Philadelphia experts, researchers discuss importance of arts in education

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At a conference Tuesday, around 70 Philly-area experts, educators and researchers gathered at Settlement Music School to discuss the impact of arts and arts education on children, families and communities.

The second edition of the biennial conference was hosted by the Research on Education and the Arts in Childhood, or REACH Lab, at West Chester University. The REACH Lab’s team of researchers works to measure and analyze the impact of arts in early childhood education through partnerships with Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project, Settlement Music School’s Kaleidoscope Preschool Arts Enrichment Program and Play On Philly.

“It’s really important, from the perspective of a researcher, we get to understand certain impacts of high quality music and arts experiences on young children and their families,” said Ellie Brown, co-director of the REACH Lab and director of the Early Childhood Cognition and Emotions Lab. “But there’s also a lot we can’t see from our individual vantage points, and so to be able to connect with educators, practitioners, policy makers, philanthropists, to be able to talk with arts students and alum, it provides different insight into the impacts of the arts and helps to guide our work forward.”

Brown said research on each of the three projects the REACH Lab works with has provided key insights on how arts education can impact young children and their families.

The Lullaby Project, managed in Philadelphia by Musicopia, is a program for caregivers to work with professional musicians to create a song for their children. Brown said researchers found participation in the program “can support caregivers’ and children’s development of mutual regulation strategies, as well as support wellbeing during those stressful early years.”

Play On Philly, which provides music education to students in pre-K through 12th grades, showed researchers “that intensive music education programming can support children’s persistence in the face of challenge,” Brown said.

Researchers’ findings from studying the impact of the Kaleidoscope program on pre-K students included evidence that children show three times the growth in vocabulary and gains in emotional regulation in an arts-integrated preschool compared to a regular Head Start preschool program. Children at the Kaleidoscope program experienced 60% more positive emotions and showed five times the gains in emotional regulation skills.

“So much is possible when we can get outside of our individual bubbles and come together,” Brown said. “And the ability for us as researchers to join forces with these amazing arts organizations has been really powerful, and we hope there can be a positive impact of that work.”

Tarrell Davis, executive director of early childhood programming, said she has seen the impacts of the Kaleidoscope arts-integrated program firsthand as a teacher in the classroom, and now, as an administrator.

With KWEST, Kaleidoscope Preschool’s community outreach and expansion initiative funded in part by the Marrazzo Family Foundation, Davis is working on an arts-integrated curriculum and accompanying website to share with educators of all disciplines in the School District of Philadelphia and beyond by September 2025.

“We’re thinking of all the things that the research has shown us, incorporating that into this, so teachers are able to see, oh yes, this can help with challenging behaviors,” Davis said. “This can help with self-esteem and being successful. So there’s so many things special about the program.”

Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series that explores the impact of creativity on student learning and success. WHYY and this series are supported by the Marrazzo Family Foundation, a foundation focused on fostering creativity in Philadelphia youth, which is led by Ellie and Jeffrey Marrazzo. WHYY News produces independent, fact-based news content for audiences in Greater Philadelphia, Delaware and South Jersey.