WHY ARE WE DOING ART? THE IMPACT OF STANDARDS BASED,
SUSTAINED ART INSTRUCTION FOR INCARCERATED YOUTH
Tereze Lear
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1990
THESIS
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in
EDUCATION
(Curriculum and Instruction)
at
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
SPRING
2010
© 2010
Tereze Lear
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ii
WHY ARE WE DOING ART? THE IMPACT OF STANDARDS BASED,
SUSTAINED ART INSTRUCTION FOR INCARCERATED YOUTH
A Thesis
by
Tereze Lear
Approved by:
__________________________________, Committee Chair
Dr. Karen Benson
__________________________________, Second Reader
Dr. Crystal Olson
____________________________
Date
iii
Student: Tereze Lear
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the
University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library
and credit is to be awarded for the thesis.
Dr. Robert Pritchard, Department Chair
Date
Department of Teacher Education
iv
Abstract
of
WHY ARE WE DOING ART? THE IMPACT OF STANDARDS BASED,
SUSTAINED ART INSTRUCTION FOR INCARCERATED YOUTH
by
Tereze Lear
This teacher action research project served as the Culminating Experience for a
Masters of Arts in Education: Curriculum and Instruction with an Elective Emphasis
on Arts in Education. The author formulated the question, Does standards based,
sustained visual art instruction result in significant gains in reading achievement for
incarcerated youth? The author was a classroom teacher of art, in a maximum-security
housing unit in a youth detention facility. Over an 18-month period, reading pre and
post-test scores were compiled and analyzed. These scores were contrasted with data
derived from student scores from another maximum-security unit where no art
instruction took place. The main questions that guided the literature review were as
follows: What is the theory and practices of arts in education? Is there a connection
between a young person’s cognitive development and participation in the arts? What
prior research has been conducted measuring reading achievement in incarcerated
juvenile offenders who received standards based art instruction? In addition to the
v
quantitative data, qualitative data included the author’s narrative observations and,
student case studies that included work samples. The author concluded that standards
based, sustained visual art instruction does result in significant gains in reading
achievement for incarcerated youth.
, Committee Chair
Dr. Karen Benson
_______________________
Date
vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to acknowledge Dr. Karen Benson, Professor Lorie
Hammond, and Professor Crystal Olson for going above and beyond the call of duty in
supporting the efforts of their students. Special thanks are offered to my mother, Sue
Lear and my co-parenting partner, Christopher Brown, for their understanding and
support. This Thesis is dedicated to my daughter, Tess Violet Brown, for all the
missed stories before bed.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... vii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................ x
List of Figures.............................................................................................................. xi
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
The Problem ..................................................................................................... 1
The Importance ................................................................................................. 1
The Context ...................................................................................................... 2
The Procedure ................................................................................................... 2
The Main Questions That Guided the Literature Review ................................ 4
Research and Documentation ........................................................................... 5
How This Project Changed the Author’s Future Life in Teaching .................. 5
How This Project Informed Others .................................................................. 6
Definition of Terms .......................................................................................... 6
Limitations ........................................................................................................ 7
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................. 8
Theory and Practice of the Arts in Education .................................................. 8
Is There a Connection Between Cognitive Development and
Participation in the Arts? ........................................................................... 16
viii
Standards Based Visual Art Instruction, Reading Comprehension,
and the Implication for Incarcerated Students ........................................... 27
Literature Review Conclusions ...................................................................... 34
3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 36
Student Case Studies ...................................................................................... 43
4. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................ 51
Analysis of the Data ....................................................................................... 51
Summary of Average Reading Comprehension Growth ................................ 55
Conclusions From the Data ............................................................................ 55
Discussion....................................................................................................... 55
5.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ............................................. 63
References .................................................................................................................. 72
ix
LIST OF TABLES
Page
1.
Unit A. Reading Comprehension Pre and Post-Test Scores of
Students Who Did Not Receive Sustained Standards Based
Art Instruction ........................................................................................... 52
2.
Unit B. Reading Comprehension Pre and Post-Test Scores of
Students Who Received Sustained Standards Based Art Instruction ........ 53
3.
Unit C. Reading Comprehension Pre and Post-Test Scores of
Students Who Received Sustained Standards Based Art Instruction ........ 54
x
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
1.
Student #18: Landscape in Oil Pastel ............................................................. 43
2.
Student #18: Still Life .................................................................................... 43
3.
Student #20: Tessellation ............................................................................... 44
4.
Student #20: Under the Sea ............................................................................ 44
5.
Student #21: Tessellation ............................................................................... 45
6.
Student #21: Fractured Mona Lisa ................................................................. 45
7.
Student #24: First Landscape ......................................................................... 46
8.
Student #24: Second Landscape ..................................................................... 46
9.
Student #27: Early Painting ............................................................................ 46
10.
Student #27: Last Painting.............................................................................. 46
11.
Student #28: First Self-Portrait ....................................................................... 47
12.
Group’s Self Portrait’s .................................................................................... 47
13.
Student #28: Last Seascape ............................................................................ 47
14.
Student #30: First and Last Self-Portrait ........................................................ 48
15.
Student #43: Mixed Media Collage ................................................................ 49
16.
Student #43: Final Oil Pastel Still Life........................................................... 49
17.
Student #38: First Painting ............................................................................. 49
18.
Student #38: Final Painting ............................................................................ 49
xi
19.
Student #45: First Art Assignment ................................................................. 50
20.
Student #45: Final Art Assignment ................................................................ 50
xii
1
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
The Problem
The author of this study had been teaching incarcerated juvenile offenders
since 2003. In 2007 she was given the opportunity to teach a semi-contained class in a
maximum-security unit. As part of the curriculum, the author devoted a daily block of
time to the instruction of standards based visual art. It became apparent that students
who previously struggled with problem solving skills, concentration and, motivation
made great progress in these areas during time devoted to art instruction. This
observation caused the author to wonder if these skills had been transferred into other
academic subjects. The following question was formulated. Does standards based,
sustained visual art instruction result in significant gains in reading achievement for
incarcerated youth?
The Importance
Research has proven that there is a strong link between recidivism rates for
juvenile offenders and low academic achievement in reading (Drakeford, 2002;
Szekely 1982; Vacca, 2004). This is an extremely important issue due to the impact it
has on all segments of society. An academic endeavor that could intervene for a child
destined for a life behind bars not only benefits that child but, also the rest of society
in terms of future costs of housing inmates and the overall sense of wellbeing and
safety for a community. There is very little research concerning standards based art
instruction and the implication for incarcerated youth. The author of this study
2
discerned a difference between art instruction as a core academic subject as opposed to
art enrichment activities.
The Context
This study was conducted at a Junior/Senior High School, under the
jurisdiction of the County Office of Education housed within the County Juvenile
Hall. The County could be described as encompassing urban, suburban and rural areas
that surround a medium sized Californian city. The student population demographics
are as follows: 100% of the students qualify for free meals, and 100% of the students
receive Neglected and Delinquent Title I funding. The 2006-2007 California
Department of Education Educational Demographics report states the following
information in regards to students by ethnicity: African American 44.8 %, Hispanic
22.1%, White 19.9%, Asian 6.6%, American Indian .06%, Pacific Islander .06%,
Multiple/No response 5.4%. The Alternative Schools Accountability Model (ASAM)
report for 2007-2008 reflected that 84.7% of the students at this school scored below
the 50th percentile rank in reading; 84.3% of the students scored below the 50th
percentile rate in math; and 35% of the students qualify for special education services.
The Procedure
The length of stay for incarcerated juveniles at this facility ranges from two
days to multiple years depending on the severity of the youth’s criminal charges. For
the purpose of this study, students housed and educated in the three male maximumsecurity units were chosen to study based on the potential for longer stay and,
therefore, an increased opportunity for valid test scores. Each maximum-security unit
3
houses approximately 30 young men, whose ages range from 14-18 years-old. Within
the units there are two classrooms, with two teachers that share teaching
responsibilities. In one of the units, standards based art instruction was not offered as
part of the curriculum. In the remaining two units, a standards based art curriculum
was offered. All three of the units utilized the same curriculum for reading
development, which was the Accelerated Reader program, by Renaissance Learning.
The school program is run year-round with the exception of a one-week break over the
winter holidays.
The two teachers of art participated in the County Office of Education
professional development series Doorways To The Arts. This professional
development opportunity was funded with a Arts Block Funding grant and was a
component of the strategic plan. The participants met one evening a month, a
Saturday, and for a three day intensive summer session. The focus of the professional
development centered on delivery of art curriculum that was aligned to the California
Visual and Performing Arts Framework. Standards aligned visual art textbooks were
used in both classrooms as an anchor to insure that all art lessons presented to the
students were standards based. The two teachers collaborated together in a
professional learning community. While they collaborated and shared ideas, they each
designed and presented their own curriculum.
Upon enrolling in the court school, the Renaissance STAR Reading test is
administered to the student. After 30 days of instruction the student takes a benchmark
test. After 90 days of instruction a post-test is given. If he shows growth, his testing
4
for that school year is done. If he does not show growth, he proceeds on to take a
120day post-test. The 90day and 120day post-test data is submitted to the California
Department of Education as part of the ASAM academic indicators for this school site.
In the context of this study, the pre and post date scores were analyzed to measure
academic achievement. The time period represented is between July 1, 2007 and
January 5, 2009. The maximum-security classroom scores were segregated from the
entire school population scores. The maximum-security unit class scores that did not
provide standards based art instruction served as the control group. Due to transitional
nature of the housing assignments within the maximum-security units, student scores
representing a student who was moved from a unit where he was receiving art
instruction to a unit where he no longer received art instruction were not included in
this study.
The Main Questions That Guided the Literature Review
What are the Theory and Practices of Arts in Education?
Work written by the following theorists was examined: Herbert Kliebard
