While many types of after-school programs provide important access, extension and support to children’s learning and social development, those that include the arts add a special dimension. After-school programs add important elements to in-school arts curricula through extended engagement with the artistic process beyond the usual 45-minute school periods. Extra time for instruction and structured exploration give students more satisfactory opportunities for self-expression or development of their abilities in one or more art forms. This, in turn, enables these young people to develop the motivation, skills and discipline necessary to make meaningful contributions to solo or group projects. They learn about the importance of high standards of achievement for themselves and others. They experience what it means to maintain focus and how sustained practice can lead to higher levels of proficiency.

Arts learning experiences can alter the attitudes of young people toward themselves and each other. For example, students involved in sustained theater arts (scene study, acting techniques, dramatic or musical theater productions) often show gains not only in reading proficiency, but also in self-control and motivation and in empathy and tolerance for others.

Learning in and through the arts can even help students overcome the obstacles of disadvantaged backgrounds. For example, one of the Champions of Change reports, using data from a study that followed over 25,000 students for 10 years, found that students consistently involved in music and theater show significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12—regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Source: National Endowment for the Arts