Past studies have shown positive correlations between the arts and academic achievement when the arts were integrated into the literature curriculum. Other studies have shown positive associations between the arts and other areas of the curriculum, such as mathematics and science. Considering the Theory of Change, which employs understandings in Critical Literacy, Multimodal Literacy, and Transmediation, this study employed a multi-stage cluster randomized design and conducted a series of comparison and treatment group statistical analyses among predominantly low income students in an urban school district, some of whom had participated in the Integrating Theater Arts Project (ITAP). The study assessed whether a relationship existed between the presence of a theater arts intervention and student achievement in language arts and mathematics. Results showed that students receiving intervention often outperformed their control group counterparts in both math and language arts. Furthermore, students in the theater arts program outperformed their control group counterparts in every case that showed statistical significance. These cases included math achievement among sixth grade students, both language arts and math achievement of sixth grade males, and math achievement of sixth grade Hispanics. The authors conclude that programs like ITAP and methods relative to the Theory of Change may in fact promote academic achievement among participating students. They also invite future studies to consider how achievement of other academic subjects-in this case, mathematicsmay also relate to such interventions. Introduction and Background Madeleine Grumet (2004), in writing about the importance of integrating arts into the literature curriculum, states that, "When children understand literature as something meaningful and complex, they sense its capacity to inform their lives. This is the kind of literacy that influences reading scores in middle school and high school, when we often see the gains of intensive reading instruction diminish in national assessments" (p. 67). Over the past 30 years, there has been a growing awareness of the effectiveness of arts integration in improving classroom learning, especially for students from low income families. For instance, Stevenson and Deasy (2005) studied 10 schools where students from economically disadvantaged circumstances were succeeding. These 10 schools identified the arts as a key reason for that success. Teachers in the case study schools also said they derived delight, professional renewal, and satisfaction from incorporating arts into their teaching. Another example is the study of the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) program that partnered artists and art agencies with teachers at all grade levels in low-socioeconomic urban public schools. Findings demonstrated that CAPE schools clearly outperformed the control schools in a wide variety of outcomes, such as, positive changes in school climate and improved reading and math scores (Catterall and Waldorf, 1999). M...

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Critical Performative Pedagogies, the idea that “The nature of drama as a once removed creative experience turns non‐critical implicit classroom identity formation into explicit identity performance as it asks participants to actively reflect upon how identity is created and engaged within fictional social interactions.” (Weltsek and Medina, 2007) is used to explore English language learning as a political act. Using critical ethnographic research conducted with and on two different groups of students in Puerto Rico, one elementary and one University, as their launching point Gustave Weltsek and Carmen Lillian Medina struggle with the ways in which personal, community and institutionalized literacy education is negotiated within colonial spaces. IN this Water Cooler chat they explain that “When students see themselves as actively involved in the creation/performance of any communicative event, especially one situated as ‘educational’, aware of how they construct their actions the opportunity exists for them to take a more conscious ownership of their education. When applied to literacy learning ‘literacy’ becomes the way multiple sign systems are used to outwardly perform emergent identities. Drama then become an ideal way to observe and articulate how personal, community and institutional literacies are negotiated and created within the performance of self. It is this observation and articulation which ultimately empowers and drives student learning.”