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| One of the substantial advantages offered by this
comprehensive set of arts standards is that they combat the uninformed idea that the arts
are an "academically soft" area of study. People unfamiliar with the arts often
mistakenly believe that excellence and quality are merely matters of opinion ("I know
what I like"), and that one opinion is as good as another. The Standards say that the
arts have "academic" standing. They say there is such a thing as achievement,
that knowledge and skills matter, and that mere willing participation is not the same
thing as education. They affirm that discipline and rigor are the road to achievement. And
they state emphatically that all these things can in some way be measured - if not always
on a numerical scale, then by informed critical judgment. National Standards for Arts Education |
The arts disciplines included in the Alaska Content Standards for the Arts are dance, drama, music, and the literary and visual arts. While recognizing the vast differences among the art forms and applauding the work done in the National Fine Arts Standards, the Alaska 2000 Arts Standards Development Committee chose to focus on the connections between the arts and other curricular areas rather than on the separate disciplines. It is our intent that the frameworks, performance standards, and assessment tools will be developed within each arts discipline for each benchmark level.
The study of the arts is essential to a basic education. Civilizations are remembered by their artsthe richest and most far-reaching expressions of human creativity, thought, and emotion. We know of no culture to which the arts were not paramount; this has been true of civilizations from prehistoric times until today. Therefore, every Alaskan student must have experience in arts production, arts history/culture, arts criticism/analysis, and aesthetics. Arts education must be delivered in sequential, disciplined, quality programs in every school in Alaska if our students are to have a complete education and compete in a broadening world.
The arts are unique in that they encourage many fine academic traits in children while allowing open-ended, creative work. The arts require self-discipline, perseverance, and hard work. They help children build basic thinking skills and develop problem-posing and problem-solving abilities. Statistically, students involved in arts classes score higher on nationally scored exams than students who are not. Further, the arts promote skills necessary to the workplace, such as the abilities to work with others and to manage time and resources. The arts illustrate the universality of creative expression, and cross-cultural understanding is often developed through the study of the arts. But most of all, the arts ask children to develop their own responses to questions. This is unusual in our educational system and requires courage to act when the possibility of failure is quite real. In fact, the arts mimic life in that success may only be achieved after a very long, sustained effort; failure is seen as a step in the learning process.
Success in arts education can be improved through the State Board of Education's
continuing support of this standards process and processes encouraging changes in how we
go about helping students meet high standards. For example, teacher certification
standards need to include arts courses, especially for elementary certification; this
would encourage universities to follow suit in preparing their candidates. Current
teachers must receive the professional development they need to implement high standards.
Further, districts need to be encouraged to adopt sequential, quality arts curricula for
grades K-12 and a graduation requirement in the arts.
| To live means to create Milton Steinberg |
| The Standards listed below were adopted into regulation on March 28, 1996. |
Standard A: A student should be able to create and perform in the arts.
Rationale: Through experience in dance, drama, music, and the visual and literary arts, students discover their creative abilities. When students participate in the arts, they develop an inventive spirit, expand their critical thinking skills, become self-disciplined, and learn to accept ambiguity or even failure as part of the learning process. They learn to see the whole and its parts simultaneously. The arts validate personal perception and intuition, foster imagination, and promote creativity while fulfilling spiritual needs. They allow students to engage in the discipline of the creative process and teach them to persevere until they achieve the pride of accomplishment. From kindergarten through twelfth grade, young Alaskans need to experience quality, sequential arts instruction.
A student who meets this standard will
participate in dance, drama, music, visual arts, and creative writing;
| It is for the artist to remind humanity of the unconquerable and to
assert the eternity of ideas. John Oliver Hobbes |
Standard B: A student should be able to understand the historical and contemporary role of the arts in Alaska, the nation, and the world.
Rationale: Through the study of arts history, we learn to understand cultures. In a world that grows increasingly diverse, understanding of one another is essential. Much of what we know of cultures comes to us through artistic forms of communication. In fact, we know of no culture to which creative expression has been unimportant. The historical study of the arts teaches that not only does society influence art, but art influences society. When the lessons of arts history are someday applied to us, will we have left a rich record of our time?
A student who meets this standard will
| The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of
things, but the inward significance. Aristotle |
Standard C: A student should be able to critique the student's art and the art of others.
Rationale: People make judgments about the arts they see, feel, and experience. Art criticism is a judgment based on thoughtful analysis and interpretation which occurs after a process of organized investigation. Critiques are essential in the arts for both the artist and the audience. Through critiques, students learn to use appropriate vocabulary to evaluate their works and the works of others. Although conclusions may be contradictory, each person's educated critique is valid. Through the process of arts criticism and reflection, new ideas are produced, expanding meaning of works of art and life.
