc,). Questions looked to gather how the faculty members felt that the arts impact their students and their success in school, and why they think the arts are an important part of the curriculum.

Talking to the Cedar Springs High School drama teacher will allow us to gain insight in the academic achievement of students who chose to take part in drama as an extra-curricular or chosen elective. His answers and verbal and nonverbal cues will be recorded.

A survey (see Appendix B) was sent to the students in the Dance department. The link to the survey was posted on the official Music, Theatre and Dance Facebook page. The survey was open from October 23, 2018, to November 15, 2018. The answers were recorded and compared.

Analysis

To analyze the data that we collected, we used the answers that we received from our interviews to understand whether or not there is a true correlation between the performing arts and academic success. Once we had the answers grouped, we were able to notice if any trends are present within the data. We used the survey results to determine the opinion of students on whether or not they believe that performing arts increased their academic success.

A conclusion was formed by analyzing the results from completed surveys, the verbal and nonverbal language from the interview sessions and transcribing all of the findings into a concise report. After the analysis and report was completed, there was an apparent connection between academic success and performing arts.

Results

After interviewing Mr. Justin Harnden of Cedar Springs High School, there was an obvious conclusion that the integration of the performing arts into education is “very important to the student’s success” (Harnden, 2018). Mr. Harnden takes on several roles at Cedar Springs High School, as he is a Theatre and TV-Video Productions teacher. He is also the play director at the high school. He has an extensive background of teaching theatre and directing up to two shows per year over the last 16 years. At present, he teaches Introduction to Theatre, Theatre 2, Theatre 3, Advanced Theatre, Introduction to Television & Video Production, and Advanced Video Production. Mr. Harnden was asked questions relating to student success in relation to their participation in performing arts. He stated that “within a performing arts class, the students learn to effectively express themselves while working in a large demographic” (2018). He didn’t only feel that the performing arts were integral to a student’s academic success, but their success in life overall. He expressed that students ‘[learn] to collaborate with others, express [their] ideas, and [find] creative ways to solve problems” and that those skills “are things [they] do every day in class” (Harnden, 2018). These findings directly corroborated with the findings of Rekha S. Rajan. For more than 10 years, Rajan (2018) has “served as an arts education consultant to schools across the nation, providing ideas for integrating musical theater with the curriculum” (pg. 30). After gaining those years of experience, she concurred with the ideals that Mr. Harnden expressed. Rajan (2018) stated that “the arts are essential to a comprehensive education and a window to learning about the world” (pg. 36). Harnden (2018) stated the same ideals, that felt the skills that children learn in theatre “directly correlate to the future success of that child.” Harnden (2018) went further to state that “whether [the students] are on stage acting or playing an instrument, they are all ways to express oneself and that is the big key” he expressed (Harnden, 2018). A similar thought was expressed by Hetland and Winner, stating that “Arts educators should never be allowed to be justified wholly or even primarily in terms of what the arts can do for mathematics or reading. The arts must be justified in terms of what the arts can teach that no other subject can teach” (2001, pg. 3). Dennis Atkinson of Goldsmith’s University of London states something similar, expressing that learning through art “a process which should remain open to possibilities and potentials that arise within the action and practice of learning and not be tied to specific aims except, of course, becoming a more effective learner” (2012, pg. 10). Mr. Harnden really felt that the performing arts are very important to the education system and the success of the students.

In addition to learning about the integration of the arts within academia at the high school level, the research also required that other grade levels be considered. Interviews were conducted with two faculty members at West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics (WMAAA) in Spring Lake, MI. These two participants, Joanna Benneck and Heather Minnebo, were a helpful resource in gaining more information about the collaboration of arts and academics. The school teaches students from grades kindergarten through eighth the importance of performing arts and education through incorporating the arts into the daily educational lessons in the standard classroom. WMAAA uses standards-based grading system for grades kindergarten through fifth grade. The evaluation is based on levels of proficiency. Once the students reach the sixth grade they are graded using a letter-grade based system. The classrooms and hallways of the school boast photographs, paintings, murals, and a rock climbing wall that proves the hard work and creativity that the students practice in the academic and arts curriculum.

