Starting today, the public can contribute to a final review of the preK-12 arts-education standards—in dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts—proposed by the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards.
The drafts of the voluntary national standards were developed by a handful of arts-focused groups and educators and are, according to a press release, “intended to affirm the place of arts education in a balanced core curriculum ... and help ensure that all students are college and career ready.” According to the group’s website, the standards are both a response to, and reflective of, the Common Core State Standards in English/language arts and math. "[W]e need standards that match current and future policy needs,” it states. “If we don’t revise standards to meet these new challenges, the arts risk being marginalized in American schools.”
The first national arts standards were published in 1994 and, the group explains, both the research and technology tools for arts-education have changed since that time.
This is the third review period for the new draft standards, which emphasize four artistic processes in each arts discipline—creating, performing, responding, and connecting. According to NCCAS, the first review alone received more than a million responses and comments.
The review period will close Feb. 28. NCCAS intends to release the final standards in June.
For more information on the coalition and how to contribute to this work, see the NCCAS video below.