THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            171
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

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


 1        WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the Department of
 2   Education to promote the utilization 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
 9   their 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 four times more likely to have won school-wide
14   attention for their academic achievement, are being elected to
15   class office within their schools more than three times as
16   often, are four times more likely to participate in a math and
17   science fair, are three times more likely to win an award for
18   school attendance, and are four times more likely to win an
19   award for writing an essay or poem, and in comparison with
20   peers in a national sample, students in art programs attended
21   music, art, and dance classes nearly three times as frequently,
22   and participate in youth groups nearly four times as
23   frequently, read for pleasure nearly twice as often, and
24   perform community service more than four times as often; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, young people involved in arts programs stand out
27   from the nation in that they have a better ability to make
28   plans and successfully work with them, do things as well as
29   others, project that they will definitely continue their
30   education beyond high school, and have a close match between
31   their high aspirations for themselves and their firm
32   expectations of what they can do; and
33   
34        WHEREAS, in addition to the aforementioned benefits, arts
35   programs also promote special education goals such as fostering
36   a positive self-concept, developing communication skills,
37   encouraging self-expression, and developing self-control, self-

 
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 1   direction, and independence; and
 2   
 3        WHEREAS, it therefore behooves the Department of Education
 4   to provide specific early childhood educators with strategies
 5   and activities for integrating children with special needs into
 6   mainstreamed learning situations involving the arts; now,
 7   therefore,
 8   
 9        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
10   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
11   Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education
12   incorporate arts programs into state special education,
13   encouraging the use of arts and creative play as an important
14   learning strategy for special education children, and
15   developing appropriate arts objectives derived from the
16   research and literature on early childhood education; and
17   
18        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
19   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of
20   Education.
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24                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________