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…

Dance education offers a vehicle for holistic teaching that cultivates human characteristics needed for future society. Dance integrates mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of education. As part of the teacher education curriculum, it can contribute the link necessary for a holistic philosophy. (Author/PP)

Explores applications of somatics to school and university curricula, addressing somatic knowledge as content and methodology in dance education, proposing strategies for bringing the body back into dance and dance curricula, exploring cultural diversity issues within dance and somatic education, and concluding that somatic knowledge and practice…

Describes the educational system within the country of Ghana. Focuses on music education. Discusses the visual arts that constitute vocational skills within education. Addresses the need to move toward a systematic philosophy of arts education in Ghana. (CMK)

Nine articles discuss persistent physical education practices that are not in the best interest of children, suggesting developmentally appropriate alternatives. Some topics discussed are sequence of instruction in games, developmentally appropriate dance and gymnastics, social-emotional components, and activities with questionable value. (SM)

Talent beyond Words instructed elementary inner-city children in the performing arts, especially dance and percussion music, to provide opportunities for dynamic assessment of talent. Students identified as having talent participated in after-school curricula, thereby increasing their proficiency and self-esteem. (Author/JDD)

Discusses the value of multicultural dance education in the core curriculum. Multicultural dance provides a means of understanding cultural differences and helps students understand and clarify their own value systems. Educators communicate values to students through their educational structures which, in dance, cross barriers of language,…

For aerobic dance classes to succeed, the instructors must be properly trained teachers. Effective teachers must know more than just subject matter. They need sound pedagogical skills and knowledge in the content areas relating to aerobic dance. The article lists recommendations to help aerobic dance teachers be more effective. (SM)

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)

An evaluative study was conducted wherein student choreography in 14 Utah secondary schools was assessed by student teachers for incidence and frequency of sexually objectifying or exploitative movement and thematic development. Data regarding each student work was compared with information provided by student choreographers in a written…

The intersections of dance and sexuality and sexual identity are part of the critical discourse important to teaching dance appreciation and dance history. This essay presents aspects of my teaching practice, informed by current writings in queer studies, dance studies, education, and sociology. Awareness of potential classroom diversity helps…

The importance of arts education has long been recognized. Years ago, John Dewey (1934, vii) argued that, in arts education, "learning is controlled by two great principles: one that participation is something inherently worth while, or undertaken on its own account; the other is perception of the relation of means to consequences... A third…

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…

This publication presents ideas and educational activities that will assist teachers of creative dance with lesson planning. The volume is organized into three parts. Part 1--Theory consists of six chapters: (1) What Is Creative Dance: The Elements of Dance; (2) Why Learn Creative Dance: Learning Outcomes; (3) Where Is Creative Dance Taught:…

The curricular framework set forth in this document is designed to assist administrators and teachers in planning, developing, and implementing K-12 dance programs. The publication is organized in five major sections: the first section presents a philosophy defining the nature of dance in relation to society, the learner, and the school…