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- This study examined the impact of arts-integrated Head Start preschool on school readiness.
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- Overall, arts-integrated Head Start related to an advantage in school readiness.
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- Arts integration related to greater gains on a school readiness composite.
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- Arts integration related to greater gains in self/social awareness.
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- Arts integration also related to greater gains in understanding texture/material.
The present study examined the impact of intensive arts integration on
school readiness for economically disadvantaged children attending Head
Start preschool. Participants were 265 children, ages 3–5 years. Of
these, 197 attended a fully arts-integrated Head Start, where children
received daily music, dance, and visual arts classes in addition to
homeroom, and 68 attended a matched comparison program that did not
include arts classes. The Bracken Basic Concepts Scale, Third Edition-
Receptive (BBCS-3:R) was used to measure children’s school readiness at
the start and end of a year of preschool attendance.
According to a
repeated-measures multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA),
children at the arts-integrated Head Start showed greater gains in
school readiness compared to their peers at the comparison program.
Univariate tests revealed that attendance at the arts-integrated
preschool was associated with greater gains on a general school
readiness composite as well as in specific concept areas of
texture/material and self/social awareness. Findings suggest that the
arts can add value to Head Start preschool. Implications concern the
arts as a vehicle for equalizing educational opportunities for young,
economically disadvantaged children.
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