UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Speech By Richard W. Riley, U. S. Secretary of Education

The New Haven Arts and Humanities Cooperative Magnet High School New Haven, Connecticut Thursday, March 19, 1998

    "Good morning . It is a pleasure to be here today. I want to thank Principal Warner for hosting our visit Dean Blocher for inviting us to see this exciting collaboration of learning here in New Haven. It is a real delight to see and hear these excellent student performances here at the Arts and Humanities Cooperative High School. It is also wonderful to be able to watch these accomplished Yale professors and students share their time and talents so that others can join in the joy of music and learning. I recently had my own tutoring session recently. I had the opportunity to go with Vice President Al Gore to New Hampshire where we visited a school and got to make some clay figures with students in their ceramics class. I think it's important to point out that whether or not we .were helped in our work, we both enjoyed it very much. [Expected extemporaneous remarks.) I've had this kind of appreciation for the arts and for music for a long time, probably since I took piano lessons for 3 or 4 years in elementary school. I remember when I was in the 3rd grade and we were listening to a concert by Richard Cass, now a concert pianist. And m teacher, Miss Bess Allen, leaned over and whispered, "Dick, you too can play that if you will take your music seriously." Well, I kept listening to Richard Cass -- and I have felt very insecure ever since.

    I have long believed in the important role that music and the arts can play in helping students learn, achieve, and succeed. What I've seen and heard here today only confirms this belief. It also highlights two points that I'd like to focus on in my remarks today.

    The first point is the extraordinary benefits -- both tangible and intangible -- that come from involvement in music. and the arts and from the integration of arts education into the overall learning process. The: intangibles are quite clear, as I know the students here understand. There is nothing that quite equals the satisfaction and joy that can come from involving yourself in the act of painting, or of listening to, playing, or composing a piece of music, or of being a part of a dance, a play or an orchestra. ;These are activities that engage the mind and the body, that help you focus your energies and abilities in a variety of different and constructive types of learning and creation. But there are also very tangible and measurable benefits to education and academic success that come from learning about, and participating in the arts and music. One study showed that pre- schoolers who took keyboard lessons and joined in group singing scored higher on tests measuring spatial reasoning and develop better abstract reasoning than those who did not --activities that are of critical importance in later development of math, science and engineering skills Drawing can help with writing. Songs and poetry can make facts more easily memorable. Drama can bring history to life. And creative movement can make other processes more understandable. The good news is that more and more people are beginning to understand this very positive relationship between the arts and learning. As President Clinton said: "We know there's so much evidence that music has a positive impact on academic performance, on social skills, on self confidence. Anything this country can do to save these programs for the schools and for the children should be done." There is also a clear relationship between increased use of the arts in teaching and learning and improved academic performance and test scores, increased attendance by students and teachers, and lower drop out rates.

    Marvin Hamlisch, the composer of so many wonderful musicals, once described how his education in music and the arts -- and later his career teaching music -- was such a positive influence on his life. He explained how he was an uninspired student until his third grade teacher allowed him to play the piano at school. When Hamlisch went to college he became a student teacher himself. And, using music as an educational tool, he helped turn around the life of a former gang member. That is the power of music education.

    Certainly this school can attest to this kind of positive influence on learning -- I think the fact that 90 percent of the students at this school go on to college supports that. But sharing in learning about the arts also offers an important way to break down the barriers of all types--race, gender, economic. Business leaders increasingly understand the value of arts education as part of a diverse learning experience that helps to broaden a person's skills. This kind of interest in, and need for talented minds with diverse training is occurring in many different areas. In the technology industry, for instance, there is a great need for graphic designers, software producers, and other jobs that benefit from creative individuals with a background in the arts. As one CEO said: "Today's students need arts education now more than ever. Yes, they need the basics. But today, there are two sets of basics. The first -- reading, writing and math -- is simply the prerequisite for a second, more complex, equally vital collection of higher-level skills required to function well in today's world. The arts provide an unparalleled opportunity to each of these high-level basics that are increasingly critical not only to tomorrow's work force, but also today's."

    This leads me to the second point I want to emphasize today. And that is the role that those outside of schools can play in improving learning. I think we can see from this wonderful mentoring program some of the benefits that can come when individual people get involved in a personal way in our community's schools. The work that Yale professors and students are doing here is very important and I hope will be copied by colleges and universities across the country, not only in music and arts education, but also in other critical areas of learning--reading, math, and science. President Clinton has offered several initiatives to invite this kind of activity. His "America Reads" program works to encourage adults of all ages to become active in local schools as reading mentors and tutors. But I hope the success of this mentor program will also encourage the high school students here today to volunteer to work with even younger students in elementary and middle schools. The President's "High Hopes" initiative, works to develop these kinds of partnerships and involvement with middle schools. I hope you will get involved. With your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your time you can share the pleasure you get from music and the arts and from learning. You can inspire them to reach for new heights.

    Before I conclude I want to point out that much of the wonderful work this school has done has been accomplished in the face of some significant physical challenges -- a building that is quite old and occasionally won't cooperate with your plans, and a general lack of space for the kind of quality teaching and learning that goes on here -- from a lack of science equipment to the lack of a proper facility for performing some of your wonderful theater and dance. It is to address this kind of problem that President Clinton and Vice President Gore have proposed a $22 billion school construction initiative -- a creative and practical way to provide some help in modernizing school buildings and bringing classrooms into the 2lst century. This plan reduces the cost of local and state investment in needed school construction and renovation by paying interest on certain types of bonds. I hope Congress will put politics aside and address this pressing issue for our students of today and tomorrow.

    I once heard the great actress Joanne Woodward -- who now lives in Connecticut, but used to live in South Carolina -- describe her own experience getting involved with acting. It seems she was in her `teen years and had just moved down to South Carolina. She was quite unhappy because of some family difficulties and she got involved with the school play. Much to her surprise, she got the lead role. She commented that her complete immersion in this activity -- the way it challenged her to try harder, to push herself, and to move beyond her own problems, changed her life.

    I'm sure that many of you get that same feeling from the work you are doing here at your school, and I hope you will continue to be challenged by, involved in, and excited by learning. If so, I know that learning will continue to help you unlock your dreams and open the doors to a brighter and more fulfilling future."

-- This article was obtained at the 1998 MENC National Conference in Phoenix. These are the words of Richard W. Riley. They are posted as I received them and are not used for any sort of financial gain. --