Focus on Policy: Advocating for the Arts in an Age of Multiliteracies

This article is a discussion of the decades of research linking achievement to the arts: the Cognitive, the Motivational, the Cultural, the Practical, etc. in response to districts cutting the arts to make way for the “basics,” or to save money for literacy consultants and math programs to prepare students for standardized tests. The article asserts that cutting the arts is not something that is likely to improve academic achievement; in fact, quite the opposite. It closes with suggestions for how educators and community members can advocate for the arts in their own buildings or districts.