This handbook is a guide to help educators and administrators with the decisions they face in the design of an arts assessment. The guide is divided into two broad parts: Part 1: "Background for Thoughtful Arts Education Assessment"; and Part 2: "Assessment Design in Action." The guide includes: (1) a brief background on the…

Four articles discuss the preparation of dance educators and the development of dance teachers' competencies, focusing on the knowledge base for competent dance teaching, the preparation of effective teachers, motor learning knowledge in the dance education curriculum, and realities, myths, and priorities in dance teacher competency. (SM)

Alaska's sex equity law, which prohibits sex discrimination in public school education, was passed by the Alaska legislature in 1981. Regulations require school districts to establish the training of personnel in the recognition of sex bias, and in the use of techniques and materials that may be used to overcome the effects of sex bias. This…

Arts education reform in South Carolina led to the development of frameworks for dance, drama/theater, music, and visual arts education that were organized around a common set of curricular components. Aesthetic perception, creative expression, historical and cultural heritage, and aesthetic valuing form the basis of comprehensive education in the…

The Mississippi Fine Arts Framework is designed to develop K-12 students' interest and expertise in dance, music, theater arts, and visual arts. The introductory fine arts course, for secondary level students, explores the relationship and the function of the arts in both historical and contemporary culture through creative projects, performance,…

This second edition updates and aligns the original 1996 publication with the Maine Learning Results, which were enacted by the state legislature in 1997. The Learning Results articulate what knowledge and skills all Maine students should have at various benchmarks throughout the preK-12 continuum. Dance is identified in the Learning Results as…

This book offers information and insights for university dance educators and their students, administrators, policy makers, parents, dance instructors, dancers, and dance enthusiasts. Part 1, "Understanding Dance Education," explains key features of the discipline of dance and how it is a performing, liberal, physical, and applied art. Its four…

The purpose of New Jersey's Visual and Performing Arts Standards is to improve student achievement in arts education, not arts-as-entertainment, not art-assembly projects, not art-as-activity. An education in the arts requires curricular scope and sequence and the intellectual rigor of experiential learning. The Visual and Performing Arts…

Discusses the benefits of integrating the arts into education to help students learn more and better. The paper looks at advantages to including music, visual arts, dance, and theater arts in the classroom, explaining the part that arts play in assessment. Resources for integrated arts activities are included. (SM)

This curriculum framework for the arts defines expectations for student learning in the arts in New Hampshire. The framework standards do not comprise a curriculum with designated course offerings, teaching methods, or materials; instead, they provide a vision for the future, outlining expectations for student learning at the end of grades 4, 8,…

This document describes what students should know and be able to do in the visual and performing arts prior to graduation from South Carolina high schools. The standards are based on the "South Carolina Visual and Performing Arts Framework," adopted by the South Carolina State Board of Education in 1993. Standards for performance in…

As part of the school reform legislation of 1985, the Illinois State Board of Education established State Goals for Learning in six fundamental learning areas: language arts, mathematics, science, social science, fine arts, and physical development and health. The next step is to develop standards that will more clearly define the knowledge and…

Two approaches to teaching dance, drama/theatre, music, and the visual arts are interwoven into a comprehensive whole in the framework described in this document. The first approach views arts instruction as direct student involvement in the expressive modes of the arts. The second approach views the arts as a means of acquiring cultural literacy.…

The framework is organized to assist curriculum planners in designing a curriculum that has a triple thrust--one that develops the unique characteristics of each of the arts, interrelates the arts, and infuses the arts into the general curriculum as appropriate. Chapter 1 discusses the commonalities of the arts. Chapters 2 through 5 examine the…

This booklet provides a framework for developing K-12 arts curriculum in dance, music, theater arts, and visual arts. The frameworks consist of goals in each of these subjects and are developed for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 grade levels along with suggested objectives. Significant differences in this updated version include: (1) a strong emphasis on…