02/09/2024
By Zakkiyya Witherspoon

The School of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Michael Mele “Combating Systemic Barriers to Arts Access in a Rural High School Through Integration of the Arts into Core Science Instruction."

Candidate: Michael Mele
Degree: Doctoral- Leadership in Schooling
Defense Date: Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Remote via Zoom
Thesis/Dissertation Title: Combating Systemic Barriers to Arts Access in a Rural High School Through Integration of the Arts into Core Science Instruction

Dissertation Committee

  • Dissertation Chair: James Nehring, Ed.D. Professor, College of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Dissertation Committee: Phitsamay Uy, Ed.D., Associate Professor, College of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Dissertation Mentor: Christina Whittlesey, Ed.D, CE Adjunct Faculty of College of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract
This paper aims to understand the barriers that face access to the arts in rural high schools and to offer a selection of potential change ideas to combat these barriers that exist in school settings. The literature review shows that access to the arts in rural communities is a barrier to complete education for school aged children because rural school districts are unable to support the arts as fully funded, staffed, and resourced components of their curriculum. The paper also includes a needs assessment for a particular rural high school, represented by the pseudonym Black Mountain High School. The paper discusses an intervention that targets the barriers to arts access for rural high school students at Black Mountain High School in Pennsylvania. The change idea integrates the NASA Visions of the Future poster series into two grades 11 and 12 Earth and Space Science classes. The posters supplemented direct instruction of the physical characteristics of the planets, and the study measured changes in students’ attitudes about the relevance of visual art in the science class and student achievement in art and science when creating their own posters using visual symbolic representations of planetary characteristics. The design for this study is mixed methods. Data was collected from students using quantitative tools and from teachers using qualitative tools. The findings showed growth in students’ attitudes about the relevance of the arts, according to the Changes in Attitudes about the Relevance of Arts (CARA) survey. This growth was evident across all three of the themes of the survey, including students’ perception of the value of the arts, the interdisciplinary connection to the arts, and their enjoyment of the arts. Additionally, seven of the eight student groups that participated in the study reached an achievement level of at least 70% of total points possible, based on the Rubric for Grading Arts/Science Collaborative Integration. Finally, the paper proposes policy change that can promote equitable access to the arts for students at Black Mountain High School.