Launching in February – Arts Standards review
The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has scheduled a final public review of the draft PreK-12 arts standards in dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts.
The review will open February 14, 2014, and close February 28. A draft reading copy of the revised standards will be available at http://nccas.wikispaces.com on January 30.
This third and concluding review reflects NCCAS’s ongoing commitment to a responsive and transparent strategy that allows adequate time for each arts discipline’s standards writing team to incorporate changes to the drafts suggested by reviewers. To fully address the standards content and structural changes, the coalition has revised the project’s timeline. The February review is the first in a series of new and significant benchmarks for NCCAS, leading to the web-based release of the standards in June, 2014.
Currently, the writing teams are creating a set of overarching anchor standards that articulate an alignment of artistic practice among the five art forms. Upon completion of that process, the teams will review their individual discipline standards to ensure that they are appropriately parallel with the anchor standards. The teams are also finalizing examples of model cornerstone assessments to include in the February draft review.
There will be a rolling “first-glance” version of the final standards available beginning in March. This document will showcase the fundamental structure and content of the arts standards in order to give teachers, decision makers, and the public a better understanding of what will be included and how they will inform teaching and learning.
NCCAS is the coalition of national arts and education organizations and media arts representatives that are developing the 2014 National Core Arts Standards. The new, voluntary grade-by-grade web-based standards are intended to affirm the place of arts education in a balanced core curriculum, support the 21st-century needs of students and teachers, and help ensure that all students are college and career ready. The arts standards emphasize “big ideas,” philosophical foundations, enduring understandings/essential questions, and anchor/performance standards, all of which are intended to guide the curriculum development and instructional practices that leads to arts literacy for all students.
To find out how to participate in the February review process and to view all public documents related to the arts standards, visit http://nccas.wikispaces.com/.
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