Enhancing Curriculum, Instruction & Learning Using The Arts

Indiana's declining SAT scores prompted the publisher of a statewide magazine covering the literary, performing, and visual arts to take action and create a program to use the magazine as a supplemental resource for students. It was believed that such a supplemental resource could enhance critical thinking and writing skills and help raise SAT scores. Arts Indiana, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, provided the organizational structure that launched the Arts Indiana Magazine in the Classroom program and sought sponsors to cover its costs. It was believed that by integrating arts-in a multi-disciplinary approach-directly into Indiana classrooms, the program could enhance critical thinking and writing skills. This study showed the ways in which a supplemental resource is used affects teachers' perceptions of curriculum integration, instructional materials development, classroom learning activity selections, and student critical thinking improvement. It revealed similarities and differences among use between grade levels and subject areas. It revealed the similarities and differences of use among teachers who used an accompanying teacher/student guide and those who did not.