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Does Art Make You Smart? A Longitudinal Experiment Of The Effects Of Multiple Arts- Focused Field Trips, Heidi Holmes Erickson, Jay Greene, Angela Watson, Molly I. Beck

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

This paper presents second year results from the first ever multi-visit, longitudinal experiment on the benefits from arts-focused field trips. Students in fourth and fifth grades in ten elementary schools in a large urban school district were randomly assigned to receive three arts-related field trips throughout the school year, including an art museum, a live theater production, and a symphony performance or to serve as a control. We find that treatment students exhibit higher levels of school engagement as measured by students’ behavioral infractions and self-reported engagement. We also find that treatment students perform significantly better on their end of …