School-Level Factors Related to Visual Arts Achievement for 4th-Graders: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

A longitudinal analysis was used to investigate the relationships between school-level factors (poverty, location, size, ratings, and race/ethnicity) and visual arts achievement. Data were collected on 4th-grade students from 34 elementary schools that received Distinguished Arts Program grants in a southeastern state of the United States from 2011 to 2017. Students’ individual multiple-choice visual arts scores were aggregated into school-level scores. The analysis revealed that school-level visual arts scores decreased over time from 2011 to 2017. Visual arts scores appeared to be significantly associated with school ratings, poverty, and race/ethnicity. The findings of the study may inform art educators, school administrators, and policy makers in their program offerings, planning, and targeted interventions around issues of art education.

Acknowledgments

The contributions by the members of the South Carolina Department of Education and the Research, Evaluation, and Measurement Center were critical for the present work and the authors gratefully acknowledge their support and many useful discussions within the consortium.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the South Carolina Department of Education, through Arts Curricular Innovation Grants Distinguished Arts Program and Strategic Planning/Special Project to the Research, Evaluation, and Measurement Center.