Investigating Causal Effects of Arts Education Experiences: Experimental Evidence from Houston's Arts Access Initiative. Research Report for the Houston Independent School District. Volume 7, Issue 4
Bowen, Daniel H.; Kisida, Brian (2019). Houston Education Research Consortium. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED598203
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examining10,548Students, grades3-8
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: April 2021
- Single Study Review (findings for Houston’s Arts Access Initiative)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with low cluster-level attrition and individual-level non-response.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample: Grades 4-8;
|
0.04 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Middle school: Grades 6-8;
|
0.01 |
-0.10 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Elementary school: Grades 4 and 5;
|
0.07 |
-0.03 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Female: Grades 4-8;
|
0.12 |
0.01 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Male: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.04 |
-0.13 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Hispanic or Latino: Grades 4-8;
|
0.05 |
-0.05 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Free or reduced price lunch: Grades 4-8;
|
0.14 |
0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Higher poverty household: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.18 |
-0.21 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Limited English proficient: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.20 |
-0.41 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Reading |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Black: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.22 |
-0.24 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grades 4 and 7;
|
0.14 |
-0.07 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Limited English proficient: Grades 4 and 7;
|
0.04 |
-0.34 |
Yes |
|
||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grade 4;
|
0.19 |
-0.07 |
Yes |
|
||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Female: Grades 4 and 7;
|
0.30 |
0.07 |
Yes |
|
||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Hispanic or Latino: Grades 4 and 7;
|
0.13 |
-0.06 |
Yes |
|
||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Male: Grades 4 and 7;
|
-0.01 |
-0.19 |
Yes |
|
||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Free or reduced price lunch: Grades 4 and 7;
|
0.24 |
0.05 |
Yes |
|
||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Higher poverty household: Grades 4 and 7;
|
-0.07 |
-0.21 |
Yes |
|
||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Black: Grades 4 and 7;
|
-0.13 |
-0.25 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Writing |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grade 7;
|
0.03 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample: Grades 4-8;
|
0.02 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Black: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.25 |
-0.28 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Elementary school: Grades 4 and 5;
|
0.07 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Female: Grades 4-8;
|
0.03 |
-0.05 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Higher poverty household: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.12 |
-0.17 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Middle school: Grades 6-8;
|
-0.05 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Male: Grades 4-8;
|
0.00 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Hispanic or Latino: Grades 4-8;
|
0.03 |
-0.02 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Free or reduced price lunch: Grades 4-8;
|
0.07 |
0.05 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Math |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Limited English proficient: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.01 |
-0.16 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grades 5 and 8;
|
0.07 |
0.02 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Black: Grades 5 and 8;
|
-0.18 |
-0.22 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grade 5;
|
0.14 |
-0.01 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Higher poverty household: Grades 5 and 8;
|
-0.07 |
-0.12 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Limited English proficient: Grades 5 and 8;
|
-0.03 |
-0.29 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Female: Grades 5 and 8;
|
0.06 |
-0.02 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Male: Grades 5 and 8;
|
0.08 |
0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Hispanic or Latino: Grades 5 and 8;
|
0.09 |
0.04 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Free or reduced price lunch: Grades 5 and 8;
|
0.17 |
0.13 |
No |
-- | ||
|
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR): Science |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grade 8;
|
-0.05 |
0.05 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Absences |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grades 6-8;
|
6.63 |
7.64 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arts-facilitated empathy (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample: Grades 4-8;
|
0.01 |
-0.07 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Arts-facilitated empathy (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Female: Grades 4-8;
|
0.17 |
0.08 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Arts-facilitated empathy (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Free or reduced price lunch: Grades 4-8;
|
0.02 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Arts-facilitated empathy (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Male: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.16 |
-0.22 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Arts-facilitated empathy (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Higher poverty household: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.04 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Arts-facilitated empathy (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Middle school: Grades 6-8;
|
-0.22 |
-0.21 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Arts-facilitated empathy (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Black: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.11 |
-0.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample: Grades 4-8;
|
0.11 |
0.17 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Student-school engagement (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.06 |
-0.20 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Student-school engagement (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Limited English proficient: Grades 4-8;
|
0.22 |
-0.08 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Middle school: Grades 6-8;
|
0.20 |
0.31 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Student-school engagement (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Black: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.07 |
-0.24 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Male: Grades 4-8;
|
0.14 |
0.23 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Student-school engagement (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Female: Grades 4-8;
|
0.00 |
-0.14 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Black: Grades 4-8;
|
0.14 |
0.25 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Hispanic or Latino: Grades 4-8;
|
0.10 |
0.16 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Higher poverty household: Grades 4-8;
|
0.14 |
0.21 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Student-school engagement (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Male: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.11 |
-0.25 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Student-school engagement (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Higher poverty household: Grades 4-8;
|
-0.06 |
-0.19 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Female: Grades 4-8;
|
0.08 |
0.12 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Free or reduced price lunch: Grades 4-8;
|
0.08 |
0.13 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Limited English proficient: Grades 4-8;
|
0.09 |
0.14 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Disciplinary infraction during the school year |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Elementary school: Grades 4 and 5;
|
0.04 |
0.04 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Student-school engagement (student survey) |
Houston’s Arts Access Initiative vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Middle School: Grades 6-8;
|
-0.54 |
-0.39 |
Yes |
|
||
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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29% English language learners -
Female: 49%
Male: 51% -
Urban
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Texas
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Race Black 24% Other or unknown 73% White 3% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 70% Not Hispanic or Latino 30%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in 42 public urban elementary and middle schools in the Houston Independent School District (HISD).
Study sample
Of the students in the full analytic sample (N=10,548, which includes 5,333 students in the intervention group and 5,215 students in the comparison group): 51 percent were male and 49 percent were female. Seventy percent of students identified as Hispanic, 24% as Black, non-Hispanic, and 3% as White, non-Hispanic. Six percent were eligible for special education services, 29% had limited English proficiency, 37% were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and 50% were classified as in poverty based on family income.
Intervention Group
Schools in the intervention group implemented school-community arts partnership programs designed to address K-12 arts educational inequities by advancing student access to the arts. The partnership programs implemented in the study schools were initiated and administered by Houston’s Arts Access Initiative (AAI), a school-community partnership launched in 2013 in HISD. The AAI partnership programs were tailored to each school’s art educational needs. Specifically, in designing their school’s AAI program, each principal engaged in strategic arts planning with the AAI director, designated a campus-level arts liaison to coordinate and facilitate AAI-related efforts, participated in teacher and principal arts-integration professional development, and attended AAI peer-network mentoring sessions. The AAI director and staff worked with principals to understand their schools’ goals for the upcoming year to help guide arts program selections that would align with their objectives, encouraging principals to select a diverse array of programs so that each of the arts disciplines and formats (in particular, dance, music, theater, and visual arts) were provided at least once over the course of the academic year. Programs could occur at the school or offsite, on field trips, during and after regular school hours.
Comparison Group
Schools in the comparison group did not implement school-community arts partnership programs through the AAI program. These schools may have taken part in arts activities and partnerships, including through other programs.
Support for implementation
Principals in AAI intervention schools engaged in strategic arts planning with the AAI director, designated a campus-level arts liaison to coordinate and facilitate AAI-related efforts, participated in teacher and principal arts-integration professional development, and attended AAI peer-network mentoring sessions. To fund student experiences, intervention schools were required to match between $1 to $10 for each dollar of AAI funding, and the Houston Endowment matched each school’s financial commitment.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).