Clear Educational Goals: The Key to Choosing Drama Programs that Deliver Results
- Ms. A
- Jun 3
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 26
A 7-Part Series on How to Choose a Quality Drama Program for Your School
✨ Great drama programs do more than put on a show — they teach with purpose.
Subscribe to PEAK Backstage and get the FREE Drama Program Evaluation Checklist, plus monthly resources, lesson plans, and culturally sustaining arts strategies to help you choose programs rooted in clear, meaningful learning goals.
When you join, you become part of the PEAK Backstage Crew — a network of passionate educators and artists committed to drama programs that inspire growth on stage and in life.
Clear Educational Goals: The Key to Choosing Drama Programs that Deliver Results
Table of Contents:
Clear Education Goals: Not Just "Putting on a Show"
What's wrong with "Putting on a Show"?
Putting on a show is a rewarding and fulfilling experience for students. Make no mistake about it. It's the one thing they look forward to the most- performing. But when drama programs only focus on the final performance without clear educational goals or cultural relevance, students often miss out on the deeper benefits of theatre: self-discovery, voice, connection, and growth. And for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian students, that approach can do more harm than good.
Here’s why:
When the only goal is the end product, everything becomes about polish, applause, and performance. Students are directed through a process, not invited into it. They’re often cast into roles that don’t reflect their lived experiences, or worse, roles that reinforce stereotypes, tokenism, or historical harm.
It’s easy to end up with a “diverse” cast performing a white-centered story with no space to talk about who is telling the story, who benefits from it, or what it costs students to perform it.
A “just put on a show” mindset:
Prioritizes audience approval over student empowerment
Ignores cultural relevance in favor of tradition or convenience
Silences student voice in favor of adult direction
Leaves little room for reflection, ownership, or joy
Yes, final showcases can be beautiful. The lights, the applause, the proud families holding up their phones. But drama has to be more than a spotlight. It has to be a soft place to land. A place where students are not just cast, but seen. Where their voices aren’t just heard, but held. Where the process isn’t a rush to opening night, it’s a long, winding walk home to themselves.
Why Educational Goals Matter in OST?
Clear Educational Goals are the key to choosing drama programs that deliver results. The benefit of drama programs with clear educational goals is that students walk away with more than just applause; they gain real, transferable skills to support their success in school and life.
Look for programs aligned with established, research-backed frameworks like:
Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Standards
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies
These standards aren’t about taking the joy out of theatre; they’re about making sure students are growing in meaningful ways while they play, explore, and create. They help ensure students aren’t just memorizing lines or learning choreography.
Instead, they’re developing the tools to:
Read and write with deeper understanding: Scripts, monologues, and storytelling exercises build literacy. Students learn to analyze character, interpret text, and construct narratives with clarity and nuance.
Express ideas clearly and confidently: Through performance and group discussion, students build communication skills, learning how to articulate their thoughts, advocate for themselves, and speak with presence.
Work collaboratively: Theatre is inherently team-based. Whether students are co-writing scenes or blocking a group performance, they learn how to listen, share responsibility, and solve problems together.
Think creatively and critically: Students are constantly making artistic choices about character, staging, and story structure, which builds both their imagination and their ability to reflect, revise, and grow.
When drama programs are rooted in clear learning goals, every class, activity, and performance becomes an opportunity for development, discovery, and empowerment.
What does the Research say
Research consistently shows that arts education, including drama, plays a vital role in supporting academic achievement and holistic student development. In the landmark publication Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development, more than 65 studies reveal the positive impact of arts learning on a wide range of cognitive, social, and academic skills.
One study in particular, Podlozny (2000), found strong evidence that drama instruction improves story comprehension and reading achievement. By engaging students in role-play, character analysis, and performance, drama gives learners concrete, embodied ways to explore and internalize narrative structure and meaning.
Specifically, drama education has been linked to improvements in:
Verbal Expression: Students engaged in drama become more confident and skilled at using language to communicate ideas clearly and persuasively. This translates to stronger speaking and listening skills both in and out of the classroom.
Reading Fluency: Through script reading, storytelling, and character exploration, drama helps students practice reading with expression, pace, and comprehension. This improves their ability to understand and enjoy complex texts.
Story Comprehension: Drama activities encourage students to analyze narratives, deeply examining plot, character motivation, and themes, enhancing critical thinking and literary analysis skills.