Joanna Bennink, also known as Joey, serves as the director at WMAAA. Since the charter school essentially stands alone from other schools in the district, Benneck also serves as the superintendent and principal under her role as school director. Within these roles, she oversees the school budget, faculty and staff, and the students. Bennink has a diverse background within teaching and the performing arts. She previously served as a principal at several other schools before coming to WMAAA and has been involved in band and musical theater and currently involved in the Jenison community theater. When asked if she believed the performing arts being intertwined with the classroom aids in student’s academic success, Bennink said, “we create well-rounded human beings. They’ve got the ability to think at a different level, we’re not giving paper/pencil tests, we’re encouraging them to think outside of the box” (Bennink, 2018). Bennink feels that the arts teaches problem-solving and communication skills that are transferable for the entirety of each student’s life. In regards to the long-term, Bennink says the performing arts is very important in a child’s life. She said, “not only is it teaching our kids to be different thinkers but it gives them an appreciation of the arts. We’re not going to create the next Yo-Yo Ma, we’re going to create the kids that can go to his concert and appreciate what’s going on. We’re creating kids that are open to other experiences” (Bennink, 2018). Bennink had friendly and warm body language throughout the interview by using minimal hand gestures, smiling, and eye contact to prove she was engaged in the conversation. When asked about her day-to-day work operations, she laughed and said: “everyday’s an adventure and that means it’s never the same. I try to keep a couple days a week where I’m in the classroom… I help with student behaviors, complete teacher evaluations, and sometimes direct traffic in the morning. So it changes every day” (Bennink, 2018). Bennink was a great resource to speak to regarding the arts and academia because it was obvious that is has largely influenced and shaped her life.

The second participant from WMAAA was Heather Minnebo, a visual arts teacher for grades kindergarten through eighth grade. Minnebo has an extensive background in the performing arts and education industry as she was involved in multiple two-person shows and art festivals. She studied Fine Arts at Grand Valley State University and then chose to complete a year long program to receive certification to become a teacher. Minnebo teaches many classes at the school and said, “Within kindergarten through fifth grade, I teach visual and traditional visual arts with two marking periods focused on the integration of academics into the arts class. In one of those periods we work towards a winter performance/art shows, things like that. Then, sixth through eighth grade, I teach intro to art, intro to drawing, illustration, math of art, printmaking, advanced drawing, printmaking II, and some of those I teach more often than others.” (Minnebo, 2018) With this variety of classes, Minnebo experiences first-hand how students at each grade level respond to and collaborate with the classroom assignments and expectations. Minnebo feels that the incorporation of the arts into education tremendously helps the students and their academic success. She said, “there are kids who’s learning style or ability to access information may not be in a traditional classroom environment so they might get it visually or from movement. Through doing the physical activity, they are able to access that information. Or, when we’re drawing a story problem in math and they are able to ‘draw five blue marbles and that gives away three of those marbles, how many are left?’ And they’re actually drawing it out it gives them the ability to grasp those concepts more” (Minnebo, 2018). When asked about the students that struggle in the classroom more than others, Minnebo responded, “there are other ways where kids that have challenges with learning and while they still struggle with those academic challenges we can help them and they may find some success but they find that they are amazing at art or dance or singing[...] and they get success from those areas. So then that confidence takes them out of those areas and into the classroom. That boost sometimes can be just what they need to help them elsewhere” (Minnebo, 2018). In addition to learning these concepts at the elementary and middle school level, Minnebo feels that these skills are ones that will stay with the children for years beyond their time at WMAAA. Minnebo spoke of the importance of the performing arts in a child’s life and said, “This type of learning and information sticks long-term. The kids here are seeing bigger ideas and thinking bigger thoughts. It transfers outside of the classroom and it even transfers beyond eighth grade. So, it’s things like persistence, grit, creativity. These habits and thinking of asking bigger questions stick with them and keep moving forward. Plus, there’s the love of the arts and that idea that the love or acceptance or enthusiasm or celebration in diverse ways of expressing yourself.” (Minnebo, 2018) Minnebo is confident that the skills and opinions formed at this young age is beneficial and pertinent to the growth of each individual and said: “the arts will carry them forward in this way.”

