Download Arts as Core Subject

The Arts
STANDARD: The teacher candidate will know, understand and use – as appropriate to their own knowledge and skills - the content,
functions and achievements of dance, music, theater and the several visual arts as primary media for communication, inquiry and
insight among elementary students.
FORWARD
Arts as Core Subject
In 1994, Congress passed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act which acknowledges that the arts are a core subject in the American
educational program. In conjunction with the adoption of this landmark legislation, the Consortium of National Arts Education
Associations developed the National Standards for Arts Education, which stated what every American student should know and be
able to do in the arts. Upon completion of the K-12 Public school program, the student should be able to:
 Communicate at a basic level in the four arts disciplines – dance, music, theatre and the visual arts .
 Communicate proficiently in at least one art form.
 Develop and present basic analyses of works of art.
 Have an informed acquaintance with exemplary works of art from a variety of cultures and historical periods.
 Relate various types of arts knowledge and skills within and across the arts disciplines.
Teacher Preparation Guidelines
Prior to the development of the national arts guidelines, the four arts disciplines were usually taught separately, and the teacher
candidate could chose any one of the arts to fulfill the arts requirement. The new standards require a basic knowledge of the four arts,
and this may require a new or modified introductory course to the arts. As in the past, the elementary teacher may work alone or
with arts specialist teachers and other qualified arts professionals to enable the students to achieve the national standards for arts
education.
The NCATE arts standard requires the teacher candidate to know, understand and use the four arts as a media for communication and
inquiry among elementary students. To enable the teacher candidate to meet this standard, the desired outcomes of the teacher
preparation program were identified. For each outcome, indicators ( evidence that the outcome had been met), assessment types and
assessment tasks were developed. In the first half of the teacher preparation program, the teacher candidate will acquire a basic
knowledge of the content of dance, music, theatre and the visual arts and the ability to integrate the four arts. In the second half of the
program, the teacher candidate will acquire the knowledge of children’s artistic development and the ability to apply content
knowledge to the theory and practice of arts education.
REFERENCES
NCATE Program Standards Teacher Education, February, 2000.
National Arts Education Consortium National Standards for Art Education (The consortium consists of the American Alliance for
Theatre and Education, Music Educators National Conference, National Art Education Association, National Dance Association,
1994).
Standard: The teacher candidate will know, understand and use – as appropriate to their own knowledge and skills – the content,
functions and achievements of dance, music, theatre and the several visual arts as primary media for communication, inquiry
and insight among elementary students.
Outcome
1. The teacher candidate will
demonstrate the ability to
communicate at a basic level
in the four arts: dance, music,
theater and the visual arts, to
enhance self-expression and
to better understand human
experiences.
Indicator
Assessment Type
Sample Assessment Task
a. Describe the basic types,
elements and skills of the four
arts using an appropriate arts
vocabulary.

Field trips to
performances of:
dance, theatre and
music.

Write reflective journal entries of
personal reactions to live
performances of dance, music and
theatre.
b. Discuss and interpret the
visual and performing arts
both orally and in writing
using an appropriate arts
vocabulary.

Field trips to art
exhibitions.


Rating scales.
Rate personal enjoyment of live
performances on a 1-10 rating scale
and discuss reactions.

Journal of personal
reflections regarding
art experiences

Discuss the theme and characteristics of a given art exhibition.


Discussion

Videotape analyses of
artworks.
Analyze a variety of 2-D and 3-D
artworks and rank the works in terms
of personal preference and discuss
the significance of each work.

Essays

Write an essay explaining how a
given visual or performing art
expressed human emotions and ideas.

Analyze a videotape or live
performance of a musical and discuss
how dance, music, drama and the
visual elements (i.e. sets, costumes,
etc.) were integrated to express the
story.
c. Discuss of traditional and
new technologies in the arts
and arts education.
d. Discuss personal reactions
to works of art and identify the
artistic elements that elicit
those reactions.
e. Compare how ideas,
emotions and experiences are
expressed in the visual and
performing arts.
Standard: The teacher candidate will know, understand and use – as appropriate to their own knowledge and skills – the content,
functions and achievements of dance, music, theatre and the several visual arts as primary media for communication, inquiry
and insight among elementary students.
Outcome
Indicator
Assessment
2. The teacher candidate will
interpret and evaluate exemplary
artworks from a variety of cultures
and historical periods.
a. .Evaluate different artworks
using appropriate criteria.

Criterion checklist

Videotape analyses
b. Identify specific artworks
belonging to a particular
culture, time period and place.
c. Discuss stylistic trends and
technological innovations of
artworks from a selected
historical period.
d. Describe how an individual
culture at a given time
expressed its beliefs, values
and ideas using the four arts.
e. Compare the meaning and
function of the visual and
performing arts across
cultures.
Sample Assessment Task

Analyze videotapes of a variety of the
performing arts and develop a
criterion checklist for evaluation of
each art form.

Write a critique of a visual or
performing art using the criterion
checklist as a guide.

Research and present an oral report of
an artist’s works and his/her
biography.

Pictorial timeline

Artist biography

Field trips

Discuss stylistic features of a
particular artist or a given time
period.

Critiques – written
and oral

Discuss stylistic trends and
innovations of the arts from a
selected historical period.

Prepare a pictorial timeline of
exemplary artworks of a given period.

Research a basic ritual of a given
culture and discuss the significance of
the four arts in expressing cultural
values.



Rating scales
Rubrics
Group discussion
Outcome
Indicator
Assessment
Sample Assessment Task

View a videotape of folk dances and
correctly identify the country of
origin.

Listen to several musical selections
and correctly identify the type of
music and the historical period.

Read plays from a variety of time
periods and cultures and identify how
each expressed the cultural values and
worldview of the period.

Prepare a display and oral report
explaining how a culture expressed its
values trough the four arts.