Forty-two Houston schools were assigned by lottery to a large expansion of arts programming. Reading, math, and science did not move at all. Three other things did — and the study also demolishes the argument for cutting the arts.
Fine motor skill in early childhood has long been known to predict later academic achievement. Following 1970-born Britons from 22 months to age 16, a Georgetown team found what sits in the middle of that link — and that gross motor skill predicted nothing.
A French team followed 664 children from kindergarten through middle school — about 10 years — and found that a language-based bedtime routine predicted middle-school exit-exam performance. The bridge across that gap was kindergarten-age vocabulary.