An artist outlines her system (called the Monart Drawing Method) for teaching children to draw realistically. Children are taught an alphabet of five elements of shape and allowed to interpret and utilize the information any way they wish. The system allows children's natural creative abilities to flourish. (MD)

Financially strapped elementary schools can explore some community resources to enrich arts programs, including college or university arts presenters, local arts council, local cultural organization, state arts agency, and regional arts organization. Schools should also consider local people trained in some aspect of arts: architects, furniture…

The U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools exhibit best practices in art education, embodying high accomplishment, lofty aspirations, and transformative ideas. Principals should extend arts education offerings to all students; use the arts to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment of other subjects; capitalize on newer technologies;…

An elementary school art teacher with 25 years' experience with the Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools praises her district's nationally recognized program. She attributes success to several factors: a written curriculum for grades K-6, a strategies document for implementing the curriculum, a strong staff development component, collaboration…

North Carolina's ABC program, part of a state effort to improve school performance, calls for greater accountability, a back-to-basics emphasis, and more local control in planning and implementing programs. In response, results of the East Carolina University Math/Art Project, a study to determine the effects of interdisciplinary art and math…

Today, many art and music teachers struggle to teach and inspire their students in inappropriate or outdated facilities. Many must settle for "art on a cart." New or modernized facilities can make a vital difference in building enthusiasm and appreciation for the arts in young children. Spacious, flexible music and art rooms of schools in Florida…

SUAVE (Socios Unidos para Artes Via Educacion--United Community for Arts in Education) is an arts-integrated approach to teaching in multicultural and multilingual settings. A unique professional development project for San Diego-area teachers, SUAVE helps teachers develop ways to integrate the arts into mathematics, science, language arts, and…

The arts should be part of the core curriculum because human cognition is wider than discourse and because the forms one is able to use define the scope of the reality that one can know. (Author/IRT)

Provides an overview of government involvement in art education, of support offered by various groups outside education, of some school arts programs, and of policy positions taken by professional associations. (IRT)

Discusses the key role of the principal in establishing an arts program in the elementary school. Briefly outlines some successful programs and points out sources of information on arts programs that would be useful for the principal. (IRT)

Six administrators from six different schools describe the successful art programs in their school systems. (MD)

The comprehensive approach to arts education, moving art from the academic fringes into the core curriculum, is producing excellent results at one Bedford, Texas, elementary school. Students there are thinking smarter and performing better. Mathematics, reading, and writing scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills are steadily improving.…

Describes several existing arts education programs that might be successfully adapted by other schools: Connecticut's HOT (Higher-Order Thinking) Schools program, North Carolina's A+ Schools Program, and the Los Angeles-based Different Ways of Knowing program. These programs differ but have a common bond--the conviction that the arts make a…

Discusses the differences between art programs and art education programs. Arts education complements and reinforces learning in other curriculum areas. Good arts education can help develop positive attitudes in students, encourage their desire to learn, and improve student academic performance. Includes a sidebar with a Music Lesson Design. (MD)

Outlines the components of Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE). The program is based on the development of four domains in art: production, criticism, art history, and aesthetics. These areas are important dimensions in artistic development, and the acquisition of art skills broadens childrens' sensitivities to the world in general. (MD)