Grand Valley State University Music, Theatre, and Dance students were surveyed through SurveyMonkey. The survey consisted of 10 questions, and was designed to determine the students area of study, the level of their performing arts involvement, and their academic performance. 28 participants took this survey. A majority of participants were female dance students, between the ages 19-21.

After the survey was closed and the results had been analyzed it was determined that a majority of the students who answered “strongly agree” on the “My school encouraged participation in performing hearts” have a GPA in the 3.0-4.0 range. Out of the 28 participants, zero of them answered that their GPA’s were 2.0 and below. Almost all students answered that they had participated in the performing arts, with only two answering no, and seven answering occasionally.

When looking at individual survey results, students who strongly agreed that their professors were heavily invested in their success in their focus area, also answered that they want to pursue this area as a vocation. Additionally, students who answered that they participated in performing arts in high school, also answered that they view their focus area as a vocation.

Discussion

Previous psychologists have examined the influence of performing arts in other aspects of developing children’s lives. Through examination of other research studies that involve academia and performing arts, many other benefits were introduced and examined. From the University of Chichester, psychologist Esther Burkitt and Ruth Lowry performed extensive research on the incorporation of arts into education curriculum, “In particular, pupils attending arts‐based schools and their teachers valued expressivity over technical support, pupils reported enjoying drawing more, had higher self efficacy and foresaw engaging in the activity beyond their school years more than their mainstream counterparts” (Burkitt & Lowry, 2015). The pupils described by Burkitt and Lowry reflect the attitudes and provide similar results of the students at WMAAA. The students from the performing arts-based school showed to have made many academic improvements. “Main findings indicated that pupils', parents' and teachers' views about the benefits, and how to support drawing behaviour at school and at home, varied across contrasting educational contexts.” (Burkitt, & Lowry, 2015)

Other researchers have examined the cognitive and social improvements of students that come as a result of physical activity. A researcher at Johns Hopkins University, Roisin Corcoran searched to find out more, “While many embodied cognition theories exist (Wilson, 2002), the basic interpretation refers to how “human cognition is originally rooted in sensori-motor processes and thus determined by bodily experiences”” (Corcoran, 2018). The research examined the approach to enhancing reading improvements in public schools. While looking into the reading enhancements, the researcher also “examined the impact of a dance program involving embodied cognition” (Corcoran, 2018). Similar to the New York public schools examined, WMAAA has similar processes in the way that they may organize a classroom lesson in which elementary students would learn a script to a play for an upcoming performance that enforces the vocabulary or focus of that week in an English class or grammar lesson. Additionally, other education curriculum classes such as social studies or science all work to coordinate the arts into their daily lessons at WMAAA. Ran Peleg and Ayelet Baram-Tsabari are psychologists who sought to find if incorporating theater into science classes would increase student interests. The researchers planned to have public school and private school students watch a play related to science then survey the students to see the responses. Peleg and Baram-Tsabari said, “An increase in average questionnaire scores in both schools indicated that children learned scientific concepts from the play (Fig. 2). In the public school scores increased from 55 to 64% (an 18% increase in average scores, p < 0.001) and in the private school from 60 to 73% (a 21% increase, p < 0.001)” (Barag & Baram-Tsabari, 2011). This research also proved that the incorporation of the arts into the curriculum is beneficial for student’s learning. Another researcher had a similar experimental concept that incorporated scientific tales to inform students about earthquakes and risk preparedness. The results found stated that, “The tales completed by children showed that 73% of them have a good knowledge about earthquakes; 70% have a good knowledge about risk preparedness, but 79% do not understand the importance of group cohesion and cooperation during a seismic event” (Lanza, Crescimbene, Federica & D’Addezio, 2013). Although the results from this theater experience were not as supportive to the hypothesis, they provide insight into the mental processes of children when incorporating the arts into education.

