Bill Text: HI SCR206 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urging The Department Of Education To Increase Access To Arts And Cultural Instruction In Public Schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-03-14 - Referred to EDU/TCA. [SCR206 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2024-SCR206-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	206
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

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 is causally related 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 develops 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 Texas A&M University found that a substantial increase in access to arts education led to a 3.6 percent reduction in disciplinary infractions, an improvement of 13 percent on standardized writing scores, and an increase of 8 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 "among 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 Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is urged to increase access to arts and cultural instruction in public schools; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025, the Department of Education is requested to provide a report to the Legislature on the amount of arts and cultural instruction provided in public schools and recommendations for improving access to arts and cultural education in underserved areas; and

 

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

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

DOE; Public Schools; Arts and Cultural Education