(1982), John Dewey (1934), Donald Arnstine (1967), Elliot Eisner (1998), Howard
Gardner (1982, 1983), Ruldorf Steiner (2003), and John Berger (1972). Pedagogical
approaches linking these for-mentioned theorists include: Waldorf Education, Multiple
Intelligences, Reggio Emilia and Theater of the Oppressed.
5
Is There a Connection Between a Young Person’s Cognitive Development and
Participation in the Arts?
The history of cognitive developmental theory was described. Child
development theory proposed by Piaget, were contrasted with Socio-cultural views
and Constructivist theories. The possible connection between cognitive development,
the practice of art, and reading comprehension was explored
What Prior Research has been Conducted Measuring Reading Achievement in
Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders who Received Standards Based Art Instruction?
A definition, history, and rationale of standards based art instruction was
provided. Journal articles and government briefs describing similar applications and
studies were considered in the context of this question.
Research and Documentation
Quantitative and qualitative data was utilized for this study. The quantitative
data consisted of the pre and post-test scores outlined above. These scores were
analyzed to determine if standards based art instruction had a positive impact on
reading achievement. A qualitative data source was the author’s narrative
observations. In addition, individual student case studies that included work samples
were examined.
How This Project Changed the Author’s Future Life in Teaching
This project changed the author’s future life in teaching in incremental stages
that seemed to naturally flow one out of the other. The first change the author noticed
was an increased thoughtfulness or heightened sense of awareness in terms of
curriculum planning and the students’ reaction to curriculum. As the author delved
6
into the research pertaining to cognitive development and the connection to arts
education, paradigms previously not explored challenged the author’s preconceived
notions. This cognitive shift by the author led the author to explore themes such as the
influence of nature versus culture in terms of curriculum planning and her own
development as an artist.
How This Project Informed Others
The development and results of this project informed the author, the
professional learning community in which the author participated, as well as the
county office of education administrators who were instrumental in supporting this
project.
Definition of Terms
Incarcerated: detained while pending adjudication and/or placement.
Maximum-security housing unit: housing unit designed and designated for the
incarcerated population charged with violent offences.
Recidivism: relapsing into crime
Standards Based Art Instruction: education programs, curricula, instructional
materials, instruction and assessments that are directly and intentionally founded on,
derived from and fully reflective of the scope and sequence presented within the
Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools and the
Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools.
Sustained art instruction: continual visual arts systematic presentation of facts,
ideas, skills, and techniques.
7
Limitations
Due to the safety and security issues that are paramount in a maximumsecurity teaching environment with incarcerated youth, curriculum planning often had
to deviate from the lessons proposed in the standards based textbook used in this
study. All effort was maintained in supplementing the proposed activities with safer
alternatives, suitable for this setting.
8
Chapter 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The following literature review focused on three areas of research. The first
was an exploration of theories and practices of the arts in education. The second area
of research asked the question: Is there a connection between cognitive development
and participation in the arts? The third area researched relevant work in the field of
standards based visual art instruction and the impact on reading achievement for
incarcerated youths.
Theory and Practice of the Arts in Education
The purpose of this section is to review literature that is relevant to the theory
and practice of the arts in education. The following theorists will be discussed: Herbert
Kliebard (1982), John Dewey (1934), Donald Arnstine (1967), Elliot Eisner (1998),
and John Berger (1972). In addition, pedagogical practices that support the forementioned educational theorists’ viewpoints will illustrate various approaches one
could utilize in the curriculum delivery of arts in education. These pedagogical
methods will include: Waldorf education, Multiple Intelligences, Reggio Emilia and
Theater Of The Oppressed. The theories and practices that will be discussed should
not be construed to be a definitive review, but instead, to be a starting point in the
discussion of the theory and practice of the arts in education.
A review of educational literature would not be complete without the inclusion
of the historical context in which educational policy was conceived. Herbert Kliebard
(1982), in his article titled “Education At The Turn Of The Century A Crucible For
9
Curriculum Change,” offered a historical summary of educational policy. Kliebard
explored the various movements in American public education at the end of the 19th
century. This article illuminated the four major stances on public education that
emerged in America at the turn of the century. The first group Kliebard discussed was
the Humanists. This group attempted to keep in place the power of reason. This
education model, led by Charles W. Elliot, was based on the idea of mental discipline.
A second group of education reformers, facilitated by G. Stanley Hall, proposed the
child study movement. The main idea behind this movement was that a child’s
individual content of the mind was paramount, and curriculum should be reformed in
accordance with the development of the child. A third group was the social efficiency
educators, who proposed that standardized techniques of industry should be applied to
curriculum. The fourth group was the social meliorists. This group, directed by Lester
Frank Ward, saw public education as a means of social change.
Kliebard’s (1982) summary of American educational policy encapsulated
the later part of the 19th century. John Dewey, who many regard as the father of
modern American educational theorists, emerged as an early 20th century
educational philosopher from this tradition of pedagogical debate. In his classic
work, Art As Experience, Dewey (1934) maintained that a student’s prior, current,
and future experience all play a role in the acquisition of knowledge. Dewey
described having an experience when the material experienced runs its course to
fulfillment (p. 36). This process requires equal amounts of perception and action on
the part of the person having an experience. Students develop perception when they
10
encounter experience-rich learning environments. These encounters encourage
students to put into context the skills needed to complete an educational task. For
example, the use of manipulatives in a mathematics class brings concrete
experience to the task of solving a math problem. This experience becomes
perceptive the next time a student is faced with a similar problem because the
student has prior experience that put in context the skills necessary to reach a
solution. Dewey asserted it was the task of Deweyan teachers to provide children
with experiences (cultivating a garden, for example, or a visit to a farm) that would
lead to gradual differentiation of the school subjects (Tanner, 1997, p. 45). As a
child’s experiences expand, a dynamic is created where interests are sparked,
leading to the need to acquire new skills to solve problems. For example, the
cultivation of a garden in elementary school lays the foundation for understanding
the concept of photosynthesis in a secondary school biology course.
An educational practice that comes to mind when reflecting on Dewey’s
assertion of the importance of experience in education is Waldorf education,
developed by Rudolf Steiner. Within the Waldorf curriculum, early childhood learning
is largely experimental, imaginative, and sensory based. Steiner (2003) discussed this
concept in Education: An Introductory Reader.
As teachers, we must be capable of forming the instruction so that the child
does not simply receive something intellectual in the instruction, but also
enjoys the instruction in an aesthetic way. We cannot achieve this if the ideas
appeal only to intellect. We can do this if we, as teachers, relate to the
11
children’s feelings in such varied ways that we actually elicit the children’s
expectations of the subject, which we then fulfill. (p. 28)
In his work titled Philosophy Of Education: Learning and Schooling, Donald
Arnstine (1967) agreed with Dewey’s call for an experienced-based curriculum,
though he expanded upon this idea with the inclusion of the role of experienced-based
curriculum in the development of students’ dispositions. The term disposition, as
defined by Arnstine, can be described as knowledge and skills that are found
meaningful and, therefore, utilized. A student who is learning to learn is among other
things developing his own aims and purposes (p. 37). When immersed in an
experience-rich learning environment, a student’s particular dispositions can be
nurtured. Arnstine discussed how the selection of content for curriculum is related to
how people learn. He also described how the role of the teacher is crucial to successful
curriculum content and student success. After discussing various past curriculum
models, Arnstine put forth the idea that a student’s disposition needs to be the focus of
content selection. A student’s disposition could be nurtured by helping students
understand and acquire skills that prepare them for criticizing a society in light of the
criteria of freedom of thought, decision, and social interaction. If subject matter were
organized from the more general to the more sophisticated, with children’s
dispositions in mind, a more democratic acquisition of knowledge would emerge.
Equally important in the discussion was the role of the teacher. The teacher’s
disposition about the curriculum, through preparation and choice, lays the foundation
for forming a student’s disposition for learning. The Waldorf method, which seeks to
12
create independent thinkers who love to learn, and is sensitive to the developmental
stages of children, is in alignment with Arnstine’s vision.
Another example of a pedagogical practice that would support Arnstine’s
viewpoint would be Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner
(1983) identified several learning styles: visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, musicalkinesthetic, interpersonal, logical-mathematical and, naturalist-intrapersonal. By
incorporating these various learning styles in classroom practice, students’
dispositions can be nurtured.
Elliot Eisner also supported Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In The
Kind Of Schools We Need, Eisner (1998) remarked,
It is both interesting and gratifying to find that both developmental nd
differential psychologists have discovered the arts. Gardner (1983), for
example, argues the case for a multiple theory of intelligence and makes place
for the arts within seven modes of intelligence he describes. (p. 62)
Eisner (1998) proceeded to support Gardner’s work by describing it as among
the most influential that have appeared in the field of education in the last decade (p.
119). While Gardner was concerned with describing the multiple ways in which
people can be smart, Eisner focused on how meanings can be made through different
modes of representation (p. 119). Eisner proposed an expanded conception of literacy
that includes the arts. He also discussed two major contributions the aesthetic in
education can make. The aesthetic tells us about the world in ways specific to its
nature, and the aesthetic provides the experiential rewards of taking the journey itself
13
(p. 43). Eisner argued that visual learning supports cognitive functions. Visual
learning requires the abilities to abstract information, create images, and secure
meanings that are not translatable into other terms. Eisner discussed the implications
of alternative paradigms in the area of scholarship in education. The implications
encompassed conception, practice, policy, and normative functions. The basic premise
Eisner used to support these alternative paradigms is that the curriculum used in
schools defines the opportunities students will have to learn how to think within the
media that schools provide (p. 119). Eisner concluded with a call for the artistic
treatment of educational research. By utilizing this treatment, three positive attributes
for researchers and their work were revealed. These attributes were constructive
neglect, imaginative extrapolation, and artistic engagement. One of Eisner’s most
vibrant arguments for the importance of arts in education is that the arts make
discovery possible.
Discovery occurs as students learn through adventures in the arts something of
the possibilities of human experience. The journeys they take through the
patterned sound we call music, through the visual forms we call painting, and
through the metaphorical discourse we call poetry and literature are means
through which students can discover their potential to respond. In other words,
the arts can help students find their individual capacity to feel and imagine.
(1998, p. 85)
Due to the cognitive benefits of the process of discovery, Eisner (1998) would
support the Reggio Emilia method. Loris Malaguzzi developed this method in Italy,
14
after the Second World War. Within a Reggio Emila school the learning cycle begins
with students’ initiated intention. A question or disposition from a child sparks the
theme of the curriculum. Through reflection, record keeping, and documentation, the
teacher acts as a guide, facilitating the children’s cognitive and academic progress in
the spirit of discovery. Embedded in the Reggio Emilia approach to education is an
image of children, families, and teachers working together to make schools dynamic
and democratic learning environments (New, 2003, p.34).
The concept of democratic learning environments, buoyed by the process of
inquiry and discovery, is the type of pedagogical practice John Berger would stand
behind. In his survey of art history, Ways Of Seeing, Berger (1972) attempted to
