This document is an article that was previously published in On the Beam, a journal of New Horizons for Learning, an international nonprofit learning community. New Horizons for Learning On The Beam Vol. While the problems persist, recent evidence suggests that supposedly nonessential items such as music, drama and art, which have been, or are being, removed to provide more budgetary resources, in fact promote the kinds of thinking, enthusiasm and discipline that are necessary requisites for children's learning. Music education at the elementary school level appears to be a necessary ingredient for children to realize their potentials in mathematics and reading.
Visual arts appear to be necessary for children to realize their potentials in science.
Similarly, other arts, such as creative writing, dance or drama, appear to be necessary for development of one's abilities to fully express oneself, whether in writing or in interpersonal communications, both of which are requisite for being an effective member of a highly technological society. While the evidence concerning the impact the arts have on student performance is compelling, the answers to why this is so are neither comprehensive nor final. There remain significant questions about whether it is the subject matter of the visual and performing arts, or the process used to teach those subjects, which leads to such an outcome. The results of a symposium in Duxbury, Massachusetts suggest that both are true. The discipline of scientific method demands further research to identify the essential subject matters, document the processes, and measure the relative contributions of each.