Arts Students Score Better on Student Assessment Tests

SAT scores for students who studied the arts are higher than students who had no experience in the arts. Data from the College Entrance Examination Board show that students who take four years or more of arts and music classes while in high school score better on their Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) than students who took only one half or less. Compared to the non-arts students, those with arts instruction scored an average of 83 points higher in 1995-1997.

“Students of the arts continue to out-perform their non-arts peers on the SATs by an average of 59 points on the verbal portion and 44 points on the mathematic”

“In a longitudinal study of 25,000 secondary school students, involvement in the arts is linked to higher academic performance, increased standardized test scores, more community service and lower drop-out rates.”

(College Entrance Examination Board, 1995 – Research by Dr. James Catterall, UCLA, 1998)

In 2004, SAT takers with coursework/experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 40 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework or experience in the arts. Scores for those with coursework in music appreciation were 63 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math portion.