There is a paucity of research on the causal relationship between arts learning and educational outcomes. Investigating these relationships has become imperative as policymakers increasingly prioritize empirical evidence of educational impacts, which often leads to curriculum narrowing that favors traditionally-tested subjects. Employing a randomized controlled trial with 42 elementary and middle schools in Houston, Texas, we find that randomly assigning arts educational opportunities reduces disciplinary infractions, improves writing achievement, and increases students’ emotional empathy. Students in elementary schools, which were the primary focus of the program, also experience increases in school engagement, college aspirations, and cognitive empathy. As the first large-scale randomized control trial of arts learning in an authentic school setting, these findings provide strong evidence that the arts can produce meaningful impacts on students’ academic outcomes and social-emotional development. Education policymakers should consider these benefits when assessing the role of the arts in schools.

中文翻译：

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调查艺术教育的因果效应

关于艺术学习和教育成果之间因果关系的研究很少。随着政策制定者越来越重视教育影响的实证证据，调查这些关系已变得势在必行，这往往导致课程范围缩小，有利于传统测试科目。我们对德克萨斯州休斯顿的 42 所中小学进行了一项随机对照试验，发现随机分配艺术教育机会可以减少违纪行为，提高写作成绩，并增加学生的情感同理心。作为该项目的主要关注点的小学学生也体验到了学校参与度、大学抱负和认知同理心的提高。作为第一个在真实学校环境中对艺术学习进行的大规模随机对照试验，这些发现提供了强有力的证据，证明艺术可以对学生的学业成绩和社会情感发展产生有意义的影响。教育政策制定者在评估艺术在学校中的作用时应考虑这些好处。