Arts education and the high school dropout problem

Arts education advocates belief that quality education in the arts can engage at-risk students in ways other subjects cannot and is therefore an important tool in preventing high school dropout. Although some studies point to lower dropout rates, most do not follow a large number of students over ti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cultural economics 2015-11, Vol.39 (4), p.327-339
Main Authors: Thomas, M. Kathleen, Singh, Priyanka, Klopfenstein, Kristin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arts
At risk students
At risk youth
Budgets
Cultural Economics
Culture
Economic models
Economic Policy
Economic statistics
Economic theory
Economics
Economics and Finance
Education policy
Education reform
Educational evaluation
Learning
Low income groups
Microeconomics
Music
No Child Left Behind Act 2001-US
Original Article
Participation
Performing arts education
Public schools
Quality of education
Regional and Cultural Studies
School districts
School dropout programs
School dropouts
Secondary schools
Studies
Survival analysis
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Summary:Arts education advocates belief that quality education in the arts can engage at-risk students in ways other subjects cannot and is therefore an important tool in preventing high school dropout. Although some studies point to lower dropout rates, most do not follow a large number of students over time or account for student and school characteristics expected to influence one's educational path. We fill this gap in the current literature by tracking nearly 175,000 first-time 9th-graders for 5 years using survival analysis with longitudinal administrative data from Texas. We find that cumulative credits in the arts are consistently associated with reduced dropout, even after controlling for prior achievement and contemporaneous course completion in core subjects. Our results provide evidence that the arts are a potential lever in education reform. Experimental and/or quasi-experimental research studies are needed to isolate the salient conditions under which arts participation can reduce dropout.
ISSN:0885-2545
1573-6997
DOI:10.1007/s10824-014-9238-x