persuade the reader that what art has become in this age has politically
disenfranchised people. Through an explanation of how people have seen art has
changed through out history, due to technological advances and the advent of public
art, Berger maintained that the power of art has been compromised. In the modern
age, due to original art being reproduced, the ability to participate with the work of art
has been lost. Expectations of a piece of art forever hamper the viewer from fully
understanding the piece in the context in which it was created. Berger maintained that
while the reproduction of art has brought art to the masses, removing it from the
ruling class domain, this reproduction has rendered art valueless. Berger extended his
treatment of art history to illustrate how western art has tended to objectify and
exploit women, minorities, and the poor.
15
Perhaps, one of the most effective pedagogical practices that attempt to rectify
Berger’s complaints is Theater of the Oppressed. Based on the educational theories of
Brazilians Paolo Freire (1970) and Augosto Boal (1985), this practice has a central
theory that education is political, and education can help the poor. Theater of the
Oppressed offers the means of self expression where the aim is to enlighten the
masses as to why the system is not working in their best interest (conscientization)
and providing an education which forwards their self interest (critical pedagogy). The
numerous theatrical exercises developed by Boal are designed to transform the
learner (audience) into active participants who bring with them their own experience,
knowledge, and context in which to problem solve community problems.
Reflecting back on Kliebard’s (1982) examination of the history of
educational policy of the 19th century, reviewed in the beginning of this section, one
can deduce that educational theory and practice has come full circle. Both Dewey
(1934) and Steiner (2003) proposed experienced based learning environments where
the arts were embedded in the curriculum. This emphasis in the arts is reminiscent of
the humanists determined effort to maintain the arts in education as a core academic
course of study. The work of Arnstine (1967), Eisner (1998), and Gardner (1982,
1983) contain nuances of the child study movement. The current climate of
educational “reform,” in regard to No Child Left Behind legislation and subsequent
high stakes testing, has shades of the social efficiency educators’ attempts at the
standardization of curriculum. Finally, the theories of Berger (1972) and Freire
(1970) remind one of the social meliorates who hoped public education could be a
16
vehicle for social change. A common complaint of educators, in the arena of theory
and practice, is that policy makers are constantly reinventing the wheel. Innovative
theories, supported by relevant practices, reviewed in this section can offer a fresh
perspective for arts in education.
Is There a Connection Between Cognitive Development
and Participation in the Arts?
In the 1960s educational theorists and developmental psychologists began to
explore the connection between cognitive development and participation in the arts.
When put into the context of cognitive development and art, the widely accepted
developmental theories asserted by Piaget, were challenged by a new breed of
scholars. This section of the literature review examines the work of Rudolf Arnheim
(1969), Howard Gardner (1982, 1983), Jessica Davis (1997), and Arthur D. Efland
(2002). In addition, work in the field of cognitive development in art and the
connection to reading comprehension by Kate Cain and Jane Oakhill (2007) was
reviewed.
At the forefront of the study of cognitive development and art was the work of
Rudolf Arnheim. In his book Visual Thinking, Arnheim (1969) proposed that the
pedagogical split between sense and thought was responsible for the isolation and
neglect of the arts in society and education.
The arts are neglected because they are based on perception, and perception is
disdained because it is not assumed to involve thought. In fact, educators and
administrators cannot justify giving the arts an important position in the
17
curriculum unless they understand that the arts are the most powerful means of
strengthening the perceptual component without which productive thinking is
impossible in any field of endeavor. (p. 3)
In a historical overview of cognition, Arnheim (1969) reminded the reader that
the ancient Greeks valued direct vision; and while they refined the techniques of
reasoning, they also believed that, in the words of Aristotle, “the soul never thinks
without an image”(p. 12). Arnheim defined the term “cognitive” to include all mental
operations needed in the receiving, storing, and processing of information: sensory
perception, memory, thinking, and learning. This was a departure from a previously
held conception of cognition, which excluded perception. No thought processes seem
to exist that cannot be found to operate, at least in principle, in perception. Visual
perception is visual thinking (p. 14). To support his assertion, that cognition is
impossible without perception, Arnheim explored perceptual grouping, the influence
of memory on the perception of the present, and asked the question: Can one think
without images? Arnheim argued genuine art work requires organization which
involves many, and perhaps all, the cognitive operations known from theoretical
thinking (p. 263). In his summation, Arnheim, established visual perception as a
crucial means of concept formation.
Howard Gardner (1982), in Art, Mind And Brain, A Cognitive Approach To
Creativity identified Rudolf Arnheim as a pioneer in the field of art and cognition.
Arnheim demonstrated that thought processes rely heavily on the effective functioning
of sensory modalities and on the role of nonlinguistic symbol systems (p. 225).
18
Gardner (1982) also reviewed the work of what he termed the “masters of the
structuralist approach to the mind.” One of these masters was Piaget. Gardner (1982)
summarized Piaget’s stage theories of cognitive development and in doing so found a
connection to his own observations in the study of art and cognition. Gardner (1982)
clarified that according to Piaget, all individuals pass through the same stages of
intellectual development because of inborn predispositions that cause them to form
hypotheses about the world, try them out, and then modify them (p. 19). A problem
that many modern educational theorists have identified with Piaget’s stage theory of
cognitive development is that Piaget never included in his large body of work any
commentaries on creativity or where artistic activity fits into cognitive development.
Gardner commented that neo-Piagetians are grappling with this issue, debating,
whether the actual quality of creative thought processes changes beyond adolescence.
In Piaget’s views, the highest level of thinking, which he called the stage of formal
operations, is attained in adolescence, and while new discoveries are certainly
possible, the fundamental way in which thought occurs will not change, even in a
Darwin or an Einstein (Gardner, 1982, p. 356). While many of Gardner’s
contemporaries place this gap in Piagetian theory as Piaget’s “décolleté” explanation
(periods of transference from one area of cognitive development to another), Gardner
(1982) found this gap useful in his own view of cognitive development in art, which
will be discussed at further length in the paragraphs to come.
Another important structuralist Howard Gardner (1982) reviewed was Ernst
Cassirer. Cassirer, a philosopher, wrote The Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms (1923-
19
1929). Gardner (1982) described Cassier’s theory of cognitive development in terms
of a construction of reality based upon the availability of a collection of symbolic
forms.
And so, for Cassirer, symbols were not simply tools or mechanisms of thought.
They were the functioning of thought itself, vital creative forms of activity, our
sole ways of “making” reality and synthesizing the world. It proves impossible
to think of symbolizing activity apart from human imagination and creativity:
man lives in a symbolic universe. And in the process of symbolic activity,
human beings inevitably engage in meaning-making, in imaginative problemsolving, and in equally creative problem production. (p. 44)
A third structuralist Gardner (1982) discussed was Nelson Goodman. In his
book Languages Of Art (1976), Goodman classified symbol systems according to the
degree in which they approximate or deviate from notationality. Gardner explained
that Goodman maintained that western musical notation fulfilled the semantic and
syntactic requirements of a notational system. He further explained that ordinary
language fulfills the syntactic requirements in its recognizable elements (words) and
how they can be combined (syntax), but language does not fulfill the semantic
requirements of notationality because the meaning universe of language is full of
ambiguity, redundancy, and other blurring features (p. 56). Gardner (1982) extended
Goodman’s discussion of notationality, assigning brain hemispheres, contrasting the
concept of notationality of symbolic forms and syntactic functions of the brain.
20
Furthermore, a case can be made that the left hemisphere of the human brain is
relatively more effective than the right at dealing with notational symbol
systems (ones with distinct elements which can be combined according to
syntactic principles), while the right hemisphere is more at ease in dealing with
dense and replete non-notational systems (ones where fine gradations are
important, and where an attempt to decompose the work into its components is
likely to be misleading). (p. 59)
Gardner (1982) placed the cognitive act of creating a painting or a sculpture
firmly as a right brain hemispheric activity. This distinction is important because it
offers a connection between semantic reading comprehension skills (located in the
right hemisphere and non-notational) and the cognitive act of creating visual arts in the
same brain hemisphere. Gardner substantiated his assumptions concerning brain
functioning and cognition in art and reading by looking at research based in brain
dysfunction. As early as 1915, Bishop Harmon suggested that dyslexic children could
be taught to read English on the principle of Chinese-that is each word having its own
unique symbol (Gardner, 1982, p. 307). Paul Rosin, University of Pennsylvania,
recently described just a method, which they used effectively to teach severely
dyslexic children in the inner city (Gardner, p. 307). Gardner (1982) summarized
numerous studies of traumatic right brain injuries and made the following conclusions.
The right hemisphere emerges as vital in dealing with narratives, metaphors, jokes,
morals, and other complex aspects of language (p. 311). A related conclusion is that
victims of right brain trauma lack the ability to set up a “scaffolding” for a story. They
21
are unable to figure out the underlying architecture or composition of a story-the
nature of and relationship between various parts and characters. Instead, each part
stands alone (p. 315). The opposite observations were discovered for people who have
suffered left-brain traumatic injuries. Syllables, single words, syntax, and grammatical
relations seem to be the mainstay of linguistic functioning of the left hemisphere (p.
316).
In a return to Gardner’s (1982) theory of cognitive development in art, he
agreed with Piaget in terms that a stage a theory of development could be applied to
art, but only in the early childhood years. His departure from Piagetian theories occurs
during the few years preceding adolescence. He refers to these years as a “sensitive
period” During these years Gardner felt that the future artist needed to acquire skills at
rapid rate so that by adolescence he is already accomplished in his craft (p. 90). The
rationale behind this prescription was based on the observations of Piaget that during
adolescence the child is developing his critical reasoning skills to a new level (a left
brain hemisphere activity). Gardner’s (1982) conjunction is that by adolescence, there
is a decline in interest in acquiring skills in the arts because of the preoccupation of
adolescent left-brain activity.
Here then we encounter an important lesson for art education. If we are to
prevent this decline of interest (and possible decline in skill), our pedagogical
efforts during the pre adolescent period become extremely important.
Sufficient progress in teaching or training should, therefore, be realized so that
22
when the child finally gains critical acumen, his works will not seem so
inadequate that he quits in despair. (p. 216)
Jessica Davis (1997), a colleague of Howard Gardner, elaborated on the above
stated theory and documented it in her article titled “The ‘U’ And The Wheel Of ‘C’:
Development and Devaluation of Graphic Symbolization and the Cognitive Approach
at Harvard Project Zero.” Davis’ hypothesis, which runs counter to Piaget’s stage
theory of cognitive development, was thus: there are two pinnacles of artistic
development, one of which seems to occur naturally for five-year-olds, the other for
professional adult artists. There is a descent at middle –childhood that bottoms out for
non-artist adolescents and non-artist adults. Adolescents who continue in aidedartistic endeavors climb towards the second pinnacle and are capable of reaching the
heights of cognitive development in art. This hypothesis can be graphically described
as “U” shaped. In the Project Zero study, 420 drawings made by the following groups
were judged on the aesthetic criteria of overall expression, overall balance, and the
use of line and composition. The groups consisted of one group of five-year-olds, two
groups of children in the “literal stage”(one group of 8 year-olds and one group of 11
year-olds), a group of 14-year-olds who considered themselves artists, a group of 14
year-olds who did not consider themselves artists, a group of non-artist adults, and a
group of professional working artists. The reported results confirmed the hypothesis.
The five-year-old children’s scores, like those of the adolescent artists, were most like
those of the professional artists. The trough of the “U,” was occupied by the low
scores of the literal stage 8-and 11-year-old children, and even lower scores of the
23
non-artist adolescent and non-artist adults. These observations point to the dissolution
