HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	43
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO INCREASE ACCESS TO ARTS AND CULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

 

 

 

WHEREAS, providing a well-rounded education to all public school students advances the economic and social health of Hawaii; and

 

WHEREAS, art, music, and cultural curricula constitute important parts of a well-rounded education that address the developmental needs of the whole child; and

 

WHEREAS, in 2013, researchers in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas found that instruction in visual arts led to gains in critical-thinking skills; and

 

WHEREAS, according to a 2014 study performed by Lois Hetland and Ellen Winner of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, education in music and drama shows a generalizable causal relationship to increases in verbal achievement and spatial reasoning; and

 

WHEREAS, Paul T. Sowden, a professor of psychology at the University of Winchester in England, has noted that arts and cultural education develop children's capacity for collaboration, creativity, and intellectual inquiry; and

 

WHEREAS, research performed by Mariale Hardiman, Director of the Neuro-education Initiative at the Johns Hopkins School of Education, has shown that students with access to arts and cultural content are more adept at retaining instruction regardless of subject matter, demonstrating that arts and cultural instruction could help to mitigate learning loss; and

 

WHEREAS, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Texas A&M found that a substantial increase in access to arts education led to a 3.6 percentage point reduction in disciplinary infractions, an improvement of thirteen percent on standardized writing scores, and an increase of eight percent in measures of compassion for others; and

 

WHEREAS, in an article published by the Brookings Institution, the same researchers concluded that the arts "challenge us with different points of view, compel us to empathize with others, and give us the opportunity to reflect on the human condition"; and

 

WHEREAS, the researchers further found that "[a]mong adults, arts participation is related to behaviors that contribute to the health of civil society, such as increased civic engagement, greater social tolerance, and reductions in other-regarding behavior"; now, therefore,

 

        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Department of Education is urged to increase access to arts and cultural instruction in public schools; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:  

Urging the DOE to increase access to arts and cultural instruction in schools.