Furthermore, other research studies analyzed the amount of each student’s belief of his or her capacity to perform confidently. Ellen Usher and Frank Pajares studied the sources of self-efficacy in a school setting, they said: “Although failure may occur periodically, when students notice a gradual improvement in skills over time, they typically experience a boost in their self-efficacy. Mastery experiences prove particularly powerful when individuals overcome obstacles or succeed on challenging tasks” (Usher & Pajares, 2008). The interviews with WMAAA’s, Heather Minnebo, explained that the students struggle in certain classroom environments more than others but that the confidence gained from the skills that they are good at is transferable to other areas. Minnebo said, “there are other ways where kids that have challenges with learning and while they still struggle with those academic challenges we can help them and they may find some success but they find that they are amazing at art or dance or singing[...] and they get success from those areas” (Minnebo, 2018).

In the interview with Minnebo, she spoke of the advancements that the arts provide for individuals with disabilities. When asked about the influence of arts, Minnebo said: ““There are kids who may be a toe on the spectrum. Or, their whole body on the spectrum. These students will excel in one environment but won’t in another environment” (Minnebo, 2018). A research study by Kimberly McCord and Margaret Fitzgerald said that by altering the teaching style when explaining music, great success may be found within the students analyzed in the research. They said: “It’s encouraging that instrumental music teachers are successfully including students with disabilities in their classes and ensembles. String teacher Mike Govert had great success during adapting the [Essesntial Elements..] string method for a student with down syndrome” (McCord & Fitzgeralrd, 2006). These types of practices are put into action at WMAAA and teachers/staff like Minnebo and Bennink experience these rewarding results frequently.

The implications of this study were that performing arts educators were the only interview participants. The educators are from west Michigan and no other locations for sake of time and lack of budget. The survey participants were all Grand Valley State University students that were involved in the Dance program so potential bias may have existed. If time allowed, many other interview participants would have been contacted and the survey would have been sent out to different demographics and psychographics of people to widen the sample size.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the research that was done in this study supported the hypothesis, does incorporating the performing arts in the education curriculum increase academic achievement for students? Through interviews and a survey there were conclusive results that supported the hypothesis. The interviews stated the fact that the performing arts/visual arts classes help students not only learn, but also learn how to be well-rounded human beings. Also, all forms of arts are important and that it teaches them how to work with all different types of people and teaches self-confidence. The school principal and teacher from WMAAA that was interviewed both answered yes to the hypothesis that was stated. They gave examples of how their curriculum allows students to strive that would otherwise, struggle in a basic school curriculum. The survey results read as that Grand Valley students achieved a above average GPA in high school and that they were involved in some type of performing/visual arts. In the secondary research, the hypothesis was supported by stating, that students will do better because they are taught to be more confident. Also, that it helps students learn reading comprehension and literature. The arts also connect students across many different types of arts. It teaches them to appreciate the different kinds of arts and it teaches them lifelong skills that they can carry on in their jobs. Also, it called for that the performing arts curriculum belongs in the school systems. It shape well-rounded people because they have to learn to deal with all kinds of different departments and it teaches them fundamental skills.

Previous research has supported and proved that the incorporation of the arts into the education curriculum is beneficial to students. Many different emotional, physical, and social improvements were made within the students examined in these research studies and at West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics. The primary research that was executed was very helpful in analyzing first-hand how the students learn concepts through skill-building activities. The secondary research executed was beneficial in providing other factors and scenarios that aided in the research. Both of these factors have aided in finding valuable research on the topic. The examinations from both primary and secondary provide insight into changes that can be relevant for future research.

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