By Kelly Gregory and Claudia Winkler
When education specialists from The Riley Institute at Furman University met with an innovative team from the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities last fall, one pathway to success in our state became clear: Choose joy; try something different, not just more of the same.
The Governor’s School has seen incredible results in literacy gains throughout South Carolina with its outreach program called Spark! Inspiring Tomorrow’s Readers Through Drama.
Piloted in 2016 as a partnership between the Governor’s School and the South Carolina Arts Commission, Spark was significantly scaled up in 2021 thanks to an infusion of $2.3 million in federal pandemic aid — doled out over three years — into the Arts Commission’s Arts Grow SC partner network.
Spark offers students a chance to explore fundamental literacy concepts — particularly those linked to comprehension, such as plot and character motivation and development — in ways that animate and solidify those concepts through fun, creative activities.
The program has yielded impressive results.
Based on a controlled study of standardized test results, Spark students showed an increase of two to 4 1/2 months in reading gains compared to non-Spark peers over the course of an academic year.
Further, 75% of partner teachers reported that students were more engaged in reading, and 50% saw more student engagement with writing.
Earlier this fall, the Governor’s School discussed Spark at The Riley Institute’s 2024 Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award Celebration, which coincided with the release of the 2023-2024 South Carolina School Report Cards.
The state didn’t do so well — again.
Only 30% of South Carolina high school graduates are both college and career ready. Meanwhile, SC Ready test results released in August show that the percentage of third- through eighth-grade students
meeting and exceeding expectations in reading hovers at just over 50%.
To address this literacy crisis, the South Carolina Department of Education recently began pushing an approach to reading that is based on research on how the brain processes written language.
One piece of this approach helps teachers understand the science behind reading and encourages them to use research-based strategies to guide their instruction. The training is titled Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling.
So far, so good.
But often the response to poor test results in math and reading is simply to do more — spend more time on it, throw more money at it — which comes at the expense of investment in other subjects, including social studies, science and, most of all, the arts.
What about doing something different, rather than just doing more?
What if, while using phonics-forward approaches in the early years, we also came at reading with non-traditional techniques?
Enter the Spark program and its impressive results.
Spark’s results remind us that igniting joy in young learners delivers better engagement and outcomes. Indeed, troves of research tell us that people learn best when having fun, and that the ways in which we learn vary greatly from person to person.
Remembering to find and spark joy is particularly salient when using more traditional, phonics-
focused approaches, which critics allege is boring for students and teachers.
In exploring stories through drama, students engage with texts by getting up on their feet, bringing stories and characters to life. They actively learn empathy and perspective taking, creativity and innovation, and collaboration and teamwork. All are central qualities listed in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.
Even better, while teacher morale and retention are at all-time lows, Spark and other arts-based
professional development opportunities have received high marks from teachers.
According to a spring 2024 survey of teachers participating in six or more hours of Arts Grow SC partners’ professional development, more than 90% reported that their participation had some or a large positive impact on their relationships with their students and on their classroom climate. Both are extremely important factors in overall teacher job satisfaction.
Better reading scores, higher engagement, stronger interpersonal skills, happier teachers and students, and broader access to the arts are all achievable if we commit to making effective arts integration programs scalable and sustainable across the state.
With pandemic aid running out, we call upon our lawmakers to position South Carolina as a leader in creative, effective approaches in education by not only replacing those funds, but by making a $5 million public investment of Education Improvement Act funds to expand the reach and impact Arts Grow SC programs such as Spark and others like it that work.
Kelly Gregory is The Riley Institute’s director for public education projects and partnerships. She previously taught for 11 years in South Carolina public schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in special education. She also holds a National Board certification as an exceptional needs specialist.
Claudia Winkler is The Riley Institute’s director of marketing, communications and strategic alignment. In this role, she leads the institute’s marketing and communications activities and helps ensure the alignment of the institute’s activities and resources with its mission, vision, and strategic goals.
