Dance Engagement in an Urban School District: The SanArts Conservatory

A partnership with the Santa Ana Unified School District in Southern California allowed us to design and implement a mixed-methods longitudinal research study to understand the school attendance rates, academic achievement, and motivational factors linked to adolescents engagement in the district’s sequentially designed dance programs. The study assessed dance participation across multiple school sites, including the districts’ pre-professional SanArts Dance Conservatory.

Utilizing a mixed-methods research design and a range of quantitative and qualitative data sources — including seven years of student-level demographic and achievement data; a student survey to assess motivation; student and staff interviews; dance classroom observations; and archival documents — we conducted descriptive and quasi-experimental analyses, as well as thematic content analysis of qualitative data based on the Scanlan Collaborative Interview Method and the Eccles Expectancy-Value Theory of Motivation.

We provided dance program leadership with students’ school attendance and academic achievement outcomes and the expectancies and values students attributed to dance engagement. Findings were used to support the continuous improvement and strategic planning of the districts’ dance education programs.