189           
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE RESOLUTION

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO INCORPORATE ARTS PROGRAMS
   INTO THE STATE SPECIAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM.



 1       WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the Department of
 2   Education (DOE) to promote the use of developmentally
 3   appropriate learning strategies for young children, including
 4   those with special needs; and
 5   
 6       WHEREAS, young people involved in arts programs for
 7   extended periods of time show heightened academic standing, a
 8   strong capacity for self assessment and a secure sense of their
 9   own ability to plan and work for a positive future for
10   themselves; and
11   
12       WHEREAS, statistics show that students involved in arts
13   programs are:
14   
15       (1)  Four times more likely to have won school-wide
16            attention for their academic achievement;
17   
18       (2)  Elected to class office within their schools more than
19            three times as often;
20   
21       (3)  Four times more likely to participate in a math and
22            science fair;
23   
24       (4)  Three times more likely to win an award for school
25            attendance;
26   
27       (5)  Four times more likely to win an award for writing an
28            essay or poem;
29   
30       (6)  For comparison with peers in a national sample, more
31            likely to attend music, art, and dance classes nearly
32            three times as frequently;
33   
34       (7)  Four times more likely to participate in youth groups;
35   
36       (8)  Twice as often read for pleasure; and
37   
38       (9)  Four times as often perform community service;
39   
40       and

 
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 1       WHEREAS, young people involved in arts programs distinguish
 2   themselves nationally in that they have a better ability to
 3   make plans and successfully work for them, do things as well as
 4   others, project that they will definitely continue their
 5   education beyond high school, and have a close match between
 6   their high aspirations for themselves and their firm
 7   expectations of what they can do; and
 8   
 9       WHEREAS, in addition to the aforementioned benefits, arts
10   programs also promote special education goals such as fostering
11   a positive self image, developing communication skills,
12   encouraging self-expression, and developing self-control, self-
13   direction, and independence; and
14   
15       WHEREAS, it behooves the DOE to provide specific early
16   childhood educators with strategies and activities for
17   integrating children with special needs into mainstream
18   learning situations involving the arts; now, therefore,
19   
20       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
21   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
22   of 1999, that the DOE is urged to incorporate arts programs
23   into the state special education curriculum by encouraging the
24   use of arts and creative play as an important learning strategy
25   for special education children and developing appropriate arts
26   objectives derived from the research and literature on early
27   childhood education; and
28   
29       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
30   Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education.
31 
32 
33 
34                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________