or loss of some early abilities to construct meaning out of graphic symbols (Davis,
1997, p. 53). Davis’ work substantiated Gardner’s cognitive theory in artistic
development and the need for direct instruction in the visual arts during the sensitive
pre-adolescent period.
If educators were to embrace the cognitive view of arts production underlying
the research described in this chapter, they might take more seriously the loss
of the early gift of artistry. If graphic symbolization were to be regarded as an
important venue for the making of important meaning, the place of the arts in
students’ daily education would have to be rethought. (p. 54)
Arthur D. Efland (2002) in Art And Cognition: Integrating The Visual Arts In
The Curriculum also summarized various cognitive theorists. The Behaviorists Clark
L. Hull and B. F. Skinner, who aspired to reduce all forms of learning to conditioning
(p.15), were contrasted with Piaget’s stages: sensimoter intelligence (0-2 years), preoperational thought (2-7 years), concrete operations (7-11 years), formal operations
(11-15 years). Efland extended his review to include socio-cultural cognitive
development theory developed by Lev Vygotsky. Most well known for the concept of
The Zone of Proximal Development (the gap between the unassisted level of
achievement and that achieved by children when given assistance.) Efland also
summarized the work of scholars he termed “Constuctivists.” He placed Howard
Gardner and Elliot Eisner within this group. This revolution, as he termed it ,
synthesized the ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky extending these theories to include the
24
conception of the mind to encompass constructive activities that create symbolic
representations of the world and through which one comes to know the world.
The view of mind to be advanced is thus a threefold one: first mind is
characterized as a symbol-creating and processing function, with the symbols
themselves being created in the brain to represent knowledge or reality.
Second, it is portrayed as a socio-cultural practice among interacting
individuals, and third, it is portrayed as the meaning constructed from one’s
experience. In turn, knowledge also can be viewed in a threefold way: first, as
a symbolic structure in the mind; second, as the meanings and skills derived
from social experiences and situations; and third, as a personal construction of
one’s own making. (Efland, 2002, p. 54)
Efland (2002) argued for an integrated theory that would nurture cognitive
flexibility, the ability to change strategies as one becomes mindful of the structural
demands of each domain, and the ability to activate the appropriate means to secure
meaning or understanding. To be flexible one needs a repertoire of strategies from
which choices can be made, many in this repertoire are learned in the arts (p. 160).
Connections can be made between cognitive development in art and reading
comprehension. An early assertion made in Children’s Comprehension Problems in
Oral and Written Language: A Cognitive Perspective edited by Kate Cain and Jane
Oakhill (2007), supports the points made by the fore-mentioned authors.
Models that presuppose that the development of basic reading skills (e.g.,
phonological skills and word decoding) must precede the development of
25
comprehension skills, need to be questioned. A perspective that fits better with
recent data is that comprehension skills develop simultaneously with basic
language skills and have their roots in early narrative comprehension. (p. 30)
These findings correspond with Gardner‘s and Davis’s (1997) concept of the “U”curve of graphic development. According to their findings, the very young mind (premiddle childhood) appears to be more adaptable for grasping comprehension skills.
Characteristics of poor comprehension skills were described as problems with
syntactic awareness, inference making and integration, cohesive devices, use of
context, comprehension monitoring, knowledge of story structure, and the role of
working memory (p. 43). The concept of working memory seems especially
applicable to the study of cognitive and development and the connection to reading
comprehension skills. Working memory holds recently processed information to
make connections to the latest input, and it maintains the gist of information for the
construction of an overall representation of the text. Working memory was described
as a multi-component model that includes the phonological loop and the visual-spatial
sketchpad. The phonological loop is a temporary storage of verbal information,
maintained within the store via the process of articulation (p. 160). The visual-spatial
sketchpad is responsible for the storage of visual spatial information over brief
periods and plays a key role in the generation and manipulation of mental images (p.
161). The Central Executive System, a coordinating activity within the cognitive
systems, prioritizes input from the left and right hemispheres of the brain. In addition,
it appears to suppress irrelevant information, therefore monitoring and coding of
26
incoming information for speed of processing. Research in working memory has
revealed that children of normal intelligence who vary in word recognition and
reading comprehension differ on measures related to working memory. More
importantly, we find that the storage aspect of working memory, not the executive
system, underlies differences between comprehension deficit-only children with
reading difficulty (p. 177).
In conclusion, the work of Arnheim (1969), Gardner (1982, 1983), Davis
(1997), Efland (2002), and Cain and Oakhill (2007) illuminated several connective
points in terms of the question posed: Is there a connection between cognitive
development and participation in the arts and reading comprehension? First, cognition
includes perception and thought. Second, the structuralists’ theories of stage theory,
mental conceptions of symbolic forms, and notationality formed a framework for
future contructivist theories. Third, the study of brain hemispheres has revealed
crucial differences in the origins of cognitive duties for art and reading. Fourth, a
linear progression of cognitive development in art and reading is not supported by the
research presented above. Fifth, socio-cultural cognitive theory should be included as
an integrated approach to cognitive development in art and reading. Sixth, the right
hemisphere of the brain plays a crucial role in cognitive development in both art and
reading comprehension. These points provide a framework for future inquiry. Could
standards based instruction in visual art strengthen cognitive abilities as they are
applied to complex reading comprehension skills? And more specifically, has any
27
research, pertaining to this question been conducted with incarcerated adolescents?
These questions were investigated in next and final section of the literature review.
Standards Based Visual Art Instruction, Reading Comprehension,
and the Implication for Incarcerated Students
In the review of educational literature concerning the prisons and juvenile
detention centers of the United States two trends emerge:
1. These institutions are predominantly inhabited by individuals who struggle
with reading comprehension skills.
2. Access to the arts, in either an academic or therapeutic setting, seems to have a
positive impact for the incarcerated.
What if these two truths were merged into a combined strategy of intervention? James
S. Vacca (2004), in “Educated Prisoners Are Less Likely to Return to Prison”
maintained that a majority of the adults incarcerated in American federal and state
prisons can neither read nor write, and they have less than an eighth-grade education.
Data has indicated that the average reading level nationally for ninth grade youth in
correctional facilities was fourth grade (Drakeford, 2002). Vacca also asserted that
recidivism rates drop when education programs are designed to help prisoners with
their social skills, artistic development, and techniques and strategies to help them deal
with their emotions (p. 299). In California, the adult and youths recidivism rate is
67.5% and 76% respectively (Langan & Levin, 2002; SB 1616, 2006). While the crisis
for reading intervention for incarcerated citizens has been well established and, in
addition, the beneficial outcomes of exposure to the arts for this population is well-
28
established, this literature review will reveal that very little research has been
published connecting these two cognitive endeavourers.
An early researcher in the field of art education and the incarcerated was Henry
Schaefer-Simmern. His book The Unfolding of Artistic Activity Its Basis, Processes
and Implications (1948) offered an in depth case study of the effects of art instruction
for incarcerated adolescents. Schaefer-Simmern described the art education in his
study as thus:
As the main trend for this art education is inwardly determined by the law of
man’s growth of visual conception, and as the artistic result is the fruit of that
growth, education (the natural cultivation of growing mental powers) and
artistic activity (the pictorial realization of visual conception) become
functionally united. (p. 27)
Schefer-Simmern’s (1948) experiment with delinquents, as he titled it, took
place between March, 1940 and September, 1942 at the New York City Reformatory
in New Hampton, New York. Eighteen boys participated ranging in ages of 17-22.
The groups met one and one half days each week. The procedure of the art study is as
follows. The boys were prompted to draw whatever they liked. They were guided to
refine their drawings numerous times. This aided the ability to conceive visually new
relationships of form. A linoleum cut block was then created based on the form
drawing and printed on fabric. Series of linoleum block prints were refined and
produced. Clay reliefs were crafted and casted in stone. The evolution of art
29
instruction was a six month process for case highlighted case study. SchaeferSimmern made the following conclusions.
Not one boy failed to develop his innate artistic activity in keeping with his
natural potentialities. The fact that all the boys could be led to develop their
creative existence may open new ways for the education, adjustment, and
rehabilitation of institutionalized delinquents As this kind of production
demands a highly disciplined function of thought and feeling as well as
physical control, it brings the whole personality into a state in which he who
creates becomes aware that the integration of his work requires the sacrifice of
all other ideas which do not pertain to the creative process. It is this principal
aspect of the artistic activity, which contains the high ethical values of
devotion of self to the realization of the artistic form. (p. 193)
What Schafer-Simmern (1948) discovered in the 1940s, is mirrored in
subsequent studies. Education and criminal justice journals have well documented
various positive outcomes of art education for incarcerated individuals. Paul Clements
(2004), in “The Rehabilitative Role of Arts Education in Prison” stated, “The arts
engage the hand, eye and brain, expressing the identity of the whole person. The arts
encourage natural self-discipline and autonomy” (p. 177). Numerous authors have also
documented the role of art in aiding the growth of self-discipline for prisoners
(Derickson,1985; Ezell & Levy, 2003; Grout, 1982; Oesterreich & McNie Flores,
2009; Psilos, 2002; Szekely, 1982; Yesh, 1989).
30
Bradford B. Venable (2005), in “At-Risk and In-Need: Reaching Juvenile
Offenders Through Art,” cited, “Incarceration itself assumes a loss of control that
infantilizes and dehumanizes prisoners. Making art can re-establish a sense of control
and provide opportunities for inmates to reconnect with humanity” (Williams, as cited
by Venable, p. 50). The dehumanizing effects of incarceration and the role of art in
connecting with humanity, as well as, the reformation of personal identity has been
described by many researchers (Clements, 2004; Derickson, 1985; Grout, 1982;
Szekely, 1982; Williams, 2008; Yesh, 1989).
In addition to self-discipline and reconnection with humanity, the reduction of
stress is another positive effect of art education for an inmate (Clements, 2004;
Derickson, 1985; Grout, 1982; Szekely, 1982; Venable, 2008; Williams, 2008; Yesh,
1989). Rachel Marie-Crane Williams in The Status and Praxis of Arts Education and
Juvenile Offenders in Correctional Facilities in the United States (2008) wrote:
The arts are important to incarcerated juvenile offenders. Creative acts are one
avenue that these children can use to express their anger, fear, and remorse.
Arts programs improve the ability of participants to handle stressful situations
without violence or aggression. Participation in the arts also helps students
reformulate their ideas about education and their identity. (p. 125)
While these positive effects of art education has been well documented,
Williams (2008) reported that less than 25% of public, juvenile correctional
institutions in America offered arts programs (p. 124). Fifty percent of these
institutions characterized these arts programs as educational, as opposed to
31
recreational or therapeutic; 65% of the respondents reported using a written
curriculum created by certified art teachers 55% (p. 110). Most of these programs,
65%, were described as long term instruction that met daily for up to one hour. In
summary, approximately 6% of public juvenile correctional institutions in the United
States offered an academic curriculum in art that was taught and created by certified
art teachers. In light of these statistics, it is not a surprise that the author of this study
found it difficult to find sources for the review of the literature on sustained, standards
based art instruction for incarcerated adolescents and the impact on reading
comprehension achievement.
In education, standards based instruction is a relatively new term. In
California, where this teacher action research project was conducted, the state
frameworks were written in the 1980s. They described a general course of study for
academic subjects. In the 1990s, the frameworks were bolstered by state standards.
The most recent Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools
Kindergarten Though Grade Twelve was adopted by the California State Board of
Education in 2004. Under the standards, adopted by the California State Board of
Education in 2001, students are expected to master the following component strands:

