We use data to understand arts students, arts teachers, and arts education.

Researchers in the Music and Arts Education Data Lab (MADLab), the National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab at the University of Maryland, seek to answer questions about important issues in music and arts education. We examine issues of access, equity, representation, demography, and inclusion in music and arts education at the K-12 and postsecondary levels. We are also interested in the social and academic consequents of arts education for K-12 arts students and the collegiate preparation of music and arts educators.

MADLab members have answered these questions using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Our work has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Arts Education Policy Review, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and in other arts and education research venues. Our work has been supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Give a Note Foundation, among others.