Like most efforts at educational reform, initial proposals for the teaching of art criticism represented a promising direction for practice rather than a fully developed educational plan. Educators during the 1950s and 1960s, who first proposed art criticism as an alternative to studio work, viewed it as a remedy for a number of problems with existing practice. They were troubled by a failure to meet the needs of older students whose interest in making art declined with the onset of adolescence; by the lack of intellectual substance in a curriculum that had degenerated into mere manipulation of art materials in the early grades and a narrow development of technical skills in the upper grades; by a perceived lack of balance between studio production and the teaching of art appreciation; and by the marginal status of art education within the overall school curriculum. Unresolved conceptual issues continue to plague discussions of art criticism and hinder its implementation in the classroom. Much of the confusion surrounding the concept arises because the word "criticism" can be used in different ways. Educators still lack a clear understanding of what criticism is and how to conceptualize its role in educational settings. In this article, the author provides an overview of the development of the topic of criticism in the art education literature. His aim in doing so is not only to clarify discussion but, more prescriptively, to suggest how educators ought to think about criticism in educational settings. (Contains 36 notes.)