Artistic perception

Creative expression

Historical and cultural context
32

Aesthetic valuing

Connections, relationships, and applications
The frameworks and standards were an outgrowth of what was previously
termed Disciplined Based Art Education (DBAE). The disciplined-based paradigm
approaches art as a subject of study in general education. It requires a more balanced
curriculum that includes content from four art disciplines; art criticism, art history, and
aesthetics in addition to art production (Dobbs, 1988 p. 6-7). Elliot Eisner (1998)
outlined a model for disciplined based art education in the Kettering Curriculum, a
Stanford University project
1. Domains

Productive

Critical

Historical
2. Within each domain, identify concepts and principles
3. Rationale
4. Distinguish between instructional and expressive objectives
5. Motivational activity
6. Sequential lessons
7. Support material
8. Evaluation procedures
(pp. 18-19)
33
In 1985, Judith Anne Derickson reviewed the Use Of Discipline-Based Art
Curriculum In Correctional Institutions. Derickson found that existing art programs in
prisons were largely studio and craft programs with inmates deciding the content (p.
38). She asserted that a disciplined-based art curriculum, rooted in aesthetic education,
that presented a body of ideas with regularity, thoroughness, and sequence with
subsequent observation of achievement that included studio production, art history and
art criticism was needed in the prison setting (pp. 39-40). In her literature review she
criticized other studies that described art programs with incarcerated individuals that
allowed students to decide the medium and method of studio production (Grout, 1982;
Szekely, 1982). Both of the criticized studies dealt with adult inmates and were
discipline-based. Future research could be conducted contrasting the best practices for
the incarcerated adult versus the incarcerated adolescent in terms of freedom of choice
in art production.
A review of the literature on the subject of sustained, standards based art
instruction and the connection to reading comprehension achievement in incarcerated
adolescents revealed no known research has been conducted. Three related studies are
reviewed in the context of this topic. Sue Jacobs (2006) wrote “How Are the Boys
Doing? Listening, Writing, Drawing: The Artistic Response of Incarcerated Youth to
Young-Adult Literature.” Jacobs studied the types of artistic responses and personal
interpretations that incarcerated male youths make as they listen and respond to
selected pieces of young-adult literature. She concluded that the evolution of issues,
development of communication skills, attitude, interest, and engagement in text was
34
evident (p. 118). “An Evaluation of an Arts Program for Incarcerated Juvenile
Offenders” by Mark Ezell and Michelle Levy (2003) found that artistic assessments
correlated with moderate or substantial progress achieved on all types of learning
goals, especially academic goals (p. 111). William Drakeford (2002) conducted
research on “The Impact of an Intensive Program to Increase the Literacy Skills of
Youth Confined to Juvenile Corrections.” Drakeford substantiated that little research
has been conducted on increasing academic skill deficits, specifically reading literacy
skills in juvenile offenders (p. 143). According to Drakeford, with direct intervention
strategies, over a six-month period, test results supported the argument that
participants improved their grade levels in reading fluency from half a grade to a full
grade (pp. 140-142).
In conclusion, numerous studies have been conducted and described in terms
of the subjective value of art education for the incarcerated juvenile offender. The
need for reading comprehension intervention strategies for this population is well
documented. Statistics reveal that only 6% of public youth detention facilities in The
United States offer an academic program in art. The use of standards based or
disciplined-based art instruction in these art programs has not been measured. In
addition, the possible correlation between this type of instruction and reading
comprehension achievement has also not been studied.
Literature Review Conclusions
A historical overview of the theory of education and some of the best practices
in art in education discussed positions held by various educational factions at the turn
35
of the 20th century. Over the last century, a trend that emerged in the literature was a
call for education to be based in experience. Theories centered on the concepts of
multiple intelligence and new modes of representation of intelligence were described.
The view that a student’s disposition and the argument for democratic learning
environments were introduced. Numerous art in education practices that dove tailed
with these theories were illustrated. A general overview of cognitive theory, with a
description of the main points asserted by the structuralists, behaviorists,
constructivists, and the social-cultural constructivists was compared and contrasted. In
addition, work in the fields of cognition in art education and cognition in reading
comprehension was highlighted. The literature review also described how the
discipline based art instruction, formulated in the 1960s, evolved into the standards
based art instruction of today. Finally, a search for comparable research to the author’s
study revealed that very little work has been published in the fields of standards based
art instruction or reading intervention with incarcerated youth.
36
Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY
The author of this study graduated from the University of California, Berkeley
in 1990. While a bachelor’s degree in history was the focus of her academic work, she
continued her life-long pursuit of education in the visual arts by completing many
elective art courses. After finishing her work at Berkeley, the author volunteered at the
San Francisco Boys and Girls club, Haight Ashbury site, in the arts and craft room.
During this time period, she also volunteered her time in an art classroom at Ida B.
Wells Continuation High School in San Francisco.
In 1993, she completed the single subject teaching credential program in
History at San Francisco State University. Her teaching career began as a social
studies teacher at Raoul Wallenberg High School, the school in which she had fulfilled
her student teaching requirement. After relocating in 1996, the author taught in rural
and suburban high schools in California. Eventually, in 1998, the author believes she
found her niche and began her work as a teacher in court and community schools. In
this capacity, as a self-contained classroom teacher, she started implementing art into
her content areas curriculums.
In 2003, the author was transferred to the youth detention facility and assigned
to teach in the minimum-security classrooms. In the spring of 2007, she recognized the
need for an art course at the site and gained the permission of her site administrator to
pilot such a course. The administrator enthusiastically supported the endeavor, and in
the fall of 2007, asked the author to teach in the one of the male maximum-security
37
housing units, with the intent of bringing academic art instruction to this population.
Simultaneously, a colleague piloted an academic art course of study in another male
maximum-security unit in the facility. It was the administrator’s goal that eventually
all four of the maximum-security units would offer art as part of the regular school day
curriculum.
In the fall of 2008, the author enrolled at California State University,
Sacramento in pursuit of a Masters of Arts in Education: Curriculum and Instruction
with an Elective Emphasis on Arts in Education. This program required the author to
take more visual art courses, thereby bolstering her art production and instruction
skills. In addition, these new art opportunities, one drawing and two painting courses,
enabled the author to work through some artistic blocks she had been plagued with
since High School.
Teaching in a youth detention facility is a very different atmosphere, compared
to teaching in traditional public schools. The sense of confinement extends to the
teaching staff. To enter the author’s classroom, a total of seven locked doors needed to
be accessed. Cameras and video surveillance are located in all the hallways, day
spaces, and classrooms. The probation department’s responsibility of housing and
maintaining safety security for the residents, takes precedence over educational goals
and objectives. It was not unusual to have frequent disruptions to a lesson plan. These
disruptions could be in the form of students being called out of class for pill calls,
medical treatments, court and attorney appointments, and family visits. Disruptions
could also take the form of assaultive behavior between residents or residents on staff.
38
When tensions ran high, gang attacks and riots were not uncommon. These are the
plight of the court schoolteacher, and it has been the author’s experience to take
disruptions to the school program in stride. A close working relationship with
probation, based on mutual respect and trust is essential for a successful court school
classroom to function effectively. It is interesting to note that as of this date, there has
been no assaultive behavior committed by the author’s students in the classroom while
art instruction was taking place.
Because safety and security is such a high priority in a court school classroom,
an art teacher must exercise the utmost judgment and caution, in terms of the selection
of mediums and curriculum content. Due to the potential to be used as a weapon,
residents were not allowed to used regular pencils, instead they were restricted by
probation to rubber, golf sized pencils. Therefore, for example, charcoal was utilized
during the drawing unit. Oil and water-soluble pastels were another safe alternative.
All art materials needed to be numbered and counted before distribution and upon
collection.
In terms of curriculum content, tight parameters needed to be instituted in the
selection of art content. The author’s standard rule was no use of numbers, letters, or
gang symbols was to appear in the student work. Alignment of the curriculum to the
national and state standards in visual art assisted in the choice of curriculum content,
thereby not leaving much “wiggle room” for a student to express gang agitation,
which could lead to an unsafe learning environment. Free draws typically will result in
the production of one or two beautifully rendered examples of prison art, complete
39
with hidden gang identifiers, while the majority of the class will throw up their hands
in exasperation declaring they can’t do art. The position the teacher took in the
delivery of art instruction was that all art assignments were problem-solving activities
to be accomplished to the best of a student’s ability. The author utilized the standards
based art textbook, adopted by the county office of education, as an anchor for the
curriculum. The scope and sequence outlined in the textbook drove the art instruction,
thereby insuring lessons were embedded in the standards and meaningful. Instruction
was often expanded based on student need and interests.
Often the author met the most resistance from the students who could produce
excellent examples of the prison art genre. These students, during the creative process,
were very uncomfortable using new mediums such as charcoal, pastels or paint. It was
the author’s opinion that they felt powerless when handed a medium they could not
control. Quiet words from the teacher, explaining that she would help them gain
mastery over the mediums was usually all it took to bring these emerging artists on
board. Fear and art was an easily recognizable condition because the author had
experienced her fair share. In fact, it was while sitting in a drawing class, frozen with
fear, the author came to the realization that perhaps that is how a student who does not
read well feels when faced with reading in school.
Exposure to art history aided in maintaining enthusiasm in the areas of artistic
perception and the creative art process. Visual aids in the forms of prints, overheads
and DVDs were used as unit openers to expose the students to diverse art styles.
40
Art criticism became an important aspect to the development of a safe
atmosphere in which students could create. Effective critiques were modeled using
prints of masterworks at the start of a unit, and student work was critiqued at the
culmination of a unit. Firm classroom management was necessary during these art
criticism sessions. Students might be asked to choose a piece of art completed by a
classmate and remark on one thing they did well in the piece, and one area they could
improve in the piece. The students were encouraged to utilize vocabulary essential to
the elements of art (line, color, value, shape, texture, form, and space) and the
principles of design (unity, variety, emphasis, balance, proportion, pattern, and
rhythm) when appropriate during art criticism sessions. It was observed by the author,
that many incarcerated students are inexperienced in the area of articulating clearly
what they are thinking. This observation has also been supported by other researchers
(Smith & Griffin, 2002).The author had informally observed that many of her students
seemed starved for conversations with adults. The author had also noticed that her
students seemed to have a genuine respect for talent in any form. Even the least
respected kid in class was praised sincerely by his classmates when he exhibited
artistic success. The art criticism conversations visibly aided the students by
increasing their self-confidence both in art production and speaking abilities.
Written reflection was another component in the art instruction. The following
are examples of reflections written by students when asked the question: How do you
feel when you are creating art?
41

