Arts-Intensive High Schools: Connecting Educational Experiences with Career and Community Outcomes

Previous data collection cycles of the SNAAP survey included a unique group of arts alumni: those who attended arts-intensive high schools. Although they comprised a small percentage of the overall respondents, there is still much we can learn about arts education and careers through examination of their experiences. An article featuring data from this group was recently published in Gifted Child Quarterly. SNAAP Senior Scholar Angie Miller at Indiana University Bloomington and SNAAP Research Affiliate Deanna Ibrahim at the University of Pittsburgh used both quantitative and qualitative SNAAP data for the study, revealing notable connections between skills learned during school, various educational activities, and several career and community outcomes. 

Arts-intensive high schools offer many advantages to their students, customizing learning experiences to fit artistic talents beyond the traditional secondary education environment. The schools themselves can vary in terms of their specific characteristics, yet they all have an emphasis on developing artistic abilities in the context of rigorous educational goals and skill development, with teachers that have both pedagogical training and professional experiences (Gaztambide-Fernàndez et al., 2016). Although they originated in the United States nearly 100 years ago, relatively little research has demonstrated the long-term impacts of attending these schools, especially from a multi-institution data source. 

Given this lack of empirical data from alumni as well as direct calls from scholars for more research in visual arts and music as domains of giftedness, this study used SNAAP data from over 2,900 alumni from 8 different arts-intensive high schools participating in the 2015, 2016, and 2017 SNAAP administrations to investigate relationships between education, career, and community experiences. 

Numerous survey items were included in the analyses. Respondents were asked about several different skills and abilities they acquired during their time in school, along with participation in other activities such as internships, portfolio completion, projects serving the community, co-curricular activities, diverse discussions with others, and work with artists in the community. Career-related survey items were also analyzed, such as current occupation, aspects of job satisfaction, income, and an open-ended question about the relevance of education to current work. Recognizing that work is not the only area where an arts education might have an impact, we also assessed arts community involvement. 

Descriptive statistics demonstrated that alumni reported the strongest ability development in the areas of artistic technique, creative thinking, improving work based on feedback, broad knowledge, and critical thinking. Conversely, the weakest ability development was for financial and business management, entrepreneurial, technological, teaching, and project management skills. These 10 ​“top and bottom” skills were then included as predictor variables in a series of regression analyses. The goal of these analyses was to determine whether the 10 skills, along with the experiential educational activities and control variables (i.e. those already known to be related to the predictors and outcomes) such as gender identity, racial/ethnic identity, and parent education, were significantly related to the career and community outcomes. 

The series of regression models found that entrepreneurial skills were a positive predictor of income, extrinsic job satisfaction, and working as a professional artist. Technology skills were a negative predictor for income and arts community involvement, which may be a reflection of age. A few other counterintuitive findings related to arts area of specialization and creative thinking also suggest that more research is needed regarding this unique group of alumni. 

The regression models also demonstrated the positive impacts of several experiential activities. Community service during school was a positive predictor of later involvement in the arts community. Conversations with others of diverse backgrounds positively predicted job satisfaction and arts community involvement. Working with a community artist during school predicted arts community involvement and having been a professional artist, with similar patterns for internship participation and portfolio completion.

The qualitative analyses further supported several of these patterns, as many alumni generally indicated that regardless of whether they remained in the arts or shifted to a non-artistic field, the skills learned in arts-intensive high schools were highly applicable to their current work. Alumni pointed to fundamental skills, such as discipline, collaboration, and creativity, that have served their ability to succeed and noted that these set them apart from other employees and job candidates in the workforce. This insight emphasizes the value of arts education across fields and aligns with prior research investigating the benefits of arts-intensive training. However, alumni also pointed to specific gaps in their education (such as business and finance), that mirrors the descriptive findings and should be used for curricular updates to better meet the needs of current students at arts-intensive high schools and beyond.

Overall, this study provides valuable insight into the benefits of these types of educational experiences, as well as potential areas for improvement. Schools can highlight the variety of skills students will acquire while also working to improve curriculum and programming in other areas. They should also continue to allocate resources for high-impact experiences such as working with artists in the community, interactions with diverse students, co-curricular activities, community service, and portfolio completion. It is important to foster relationships with local artists and organizations for many of these experiences, and teachers may need further professional development and training or financial compensation to most effectively provide these to students. These findings can also be used for advising current students for careers and further education options. 

This DataBrief was prepared by Angie L. Miller and Deanna A. Ibrahim

Full Article Citation:

Miller, A. L., & Ibrahim, D. A. (2025). Digging deeper into arts-intensive high schools: Experiences, outcomes, and other reflections from artistically gifted alumni? Gifted Child Quarterly, 69(2), 165 – 183.https://doi.org/10.1177/00169862241307943