Education in Illinois will face a number of problems in the 1980s: decline in student enrollment, inflation, and decline in public support of education. It is impossible to estimate how these forces will affect speech communication and theatre programs, but three factors suggest that real opportunities exist for speech and theatre among the…

The California Art Education Association (CAEA) has outlined guidelines to help administrators, teachers, and others responsible for determining the acceptable content of visual arts courses offered to meet California's state graduation requirements or entry requirements into a state university. Emphasis for visual arts courses should be on the…

Asserts that the arts, including art, music, dance, and theater, often are ignored or shortchanged in the school curriculum. Discusses how language education has assumed a central place in the school curriculum and whether art education can use curriculum integration to achieve the same status. (CFR)

Comments on remarks by A. Graham Down, president of the Council for Basic Education, about integrating arts education into the curriculum. Concludes that, when the arts are channeled into the mainstream and made part and parcel of everything, arts education becomes dangerously confused. (CFR)

The arts, rather than being just a "frill," are essential to a public school curriculum, because music, painting, poetry, dance, drama, architecture, and the other arts are media of human communication, conceptualization, and innovation. This argument is developed through affirmative responses to five questions: (1) Should education provide the…

Asserts that it is important to avoid bandwagon superficialities related to the interdisciplinary approach to arts education in the K-12 curriculum. Concludes that the overarching issue related to the National Standards implementation is how to keep content and process in a productive relationship. (CFR)

Maintains that the 1990s are witnessing a renewed interest in curriculum integration. Presents, defines, and discusses nine approaches to the cognitive and affective aspects to integrating the arts in the K-12 curriculum. Recommends the coequal style and asserts that it has the potential for intellectual stimulation. (CFR)

Asserts that the current focus on voluntary national standards has catapulted arts education into a new prominence. Discusses the background and tactics of current educational reform efforts. Concludes that, without empirical research and assessment, the proposed curricular standards will remain an educational fad. (CFR)