“Expressing myself through art makes a difference for me because when I
draw I stay focused and it takes my mind off my troubles in life. Art eliminates
all distractions that are around me”

“Doing art helps me improve my skills.”

“Creating art helps me relax and calms my nerves.”

“When I’m angry, art helps me to calm down.”

“I feel art opens my mind and keeps me on point, it keeps my mind free like a
bird and calm like an open ocean.”

“Creating art helps me express my self without using words and it also helps
me exercise the other side of my brain. It helps you feel free, mentally, when
you are physically trapped.”

“Doing art is a way to relieve myself of daily stress.”

“Art relaxes my mind and keeps me motivated to complete challenges.”

“Art speaks your mind, even though there is silence in your tongue.”
As outlined in Chapter 1, once students were exposed to a daily standards
based art curriculum, the author of the study informally noticed rapid gains in art
production skill. As also the teacher of English, and reading intervention, she was
interested in testing the question: Does sustained, standards based art instruction
impact reading achievement in incarcerated youth?
With the permission of her administrators, reading pre and post-test scores,
over an 18-month period, were generated from the county office of education testing
database. The numerical value of the pre and post-test scores are equivalent to grade
42
levels, for example, a score of 4.5 should be interpreted as a student who reads at the
fourth grade, fifth month level. The lowest score attainable is a pre-kindergarten level;
the highest attainable score is 13.0, which is equal to first year college student. The
scores represented all the male students who had been housed and educated in the
three maximum-security housing units. This initial student sample was narrowed down
to 105 students. The selection of the student sample groups considered students who
had transferred to the control group’s housing unit from one of the study group units
as ineligible for the study. Due to the high frequency of transfers among the
maximum-security units and the author’s preference of a large student sample, any
student who had been housed in the control group housing unit for five days or less
and then transferred to the study groups were considered eligible for inclusion in the
study. All three housing unit classrooms utilized the same reading intervention
supplemental curriculum. These reading comprehension pre and post-test scores with
analysis can be found in the following chapter.
During this 18-month period, all student artwork was photographed and
cataloged. Included in this chapter is a selection of student artwork that contrasts early
and final artwork produced by some of the participants. For the purpose of protecting
the student’s identity, numbers were assigned to the students. A companion to the case
study artwork documentation is the author’s narrative observations.
43
Student Case Studies
Student #18’s duration of enrollment during the study was four months. His
pre and post-test scores were 4.3 and 9.6. This student could be described as a
thoughtful, cautious young man who was identified as a gang leader or “shot caller” in
the housing unit. He came from a notorious family of gang members. The author had
taught at least six brothers or cousins over the previous years. Figure 1 represents an
early landscape in oil pastel. Figure 2 is a still life in ink completed late in his stay.
Note the attempt at achieving a three dimensional form with the use of shading in his
later piece.
Figure 1. Student #18: Landscape in
Oil Pastel.
Figure 2. Student #18: Still Life.
Student #20’s duration of enrollment during the study was eight months. His
pre and post-test scores were 4.3 and 5.4. This student received special education
services. Due to his volatile temper and difficulty in interacting with his peers, he was
often on room confinement and absent from class. Figure 3 is an early tessellation
assignment where the student’s goal was to create a sense of unity. Figure 4 is a
44
watercolor resist mixed media piece, which was his contribution to an “under the sea”
themed class mural. Toward the end of his stay, the author observed a remarkable
improvement in his peer interactions and an interest on his part in asking for help from
the teacher in both reading and art instruction.
Figure 3. Student #20: Tessellation.
Figure 4. Student #20:
Under the Sea.
Student # 21’s duration of enrollment during the study was eight months. His
pre and post-test scores were 6.5 and 12.9. Early on, the teacher often noted that while
this student seemed to enjoy doing art, he struggled to complete his art assignments.
Toward the end of his stay he was more productive and able to finish his artwork.
Figure 5 is another example of the tessellation assignment, one of the few pieces he
finished early in his stay. Figure 6 is his final piece, in watercolor and ink titled
“fractured Mona Lisa.”
45
Figure 5. Student #21: Tessellation.
Figure 6. Student #21:
Fractured Mona Lisa.
Student #24’s duration of enrollment during the study was 10 months.
However, he only attended school for a total of 52 non-consequent days, due to severe
manifestations of his diagnosed mental illness, schizophrenia. His reading pre and
post-test scores were 2.6 and 3.0. This student also received special education services
for specific learning disabilities. The first day he attended class, the students were
given an acrylic landscape painting assignment. This student decided to utilize a
Caribbean beach magazine photograph as inspiration for his painting. A few minutes
into the painting, he abandoned his paintbrush and completed it with his fingers. He
also had the biggest smile on his face that the author had ever seen and was actively
engaged in his painting for over a hour (see Figure 7). When another landscape
painting was assigned, he chose to try the same motive again (see Figure 8).
46
Figure 7. Student #24: First
Landscape.
Figure 8. Student #24: Second
Landscape.
Student # 27’s duration of enrollment during the study was six months. His
reading pre and post-test scores were 5.4 and 8.1. He can best be described as wise
beyond his years and jaded. The author had taught this student numerous times in
minimum-security school and not once saw him smile; he rarely spoke unless spoken
to. His eyes communicated a great deal of information and the author used him to take
the pulse of the class. He often would signal the teacher with his eyes to warn her of
behavior problems on the horizon with the class. Figure 9, a watercolor and acrylic
painting is an early example of his artwork. Figure 10 is his last painting, a watercolor.
Figure 9. Student #27: Early Painting.
Figure 10. Student #27: Last Painting.
47
Student #28’s duration of enrollment during the study was four months. His
reading pre and post-test scores were 5.4 and 13.0. His demeanor was disrespectful
and sullen. His first art piece was a self-portrait in charcoal (see Figure 11). His angry
self-image was revealed in this work. Another aspect of this piece of art was
illuminating for the author. All but a few students depicted themselves with
disembodied heads (see Figure 12). About a month before his release there was a
dramatic change in this students motivation and attitude. The last piece he did in class
was a peaceful seascape (see Figure 13).
Figure 11. Student #28:
First Self-Portrait
Figure 12. Group’s
Self-Portraits
Figure 13. Student #28: Last
Seascape
Student #30’s duration of enrollment during the study was one year, three
months. His reading pre and post-scores were 5.6 and 5.7. This student received
special education services for specific learning disabilities. He had wonderful sense of
humor. Toward the end of his stay, the courts were conducting a competency hearing
on this student. It is the author’s opinion that this influenced the student’s performance
on his reading post test score because towards the end of his stay, he was actively
48
reading books at the ninth grade level. Figure 14 shows his first self-portrait and last
self-portrait.
Figure 14. Student #30: First and Last Self-Portrait
Student # 43’s duration of enrollment during the study was one year. His
reading pre and post-test scores were 6.1 and 13.0. The author had taught this student
on and off for the previous six years, when she first met this student, at age 13, he read
at the second grade level. He had a mischievous personality. Figure 15 is an early
example of his artwork, a mixed media collage. Figure 16, an oil pastel still life was
his final work. At the age of 18, this student was transferred to the county jail to be
tried as an adult for the murder of a police officer. Six months later, he contacted the
teacher via-letter, letting her know he was currently reading War and Peace while
awaiting trial. He said it was the best book he had ever read. He thanked her for
helping him become a better reader, regardless of the outcome of his trial.
49
Figure 15. Student #43: Mixed
Media Collage.
Figure 16. Student #43: Final Oil Pastel
Still Life.
Student # 38’s duration of stay during the study was eight months; His reading
pre and post-test scores were 4.9 and 6.9. This student had an amicable personality,
although under the surface he struggled with anger issues. He openly expressed his
enjoyment of art. Figure 17 is his first acrylic painting and Figure 18 is his final
painting. As in the preceding case study, this student wrote to the author from the
California Youth Authority, where he is serving an eight-year sentence. He informed
her that he was staying clear of gang activity and working on obtaining his high school
diploma.
Figure 17. Student #38: First Painting.
Figure 18. Student #38: Final Painting.
50
Student #45’s duration of stay during the study was one year and six months.
His reading pre and post-test scores were 3.1 and 6.9. This student was outspoken and
enjoyed the time devoted to art in the class. He displayed an innate sense of art in
terms of the use of color theory. Figure 19 is his first completed art assignment and
Figure 20 is a final oil pastel.
Figure 19. Student #45: First Art.
Assignment.
Figure 20. Student #45: Final
Art Assignment.
The following chapter will discuss the outcomes of the reading comprehension
pre and post-test quantitative data. An analysis of the data will be included in this
discussion.
51
Chapter 4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
In order to ascertain if sustained, standards based art instruction had a positive
impact on the incarcerated student’s reading comprehension skills, the reading pre and
post-test scores from the three male maximum security housing units were analyzed.
These scores represent students who were enrolled in the court school program
between July 1, 2007 and January 5, 2009. The total student sample was 105 students.
The selection of student sample groups considered these students who had transferred
to the control group’s housing unit from one of the housing units that offered art
instruction as ineligible for the study. Due to the high frequency of transfers among
the maximum-security units and the author’s preference of a large student sample, any
student who had been housed in the control group housing unit for five days or less
and then transferred to the units that offered art were considered eligible for inclusion
in the study. As introduced in Chapter 1, upon enrolling in the court school, the
Renaissance STAR Reading test is administered to all students. After 30 days of
instruction the student takes a benchmark test. After 90 days of instruction a post-test
is given. The policy is that if he shows growth, his testing for that school year is done.
If he does not show growth, he proceeds on to take a 120 day post-test.
Analysis of the Data
The following exhibits comprise a summary of the quantitative data of this
study. The table titled Unit A represents the reading comprehension pre and post-test
scores of the students who did not receive sustained standards based art instruction.
52
The tables titled Unit B and Unit C represent the reading pre and post-test scores of
the students who received sustained, standards based art instruction.
Table 1.
Unit A. Reading Comprehension Pre and Post-Test Scores of Students Who Did Not
Receive Sustained Standards Based Art Instruction
53
Table 2.
Unit B. Reading Comprehension Pre and Post-Test Scores of Students Who Received
Sustained Standards Based Art Instruction
54
Table 3.
Unit C. Reading Comprehension Pre and Post-Test Scores of Students Who Received
Sustained Standards Based Art Instruction
55
Summary of Average Reading Comprehension Growth
Unit A (control group): .99
Unit B: 2.06
Unit C: 1.67
Units B & C combined average: 1.88
Conclusions From the Data
An analysis of the pre and post-test reading comprehension scores revealed
that all three housing units showed growth. The control group, Unit A, the unit that did
not offer art instruction, had a reading comprehension growth average of
approximately ten months. Units B and C, the units that offered art instruction, had a
combined reading comprehension growth average of approximately one year and nine
months. The groups who received sustained, standards based art instruction showed on
average eleven months more growth in reading comprehension. In light of the
question: Does sustained, standards based art instructions have a positive impact on
