THE PROBLEM. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the number and type of visual and performing arts (VAPA) courses a high school student took and California Standards Test (CST) English Language Arts (ELA) scores. The study also investigated the same relationship among subgroups' including special education (SpEd) students, English language learners (ELL), and socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED) students.

METHOD. A correlational study was conducted. CST ELA scores and VAPA course enrollment were collected for students enrolled in five San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) high schools (Henry, Hoover, Mira Mesa, Morse, and Serra), Grades 8 through 11 from 2005 through 2009. The data provided student designations of SpEd, ELL, and SED, as well as English language proficiency status. VAPA courses included dance, music, theatre, and visual art. Permission to collect data was obtained from the Executive Director of the Resource and Evaluation Division for the SDUSD. A Pearson product-moment correlation was used to determine the extent to which the number of VAPA courses and CST ELA scores were related for all students and for students designated as SpEd, ELL, and SED by English language proficiency status.

RESULTS. The first hypothesis, which predicted a relationship between the number of VAPA courses high school students took and CST ELA scores, was not supported. The second hypothesis, which predicted a relationship between the number of VAPA courses SpEd students took and CST ELA scores, was not supported. The third hypothesis, which predicted a relationship between the number of VAPA courses SED students took and CST ELA scores, was not supported. The fourth hypothesis, which predicted a relationship between the number of VAPA courses ELL students took and CST ELA scores, was not supported. It was concluded that the number of VAPA courses in which high school students enrolled made no significant difference in their CST ELA scores.