A SNAPSHOT INTO GSTEP FINE ARTS CURRICULUM TEAM

What Helps Students Succeed?: Lessons from Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School

Why do some high schools consistently have high rates for student academic achievement? What educational lessons can be drawn from these schools' practice? To answer these questions, the GSTEP Fine Arts Curriculum Team initiated a study of John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School in Augusta, Georgia, as a model program. This past year, UGA Honors student, Erika Vinson, has worked with the GSTEP Team as an Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) apprentice to draw together data that the Team had already collected and complete the research study. Her findings were presented at the annual CURO Research Symposium on April 12 at the Tate Center in a paper entitled Arts Integration in School Curriculum as a Motivator for Student Success.

Beyond simply being a magnet school focused on the arts, Davidson consistently ranks as a top academic high school in Georgia as reflected in CRCT testing, SAT Math and Verbal scores, and the Georgia High School Graduation Test. Davidson boasts an exceptionally high graduation rate, as well as superior rates of attendance by both students and faculty. Not only do these scores and indicators exceed scores from other high schools in Richmond County where Davidson is located, but they also surpass other area magnet schools. So what's unique about Davidson? Three factors stand out:

1. A school built on student interests.
   Davidson begins at the 6th grade and runs through to the 12th grade. To apply, students have to submit a portfolio review and auditions in multiple art forms. In selecting students, Davidson admissions staff looks for students who genuinely want to be involved in the arts. They want to weed out the kids who are being pushed to perform by overachieving parents. The work has to come from the child. The student's previous academic record is not a consideration. If Davidson can build a cohort of students who want to come to school because they get to do what they love, then the school's administrators believe that academic success will follow.
2. Emphasis on the process of education in balance with products.
   Davidson is not interested in "art stars." This school wants students who enjoy engaging in the arts—and who enjoy being around similar students. The emphasis is on helping everyone get better, not singling out an elite as "the best." As one administrator put it, "if Yo-Yo Ma showed up as an 11th grader, I am not sure we would admit him." Davidson values its culture of cooperation as highly as excellence in performance. Yes, products matter, and striving for excellence is importnat. However, the pursuit of excellence cannot become a system that focuses on winners and losers.
3. Nurturing a caring environment.
   The transition to middle school is stressful enough for 5th graders, let alone the prospect of towering 12th grader classmates. Therefore, every incoming 6th grader at Davidson is assigned a 12th grade buddy. This mentoring relationship is essential to the Davidson experience. Furthermore, all students continually learn what it means to function as a critical, yet appreciative, audience for their peers. Students know that everyone will face the terror of stepping out on-stage for a solo performance, and they form cohesive bonds that create a supportive network for each other.

The success of Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School does not mean that arts are some magical elixir for enhancing student performance. If it were that easy, schools would give a violin to every high school freshman in the state and expect to see a jump in SAT scores. Instead, Davidson has fostered a culture of support created by the students themselves. To remain within that culture, students must maintain an overall B average. If they fall below that mark, they must leave the school. Davidson provides the academic resources to help every child succeed academically. In response, students fight to stay. They rise to and above the bar.

Some of the lessons from Davidson that impact how we better train teachers for engaging students as learners include:

1. Many students have interests that they want to pursue.
   Children, even in the 5th grade, are not empty vessels to be filled from the font of knowledge. Ten year-olds can make intelligent decisions about their academic interests and the fields of study that they wish to pursue. Teachers ought to appreciate students' abilities to make these choices. In elementary education, teachers need to provide students with opportunities to experience a wide range of content.
2. Schools shouldn't be modeled on time-management principles (or prisons).
   Schools need to be places where interests can be explored. This takes time. Schools need to find the means for students to delve deeply into what matters to them. Teachers need to balance the need for efficiency and classroom management with opportunities for students to extend themselves. This will often require team curriculum planning and recognition of the importance of learning in the non-school hours. This "extra" time is not time off. It needs to be treated seriously with students working toward substantive goals.

Davidson graduates who now attend UGA believe their focus of pursuing an art form that engaged them while at Davidson created deeply ingrained habits of the mind that translated into academics. Former Davidson students claim they learned the power of hard work and being passionate in what they do at this school. Most of all, they learned that school was fun. They engaged in learning, because they loved it. This is perhaps the most powerful outcome of the Davidson experience. It provides a guiding principle in how teachers should approach content.

—Richard Siegesmund