reading comprehension achievement in incarcerated students? The data seems to
support the conclusion that it does.
Discussion
As outlined in chapter one, if a student showed reading comprehension growth
at the 90-day or 120 day posttest, their testing for the year was terminated. This
practice would not reveal the true growth in reading comprehension scores. In other
words, a student might show more growth if he were tested in another 30 days. In
addition, on the Renaissance STAR Reading assessment the highest possible score
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attainable is 13.0, a student’s reading achievement might have surpassed this level,
while not measured.
This brings up an intrinsic problem when testing is concerned. Students do not
always try their best on tests. It is particularly true when they are given the same type
of test repeatedly. The validity of the pre and post-test scores is conditional to their
motivation to perform at their best. The data revealed that some students scored higher
on the pre-test contrasted with a lower score on their post-test. The pair of teachers in
each housing unit was responsible for administering the reading pre and post-test. The
proctor of the test could influence a student’s motivation for better or worse.
The range in lengths of enrollment was another factor that could have
influenced the outcomes of the study. Some students were enrolled for 30 days
contrasted with other students who were enrolled for multiple years. The average
length of stay for all three units combined was 15 months. Ideally, all of the student
sample would have the same number of days of enrollment, thereby ensuring the same
amount of time experiencing or not experiencing a sustained, standards based art
curriculum.
An additional facet to this study is the fact that while all three housing units
utilized the same supplemental reading intervention curriculum, Accelerated Reader,
each English teacher also created their own English/ Language Arts course of study.
This was a necessity due to the unsuitability of the adopted English text for use with
this student population. The teacher of English in housing Unit A (the control group)
focused on General Educational Development (GED) preparation. The teachers of
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English and Art in housing Units B and C utilized a literature and writing course of
study of their own independent creation. This course of study used classic works of
fiction and read along audio to make the reading more accessible for the students.
Vocabulary development and writing intervention was integrated into the reading
comprehension lessons. This difference in the core curriculum course of study might
have impacted the reading comprehension post-test scores.
To summarize, the incarcerated students in this study who were given the
opportunity to participate in a sustained, standards based visual art course of study
showed more than twice the growth in reading comprehension scores when contrasted
with the incarcerated students who were not provided with a sustained, standards
based visual art course of study. Some might argue that this disparity in reading
comprehension scores was due to increased motivation and buy-in on the part of the
students who were offered art. While there may be some truth to this explanation, the
author witnessed far too many students who struggled in art and claimed to dislike the
experience, who also showed dramatic growth in reading comprehension scores. It is
the author’s opinion that while bolstering their production skills in visual art, a
physiological transformation in the student’s brains occurred. Specifically, the author
believes that participation in the visual art classes activated the student’s visual-spatial
sketchpad thereby strengthening their working memory.
While researching this teacher action research project, the author found an
important possible connection in the two separate fields of cognition in reading
comprehension and cognition in art. For decades, researchers in the field of reading
58
comprehension have searched for possible solutions for what has been termed “ the
Fourth Grade Slump.” The “slump” was the name that the great reading researcher
Jeanne Chall used to describe the apparently sudden drop-off between third and fourth
grade in the reading scores of low-income students (Hirsch, 2003). Meanwhile in the
field of research in cognition and art, out of the work of Howard Gardner and Jessica
Davis (1997) the term “The U Shaped Trough” was created to describe the descent of
artistic development that occurs at approximately the age of eight years old. The
average third grade student in public school in the United States is eight years old. As
discussed by the author in Chapter 2, the average reading level nationally for ninth
grade youth in correctional facilities is fourth grade. The author would like to pose the
question: Could a sustained, standards based course of study in visual art in the first
few years of a child’s education detour a student’s stagnation in reading
comprehension?
The intellectual journey the author started when researching this topic was very
different from the one the author originally envisioned. Universals in children’s
graphic symbol making was the original focus. It was the author’s assumption that her
incarcerated students’ artwork would reveal developmental delays that contributed to
poor reading comprehension skills. Instead, what emerged from the research was a
realization that the incarcerated students in this study were more like their nonincarcerated counterparts than different. The pre-test reading comprehension scores
reflected their art production skills. The author was not aware of the visual-spatial
sketchpad model nor was she familiar with the theory of the “U” shaped trough in
59
artistic development. When these two concurrent ideas were integrated, a new
hypothesis was formed. Students who participate in an academic intervention in the
visual arts strengthen their working memory, thereby improving their reading
comprehension skills.
The implications, in regards to American public school curriculum, could be
outstanding. For years reading experts have understood the role that working memory
has played in decoding skills and that without good decoding skills, a students reading
fluency will be low. This deficit in reading fluency will hinder a student’s breadth of
vocabulary and domain knowledge. While no one would argue that good decoding
skills are not necessary for the young reader, the focus on decoding in the first three
years of reading acquisition is only accounting for half of the role of working memory.
To reiterate the description of working memory described in Chapter 2, there are two
components to the working memory model: the phonological loop and the visualspatial sketchpad. The phonological loop can be described as a left-brain activity in
which decoding resides. The visual-spatial sketchpad can be described as a right-brain
activity that is responsible for the generation of mental images. Therefore, educational
theorists like John Dewey (1934) and Rudolf Steiner (2003) who argued for
experienced based, art-embedded early childhood education were, in part, proposing
this approach because they understood that a child’s brain needed these right brain
activities in order to be adequately prepared to learn. For example, Steiner’s pedagogy
recommends that the kindergarten and first grade curriculums be narrative rich
environments where the children learn to listen, visualize, and act out stories told by
60
the teacher. In addition, decoding, introduced in the first grade, is integrated with art
by the means of a unit on form drawing. The children learn their letters and the
phonetic sounds those letters make by “drawing” the letters as opposed to “writing”
the letters.
Over the last decade, reading comprehension experts have started to move
away from the position that decoding is paramount in reading acquisition. Some of
these experts have contributed poor oral comprehension skills, word knowledge, and
background knowledge as factors leading to the “fourth grade slump” in
disadvantaged students (Hirsch, 2003). All three of these skills require students to
create mental images in their brains, or in other words activate the visual-spatial
sketchpad. An incident from my classroom can help illustrate this point. One day a
colleague gave me a bag of tomatoes from her garden and they were sitting on my
desk. A high school aged young man asked me what they were. I took one out of the
bag and let him hold and smell the tomato, he still did not know the word for the
object. When I told him what it was, he argued with me and said, “That’s not a
tomato.” I asked him to describe a tomato, and after he started he suddenly stopped
and said, “Oh! I’ve only seen a tomato cut up and in my Taco Bell burritos, I thought
that is the way they came.” The tomatoes became the subject for an impromptu still
life drawing for that day in art. The student could not identify the object because he
had never seen the object. Or more specifically, his perception of the object was based
on his experience. He had no mental image inventory in his brain for “whole tomato.”
Many more similar real life teaching experiences could be described in detail, such as
61
students who have never held a sea shell, and the teacher trying to describe how a
living star fish feels different from the fossil in their hand, or what snow feels like, or
that milk comes from a cow before it is housed in plastic containers
It is not the author’s intent to suggest that teachers should be pre-occupied with
bringing real life objects to class in order to foster word and world knowledge for
disadvantaged students, although it could not hurt if one tried. Rather the author’s
point is that sophisticated reading comprehension skills such as syntactic awareness,
inference making, use of context, comprehension monitoring, knowledge of story
structure, and working memory all require a student to visualize objects or scenes in
their minds. The beauty of the visual arts is that it encompasses and encapsulates
thousands of years of mental pictures from a myriad of cultural and visual
perspectives. Each art student’s attempt at portraying what they see adds to not only
the collective collection, but also to their own inventory of mental images. Producing
art helps the artist make sense of his world and in doing so creates neurological
connections in the brain.
Most of the curriculum policy makers in the “mainstream” world have no idea
what a chaotic, limited world a large percentage of American public school students
inhabit. Many of these students have never left their neighborhoods. Some are
indoctrinated into gangs as toddlers by their own parents. Violence is a common daily
occurrence that floods their senses in the home and via the video games, music and,
media they watch The pleasant childhood experiences that most educational policy
makers take for granted, because they are present in their own children’s homes, is
62
absent from many of the low income homes in America. Environments that are rich in
play experiences that foster inquiry and plenty of oral communication with adults in
Standard English is the opposite scenario for many of our students. It is the author’s
opinion that an under-developed visual-spatial sketchpad has hindered these lower
performing students’ reading comprehension achievement. Sustained, standards based
art instruction offers a pathway for consistent, sequential visual input that
disadvantaged students desperately need in order to improve their working memory
capacity and, therefore, better comprehend what they read.
63
Chapter 5
RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Over the last century, leaders in educational pedagogy have supported the
position that education should be experienced based, art embedded, and can provide a
catalyst for social change. Experts in cognition have established that symbolic forms
provide a foundation for perception and thought. Researchers of brain function have
isolated that the right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for the creation of mental
images and that mental images are a requirement for reading comprehension.
Educational theorists in, both fields reading and art, have determined that skill
acquisition is a non linear progression and that in both fields there is a “slump” or
“trough” that occurs at approximately eight years of age. Many students never recover
from these slumps or troughs.
Studies with incarcerated Americans have established that the average reading
comprehension level for juvenile and adult offenders is fourth grade. Not enough
research has been conducted measuring the effectiveness of reading comprehension
intervention strategies for incarcerated individuals. It has been reported that only 6%
of public juvenile correctional institutions in the United States offered an academic
curriculum in art. To the author’s knowledge, no prior studies have been conducted
that measure the impact of visual art instruction on reading comprehension skills in
incarcerated juvenile offenders. The data that was compiled and analyzed for this
teacher action research project revealed that students who participated in the standards
based, sustained art curriculum improved their reading comprehension skills at more
