ABSTRACT
The chapter presents the historical background of arts integration and special education, including operational definitions of arts integration within the framework of arts in education approaches as well as historical context and a description of the evolution of arts integration research. It reviews the research findings on arts integration and includes a summary of the status of the research to date on interventions aimed at elementary-aged students with disabilities. The chapter describes a synthesis of the decade of trends in arts integration and special education, including consideration of the tension between arts integration practice and special education research, along with recommendations for research and practice in arts integration and special education based upon authors findings. Research initiatives and justifications for arts integration have changed dramatically from exploratory-descriptive to confirmatory investigations the latter of which necessitate interdisciplinary collaboration between arts and non-arts disciplines to make predictions and test hypotheses around arts integration approaches and observed student outcomes.