A student who meets this standard will
| The study of art is the study of images; it relates to every
subject in the curriculum. What we are encouraging is art programs of substance that will
teach children to understand meaning conveyed in images. Because our children live in a
world awash in images-especially the electronic images of videos, computers, and
television-they must be able to move beyond surface meanings to understand their world. We
applaud teachers that help students move beyond surface understanding to the deeper
meanings expressed through images. Shirley Holloway, Alaska Commissioner of Education, 1995-1999 |
Standard D: A student should be able to recognize beauty and meaning through the arts in the student's life.
Rationale: People have a need for beauty and meaning to connect time and space, experience and event, body and spirit, intellect and emotion. We create art to make these connections, to express the otherwise inexpressible. The arts are a unique source of enjoyment and delight, providing the Aha! of discovery when we see ourselves and others in a new way, grasp a deeper insight, or find our imaginations refreshed. The arts bring us face to face with what we intuitively sense lies beyond ourselves. Because the arts cause us to face situations where there is no standard or approved answer, we become acquainted with many perspectives on the meaning of value and develop a personal sense of what is beautiful. The philosophy called aesthetics is the study of beauty.
Students who meet this standard will
| Philosophy is said to begin in wonder and ends in understanding.
Art departs from what has been understood and ends in wonder. John Dewey |
Each of the arts give students the means to express themselves creatively and to respond to the artistic expression of others. As a record of human experiences, the arts provide distinctive ways of understanding nature and society, including customs, ceremonies, beliefs, political and economic conditions, heritage, and present and future status of the culture.
Perceived through the senses, each of the arts are structured and organized as well as
expressive of ideas, mood, emotional qualities, characteristics, and energy qualities. The
arts require technical abilities and are learned through performance/creation,
history/culture, critique/analysis, and aesthetics. The connections are woven through each
of the arts, and they provide students with concepts and vocabularies for learning,
creating, and performing through the arts.
All of the national standards for the arts disciplines are addressed by one or more of the Alaska Content Standards for the Arts. As you see in the chart below and on the following pages, when your students meet the Alaska Content Standards for the Arts, especially as they are specified in the Performance Standards in Chapter 3 of this framework, they will also meet the national standards.
ALASKA STANDARD A: PERFORMING AND CREATING
A student should be able to create and perform in the arts.
A student who meets this standard will
| Related National Standards | |
| dance |
|
| drama |
|
| literary arts (English Language Arts Standards) |
|
| music |
|
| visual arts |
|
ALASKA STANDARD B: UNDERSTANDING HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY ROLES
A student should be able to understand the historical and contemporary role in the arts in Alaska, the nation, and the world.
A student who meets this standard will
| Related National Standards | |
| dance |
|
| drama |
|
| literary arts (English Language Arts Standards) |
|
| music |
|
| visual arts |
|
ALASKA STANDARD C: CRITIQUING AND ANALYZING
A student should be able to critique the student's art and the art of others.
A student who meets this standard will
| Related National Standards | |
| dance |
|
| drama |
|
| literary arts (English Language Arts Standards) |
|
| music |
|
| visual arts |
|
ALASKA STANDARD D: RECOGNIZING BEAUTY AND MEANING
A student should be able to recognize beauty and meaning through the arts in the student's life.
A student who meets this standard will
| Related National Standards | |
| dance |
|
| drama |
|
| literary arts (English Language Arts Standards) |
|
| music |
|
| visual arts |
|
| The secret of life is in art. Oscar Wilde |
In order for a school to create and maintain a quality arts program, it must have an appropriate infrastructure in place which supports and enhances the quality of arts education in grades K-12. Resources should include a curriculum that supports all of the arts for all of the students, adequate time for planning and instruction, qualified staff, and facilities that include a dedicated teaching area designed to meet program needs, equipment (including current technology)along with funds for materials, tools, instruments, reference materials, and supplies.
A quality program strives for excellence in all of the following areas.
Curriculum
The local school board and individual school buildings have in place a philosophy/mission statement for student learning that includes arts education as basic to the curriculum. This policy should address the importance of arts in the education of every student.
A written, sequential curriculum exists for arts education. The curriculum addresses:
Adequate Time
For Planning
A broad based committee for arts education is in place. This committee, representing both community and schools, meets regularly to address program development and improvement.
Arts education programs are administered and coordinated at the district and building levels.
An evaluation of the arts programs is conducted annually with results reported to administrators, the school board, and parents.
The school uses appropriate learning resources from the community for arts education. These resources could include local and visiting artists/authors, original works of art, live performances, galleries, museums, arts councils, web sites, artists in schools, etc.
The 1% for the Arts Program is applied when engaging in new school
construction and remodels over $250,000.
| O body swayed to music, O bright-ening dance, how can we know the
dancer from the dance? W.B. Yeates |
For Instruction
At all levels, arts instruction is scheduled during the school day as an integral part of the total school curriculum.
At the elementary school level, every student receives daily instruction in the arts.
At the middle and high school levels, every student is involved in arts study every year. The school week consists of a sufficient number of periods so that students may elect a balanced program of required, elective, and honors courses. Every effort is made to avoid scheduling single-section arts courses against single-session courses required in other subjects. The duration of classes addresses the needs of the particular arts disciplines and courses.