64
than twice the rate contrasted with students who were not offered the art curriculum.
In addition, this project illustrated how a standards based art curriculum was
implemented in the youth detention facility.
Advocates for the arts in education have bemoaned the decline in funding for
elementary art education in our nation’s public schools. Most school districts have cut
allocations for art instruction. The call for “art for arts sake” is well reasoned and
supported by the research. Unfortunately, this call, for the most part, has fallen on deaf
ears. The bottom line is, for most districts, reading scores will take precedence over
funding for visual art instruction. Visual art instruction and production teaches
children how to observe and see the world around them. In addition, participation in
the visual arts broadens a child’s point of view and experiences in the world, which
expands word knowledge. These verbal and non-verbal academic activities strengthen
the visual-spatial sketchbook component of working memory. The author proposes
that researchers in both fields, cognition in reading and cognition in art, join forces to
develop further studies investigating the connection between reading comprehension
and art.
Within this recommendation many subsets of student populations should be
examined. First, as the author pointed out in this study, there appears to be no other
studies which have attempted to collect data concerning incarcerated students and the
impact sustained, standards based art instruction has on reading comprehension
achievement. More research should be done that measures the impact of visual art
instruction on reading comprehension skills in incarcerated populations. Secondly, the
65
student sample for this study was limited to male students. Studies should be
conducted that include female participants. Thirdly, the special education population
in the student sample was not desegregated for the purposes of this study. It was the
author’s informal observation that the special education students who were a part of
this study showed growth in reading comprehension scores, but they exhibited less
growth than the non-special education students. Reading comprehension pre and posttest scores of students identified with specific learning disabilities should be compared
and contrasted with non-special education student samples. Finally, the author would
also recommend that studies be conducted that test the connection between academic
art instruction and early reading comprehension skills with elementary age public
school students in grades K-3 who reside in lower socio-economic neighborhoods.
Imagine the implications for all segments of public education, if repeated
studies with diverse populations were conducted and the cognitive link between art
and reading comprehension more fully documented. Instead of the current educational
model that mandates scripted, test-driven language arts instruction in the elementary
grades, the author would offer an alternative forecast for K-3 core language arts
curriculum and an intervention curriculum for grades 4-12.
Currently in California public schools, incoming kindergarten students are
expected to have mastered the phonemic alphabet and to have memorized at least 100
sight words before the first day of school. In many kindergarten classes, homework
packets are sent home the first week of school with the children who have not met
these standards and are considered “behind.” Teachers are under a great deal of
66
pressure to insure that all of their students will perform at proficient or above on the
state standardized tests. Therefore, in the early grades, school districts mandate that
teachers follow a scripted, 2½ hour block of Language Arts instruction. These scripted
curriculums do not take into account the vast differences in childhood experiences, nor
the fact that most five to seven year old children, or adults for that matter, can not sit
still and pay attention for 2½ hours of dry academic instruction. Developmentally, this
age group is still in need of refining many of the skills that will insure future academic
success: large/fine motor skills, oral communication/comprehension skills, and social
skills.
A more developmentally appropriate K-3 Language Arts curriculum would
return childhood back to the kindergarten. Kindergarten would be a place where a
child could grow in order to be intellectually ready for academic work. This was the
original purpose for the establishment of Kindergartens. Adequate time for exercise
and play fosters the healthy development of the body, mind and social skills. Teachers
who could present rich narratives, folktales, and stories that capture the young child’s
interest and engagement in learning to read would hone oral communication/
comprehension skills and world/word knowledge. All children would have the
opportunity for experience and inquiry based learning such as the Waldorf or Reggio
Emilia models implement. Daily standards based Art instruction could be imbedded in
these lessons. Each day in the kindergarten would be a new day of discovery, which
would strengthen the visual-spatial sketchpad. Kindergarten curriculum should be
viewed as the vehicle in which a broad foundation is laid. Strong social skills,
67
intellectual curiosity, good oral communication/comprehension abilities, and the
ability to visualize ideas should be the standards on which our kindergarteners are
assessed.
Without this foundation, reading comprehension becomes a labored endeavor.
What the author is proposing is a general slowing down of the delivery of the
Language Arts curriculum with the inclusion of Visual Art instruction. The frenetic
pace of the current curriculum model has resulted in the dimming of intellectual
curiosity in young children and has created a scenario where more not less students are
being left behind. The first grade classroom is the appropriate venue for the alphabet
and phonetic awareness. For the young child, decoding should be seen as the key to
unlocking the door to reading; a rite of passage that is something to look forward to
when the time is right. The second and third grades are suitable for helping children
walk through that door where basic reading and writing skills should reside. Again, a
continuation of art embedded language arts lessons will continue to build upon the
strong foundation that was laid in the Kindergarten and first grade. With fortified
visual-spatial sketchpads in place, students would be able to better utilize the working
memory component in deciphering the more complex reading comprehension tasks
they will encounter in grades 4-12.
There will always be a need for intervention strategies in the 4-12 grades. For
numerous reasons, not all students arrive at the threshold of that door to reading at the
same time. Ideally middle childhood would be the age that all students would
encounter intervention services if they were needed. Unfortunately for our students
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who are stuck in the “The fourth grade slump,” most tend to stay there for the rest of
their lives. Coincidently, this is the precise time in which students are at the low point
in the “U” shaped trough of artistic development and require direct visual art
instruction intervention in order to climb out of the trough or stagnant at the bottom of
the “U” for the rest of their lives. Instead of offering students age and developmentally
appropriate curriculums in both reading and art, they are currently relegated to more
scripted-standardized test driven intervention curriculums. By the time a reading
intervention student is in the seventh grade, it is degrading and insulting to continually
participate in these scripted lessons, which have been designed for a much younger
age group. To make matters worse, these struggling students will usually have
additional hours devoted to reading added to their school schedules at the expense of
elective courses like art. In the author’s discussions with her incarcerated pupils, most
poor readers have told her that even with intervention, they began to give up on
themselves in school by the fifth grade and made conscious decisions to stop attending
school on a regular bases in the seventh grade. The author rejected implementing
scripted-standardized test driven intervention curriculums for this very reason.
Instead, when faced with designing an English curriculum suitable for use with
incarcerated students in a self-contained classroom, whose reading levels ranged from
pre-kindergarten to college level with fourth grade being the average level, she started
with some observations she had compiled.
1. Students who were reading below the third grade level required direct one on
one teacher or aide support in decoding.
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2. Students who read between the third and fifth grade level could decode but had
poor comprehension, word knowledge and critical thinking skills.
3. There was a severe lag in writing skills for all students, with most students
unable to write a complete sentence, even if they read at the fourth grade level.
4. Very poor articulation and oral comprehension skills were observed.
The use of the independent supplemental reading practice curriculum,
Accelerated Reader, which utilizes high interest fiction and non-fiction resulted in
moderate gains of growth in reading comprehension scores but the author was looking
for something more. What was needed was a curriculum that would address the above
stated observations that also would appeal to teenagers. The curriculum needed to
scaffold students who were reading and writing below the sixth grade level. What the
author found that worked was the oral reading of condensed classics written at the
fourth to sixth grade level. She chose titles that would appeal to her male students,
such as “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Call of the Wild.” Each day, as a
group, students read aloud, on a volunteer basis, a chapter from the condensed classic.
Often the teacher would read aloud in order to model fluency. Reading comprehension
was monitored by a class discussion, sometimes paragraph by paragraph if needed.
Short writing assignments were given that were designed to foster clear,
grammatically correct sentence and paragraph production. After the students finished
reading a book together, the reward was to view the movie. This provided more
opportunities for discussion and written work that fostered reading comprehension
skills. For example, students might be asked to compare and contrast the book to the
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movie. Art was being taught as a separate subject but sometimes the teacher would
integrate an art project into the novel unit. For example, while reading the “Call of the
Wild” the students created paper Mache sculptures of dogs to recreate the sled team
described in the novel.
This curriculum proved to work in this setting and the author began to search
for unabridged works of fiction, written at the seventh through ninth-grade level, that
would further scaffold the students’ reading comprehension skills. With the use of
audio recordings of the classics, the novels “Of Mice and Men”, “White Fang” and
“Animal Farm” were introduced to the students who responded with great enthusiasm.
Again the movie versions of the novels proved to be a great “hook” and the students
continued to write and create pieces of art that were embedded in the novel units. For
example, after reading “Of Mice and Men the students created block prints
representing one of the animal symbols from the novel. While reading “White Fang”
the students researched wolves and learned to grid and enlarge a photograph in order
to create an oil pastel drawing of a wolf.
The author is currently in the process of developing novel units in this manner
for classics at the 10th and 11th grade level. It is the author’s opinion that this
intervention curriculum appealed to her below grade level readers because it was age
appropriate and it satisfied the teenager’s need to fit in. The use of audiotapes allowed
students who read at a lower level to follow along with the novel, just like their
classmates who read at a much higher level. Even students who read at the second
grade level were able to contribute to the class discussions. The blending of academic
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subjects, English and art fostered the visual-spatial sketchpad and working memory,
resulting in better reading comprehension. This blending also kept the students
engagement with the novel high.
In conclusion, the author foresees this intervention model also suitable for a
core curriculum at the 4th-12th-grade level. Learning communities of Art and English
teachers could collaborate in developing a course of study of English and Art skills
that are developmentally and age appropriate. This curriculum would integrate
academic art instruction with reading and writing development. This model would
insure that all students could navigate the “fourth grade slump” and the “U” shaped
trough of artistic development simultaneously and successfully. Perhaps if such a
model was in place in the public schools, less students would abandon themselves
during middle childhood, make better choices and circumvent an almost certain life
behind bars.
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