Georgia: Arts Education Campaign

As school systems throughout Georgia evolve in response to implementation of state education reforms and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) sees an opportunity to increase access to arts learning in the state, which has remained static for a decade. Drawing on 25 years of research showing that arts education increases academic achievement, improves social interactions and spurs work-force productivity, GCA created its new Arts Education Campaign. The initiative not only highlights the significant benefits of arts learning but also provides administrators, educators, teaching artists, arts organizations and other stakeholders with a set of tips for improving access to it in K-12 public schools. These resources are collected in an on-line toolkit that can be downloaded in various formats for use in classrooms, in community settings and on social media platforms. Among the many issues the toolkit addresses are how the arts positively impact literacy, student behavior, teacher effectiveness, math skills, grade point average, high school graduation rates and college preparedness. To learn more, contact GCA Senior Communications Specialist Emily Murray.