Arts education experiences are developmentally appropriate to the needs of all students as well as being faithful to arts education goals. To provide entry points to the arts experience, adaptations in environment and instruction may be necessary.
Arts assessment is an integral part of arts instruction. Teachers
regularly monitor, analyze, and evaluate their teaching and student progress. They use a
variety of assessment and evaluation methods.
| It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance. Henry James |
Scheduling allows for teacher preparation, peer consultation, and collaboration among teachers of the various arts as well as other subject areas. For example, arts teachers in middle schools are part of the core instruction teams.
Qualified Staff
Each of the arts is taught by certified teachers qualified to teach their particular arts discipline(s). Practicing artists are used at all levels to reinforce instruction in the arts. Preservice and inservice training of both teachers and artists are augmented to include significantly greater experience of one another's working methods. Arts education benefits when arts teachers have high levels of artistic skill and knowledge of the arts and when artists develop teaching abilities and knowledge of childhood development.
Preservice for teachers who are responsible for arts instruction meet or are preparing to meet these standards:
Arts specialists teaching in Alaska should know and be able to do these things:
| Certain purposeful violations of the beat are often exceptionally
beautiful. Carl Philip Emanuel Bach |
Appropriate professional development opportunities in the arts are available to arts specialists, specialists in other content areas, and generalists. Inservice should be offered in various delivery modes: courses, workshops, seminars, professional reading groups, mentoring, classroom based research, independent study, and other innovative models designed by teachers with their supervisors. Any of these modes lends itself to university credit awards.
Teachers are encouraged to participate in arts education associations. (See Resources Chapter for a listing of state and national associations in each of the arts.)
All teachers use the arts to enhance instruction throughout the curriculum without losing the integrity of the arts discipline.
See also National Opportunity to Learn Standards in the Starting Point section of the Reference Kit.
Facilities
Students and teachers have a facility that is designed to meet the specific needs of the particular arts discipline, i.e., of appropriate size, with unobstructed space for physical movement, adequate lighting and acoustical properties, proper ventilation, appropriate flooring, adequate electrical outlets, secured storage, means for environmentally sound waste disposal, and accessibility for students with physical disabilities.
Dance programs have unobstructed floor space (ideally 110 sq. ft. per student) with proper flooring (preferably a sprung-laid wooden floor covered with a dance floor surface); an adequate sound system for playing CDs and audiocassettes; access to first aid kit, ice, and a telephone in case of injury; large chalk or white board; and, for middle and high school levels, a mirrored wall and change rooms.
Informal drama (creative dramatics, creative movement, improvisation,
pantomime, etc.) has a large, carpeted movement space and adequate acoustics.
| Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?
Lewis Carrol) |
Formal theatre (the study of dramatic texts, periods, style, and genre for acting, playwriting, design, and technical theatre) has designated rehearsal space and adequate rehearsal time in a performance space which includes: stage lighting equipment, sound equipment, communications system, stage rigging and draperies, and storage and construction areas for make-up, scenery, properties, costumes, and technical equipment.
Music programs have adequate spaces for general, choral, and instrumental music which are easily accessible to the performance space and acoustically separated from it and from each other. Spaces have good acoustics for music and adequate, quiet lighting and mechanical systems. Rooms for musical instruction have both plain and permanently staff-lined chalk or white boards, convenient access to a piano that is tuned twice yearly, sufficient music stands, portable risers, audiovisual equipment, and sound reproduction system. There is adequate secure storage for uniforms, equipment, and instruments belonging to the school as well as to the students.
Visual art rooms have at least 55 sq. ft. of work space per student
(exclusive of storage, exhibit, and teacher work spaces), designed to accommodate a
variety of grouping arrangements and purposes (lecture, drawing and painting, printmaking,
ceramics, sculpture, etc.). There is adequate secure storage, ventilation, and disposal
for hazardous materials as well as appropriately designed sinks and surfaces for ease of
cleaning. Besides such traditional equipment as kilns, drying racks, drawing boards,
easels, sculpture stands, printing press, and looms, students have access to technology
including video cameras, monitors, computers, graphics software, scanners, and laser
printer.
| Music is the universal language of mankind-poetry their universal
pastime and delight. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
Equipment
A variety of materials is available for a thorough study of the arts. These include supplemental materials such as manipulatives, supplies, equipment, textbooks, live and taped performances, original art, poster reproductions, slides, interactive video disks, and other forms of technology.
Works of art used for instruction reflect a variety of periods and styles, cultural and ethnic diversity, and gender balance.
Textbooks and other materials incorporate the most current research and support comprehensive arts education.
At all levels, equipment and tools are of high quality and are in good working order. Safety of equipment and supplies is reviewed frequently due to constantly changing equipment and supplies.
There is an adequate budget for the purchase of consumable supplies.