This paper tests a new theoretical framework for engaging students by evaluating two project-and-design-based pedagogies: "Arts Integrated Collective Creation (AICC) and Educational Social Enterprise (ESE)." Findings provide statistical support for benefits with middle school students when instruction is designed around Socially Empowered Learning (i.e., group-based, creative agency, real-world issues, and positive social impact). We advance the theory of Socially Empowered Learning (SEL) in identifying and finding empirical support for a novel instructional approach with strong effects and implications for the power of the arts to enhance cross-curricular learning.