ABSTRACT

This concluding section addresses the state of the current research and practice on AI with respect to the proposed theory of action and supporting demonstrations of practice to highlight possible directions for the field. In Chapter 8, Jean Crockett, Katherine Berry, and I provide a review of the current status of arts and special education research, with a focus on arts integration (AI) intervention research with students having a range of disabilities in a variety of educational settings. These findings are considered in relation to the engagement framework presented in Part I, as well as in relation to the AI demonstrations of practice offered in Part II of the book. In particular, the findings generated from the AI demonstrations of practice with a vulnerable student population revealed that for middle-school-age students with a variety of learning and environmental obstacles, access to meaningful content through AI was relevant, motivating, and supported their conceptualization skills, which was interrelated with their development of language skills and academic performance. In Chapter 9, James Catterall provides a conclusion to the book’s lessons learned for the research and practice of tomorrow, as well as for the reader’s further consideration while reading the demonstrations of practice involving AI practices in a range of educational settings.