Beyond these specific outcomes, the research shows that drama fosters engagement, motivation, and a love of learning, key drivers of long-term academic success. It also supports social and emotional growth, making it a well-rounded tool for developing the whole child.
Citation for reference: Podlozny, A. (2000). Strengthening verbal skills through the use of classroom drama: A clear link. In R. J. Deasy (Ed.), Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development (pp. 62–63). Arts Education Partnership.
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When you subscribe, you also join the PEAK Backstage Crew — a community of educators, teaching artists, and school leaders working behind the scenes to bring joyful, high-quality drama experiences to young people.
What do Educational Goals look like at PEAK Theatre Arts?
Step into a PEAK Theatre Arts class and you'll see students hopping like frogs, growling like lions, or racing across the room in a game that looks chaotic. There’s laughter, movement, storytelling, but not always the kind that looks like “school.” And yet, underneath all the fun is a steady foundation: clear educational goals that guide every lesson we teach.
Our curriculum is carefully aligned with the California Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Standards and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies, making sure that even in the silliest moments, students are building real skills that shape. This alignment ensures that students aren’t just “putting on a play,” they’re developing core academic and life skills in a joyful, inclusive, and collaborative environment.
Here’s what our standards-based, student-centered approach looks like in practice:
Grade-Level Learning Targets… with Real-World Flexibility: In after-school spaces, we serve mixed-age groups. A 4th grader collaborates with a 6th grader, or a 1st grader, creating a scene with a 3rd grader. That’s why our lessons are adaptable by design, clustering standards across developmental ranges and offering multiple entry points. This flexible structure ensures all students can engage meaningfully, regardless of age or experience.
Intentional Lesson Structure: Our units follow a clear arc. A typical 6-week program might begin with ensemble-building games, move into script or character development, and culminate in a student-devised performance, giving students a sense of purpose and progress each step of the way.
Theatrical Vocabulary & Skill Building: From day one, students learn and use professional theatre terms like blocking, projection, motivation, and ensemble and apply them in hands-on, age-appropriate ways that build artistic fluency.
Student Portfolios & Reflections: We use journals, video reflections, pre/post surveys, and student-led conversations to help students track their growth not just in performance, but in confidence, collaboration, and creativity.
Rubrics & Growth Indicators: Our assessments go beyond the stage. We measure both artistic skill and social-emotional growth. You’ll witness:
Quiet students are becoming more expressive
Emerging leaders stepping up with confidence
Young artists articulating their progress as peers and performers
At PEAK, our goal isn’t perfection; it’s purposeful progress. We believe that when students understand what they’re working toward, they’re more likely to take creative risks, reflect deeply, and step into their full potential.
What to Ask When Choosing a Drama Program
If you’re wondering how to choose a quality drama program for your school or community, start by asking how the program defines and delivers its learning goals.
Here are a few thoughtful questions to guide your evaluation:
“Are your lessons aligned to VAPA, Common Core, or SEL standards?”Strong programs are rooted in meaningful educational frameworks, not just performance for performance’s sake.
“How do you assess student growth?” Programs should track progress. That includes formative feedback, reflection, and student-created work.
“Can you share a sample lesson or unit plan?” High-quality programs will gladly share their process and demonstrate how standards translate into engaging, age-appropriate activities.
A drama program with clear educational goals does more than entertain—it teaches. When providers are transparent about what students are learning and how they’re growing, you can feel confident it’s a program worth investing in.
Coming Up in Part Two: The Hidden Superpower of Drama Programs—Social-Emotional Learning
What if your drama program could do more than build confident performers? What if it could help kids become more empathetic, resilient, and self-aware human beings?
In Part Two of our How to Choose a Quality Drama Program series, we’ll dive into why Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is essential in out-of-school-time theatre and how to spot programs that nurture the whole child, not just the role they’re playing.
Join the PEAK Backstage Crew!
Subscribe to PEAK Backstage and get the FREE Drama Program Evaluation Checklist — your planning guide, evaluating, and advocating for drama programs that deliver real results through clear educational goals.
When you subscribe, you’ll receive:
🎁 Free monthly drama lessons & activities — designed for after-school and OST programs, adaptable for families at home
🎭 Student-centered resources that save time and spark creativity
🌍 Inclusive strategies that help every child feel seen, valued, and confident
⭐ First dibs on exclusive offers — early access to camps, discounted products, and limited-time freebies
❤️ Encouragement & perspective from a community arts educator and mom who understands both the after-school world and the joys (and challenges) of finding meaningful activities for kids
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