Presents the responses to the National Standards for Arts Education from four arts education associations. The associations represented are the National Dance Association, Music Educators National Conference, American Alliance for Theater and Education, and the National Art Education Association. Discusses applications and limitations of the…

Describes several programs in which music and dance are used to unlock doors that stereotypes of race, gender, language, religion, or ability have kept shut. Exposure to the music and dance of other cultures helps children's awareness of the diversity of the world and people's essential similarities. (SLD)

Describes a non-graded, one-class-period activity that can help undergraduates understand and explore fundamental psychological concepts. Groups of three or four students perform short skits illustrating basic concepts (moral development, defense mechanisms, identity status) and the class tries to guess the concept. (MJP)

Traces the growing concern and sporadic efforts to address problems of exploitation, education, and neglect among child performers in turn-of-the-century England. Victorian social reformers and the press made the working conditions of English theater children a public issue. True reform, however, only occurred later. (MJP)

Describes the interdisciplinary program utilized at the Missouri Fine Arts Academy (MFAA). Focuses on the high school students in the MFAA discussing the results of a questionnaire and focus groups and also the results of a questionnaire given to the teachers at the academy. (CMK)

Focuses on various topics related to arts education policy such as the creation of the national arts standards, the influence of racism on policy decisions, the importance for equal access to education at all educational levels, and the work of Howard Gardner on multiple intelligences that helped legitimize the arts. (CMK)

Describes two approaches to educational change: (1) the linear, input-output model that focuses on the output of academic achievement measured by standardized tests; and (2) the ecological model that focuses on the school as an ecosystem composed of classroom ecosystems. Discusses four reasons why the arts are necessary for the renewal of schools.…

When a state legislator requested that the president of Southwest Missouri State University stop production of a drama department production about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the administrator refused to accede to pressure and enlisted and won the board's support. (MSE)

Examines what the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) can learn about educational policy from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Lists similarities and differences between the two agencies' commitment and approach to education. Discusses the role of the Department of Education and makes policy recommendations for the NEA. (KM)

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)

Argues that, although social studies classes should be exciting and interesting, students frequently rate them as among the most boring and irrelevant. Asserts that living history programs, including history theater, history immersion, and living history museums can improve history instruction and student attitudes. (CFR)

This article outlines steps toward university collaboration with local arts organizations to enhance local cultural life in medium-sized cities. It illustrates these steps with examples from practice and discusses how to maintain ongoing collaborations. Major benefits from such partnerships and factors requiring attention to ensure success are…

Describes Project Performing Arts Teaching Resources Online (PATRON) that was designed at the University of Surrey (United Kingdom) to deliver digital audio, video, music scores and dance notation across a high speed network to the desktop. Conversion, scanned images, system components, user interface, and user reactions are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Explores whether focusing the attention of evaluators on students versus the teacher would affect the assessment of teaching in choral rehearsal situations. Music education majors used 10 categories to rate the teacher or students. Reveals that subjects gave the highest ratings when viewing the teacher and the lowest ratings when viewing students.…

In this article, the author talks about Moore Square Museums Magnet Middle School, where educators are blending technology more heavily into the teaching of arts and music than most other schools. Arts teachers are integrating computer software with traditional instruction in dance, music, theater and visual arts to spark students' creativity. It…