On October 29, 2018, the National Endowment for the Arts hosted a 90-minute webinar titled “New Research on the Arts & Early Childhood: A Symposium”. The webinar showcased a series of research articles that appeared in a special section of Early Childhood Research Quarterly (ECRQ) (4th Quarter issue, published in 2018). This special section focuses on the nature, value, and the impact of the arts for children in their early years.

Featured speakers of the NEA hosted webinar included authors Brian Kisida (University of Missouri), Eleanor Brown (West Chester University), and Amy Susman-Stillman (University of Minnesota), with guest speakers Rocio Galarza (Sesame Workshop) and Jane Best (Arts Education Partnership). Additional introductory remarks were made by co-guest editors Adam Winsler (George Mason University) and Melissa Menzer (National Endowment for the Arts), as well as by Sunil Iyengar, director of the NEA’s Office of Research & Analysis.

Below you will find the Table of Contents of the special section, with links to each of the individual papers.

Special section - Glimmers of Impact: Research on Early Childhood Arts Programs. Guest edited by Dr. Melissa Menzer & Dr. Adam Winsler

Preface: The arts & early childhood
Melissa Menzer, Adam Winsler
Pages 193-196

Cultivating interest in art: Causal effects of arts exposure during early childhood
Brian Kisida, Daniel H. Bowen, Jay P. Greene
Pages 197-203

The art of Head Start: Intensive arts integration associated with advantage in school readiness for economically disadvantaged children
Eleanor D. Brown, Mallory L. Garnett, Blanca M. Velazquez-Martin, Timothy J. Mellor
Pages 204-214

Integrating the arts into head start classrooms produces positive impacts on kindergarten readiness
Mary Lou Greene, Shlomo Sawilowsky
Pages 215-223

Does theatre-in-education promote early childhood development?: The effect of drama on language, perspective-taking, and imagination
Wendy K. Mages
Pages 224-237

Is more time in general music class associated with stronger extra-musical outcomes in kindergarten?
Jillian Hogan, Sara Cordes, Steven Holochwost, Ehri Ryu, Adele Diamond, Ellen Winner
Pages 238-248

Reliability and validity of a measure of preschool children’s theatre arts skills: The Preschool Theatre Arts Rubric
Amy Susman-Stillman, Michelle Englund, Chloe Webb, Amanda Grenell
Pages 249-262

Did the frequency of early elementary classroom arts instruction decrease during the no child left behind era? If so, for whom?
Taylor V. Gara, Liane Brouillette, George Farkas
Pages 263-276

Arts-related pedagogies in preschool education: An Asian perspective
Alfredo Bautista, Ana Moreno-Núñez, Rebecca Bull, Farina Amsah, Swee-Fuan Koh
Pages 277-288