A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Teaching the Arts in the Future

The arts, English, math, history, foreign languages, civics and government, science, and geography: Competency in these subjects is part of Goals 2000, and national voluntary standards are being developed for these subjects (and others). The arts are part of the curriculum in most of America's schools and can tie into all subjects. Learning about dance, music, theater, and the visual arts can make a difference in the learning and life of students. Two recent OERI-funded activities will have an effect on arts education in the future.

On March 11, voluntary national standards for the arts were released. These standards-developed with OERI funding by a consortium of arts organizations and with the involvement of thousands of teachers, artists, parents, administrators, students, and researchers-establish what all students need to know and be able to do in the arts. They also set the levels of achievement in the subject matter. Using these voluntary standards, states will be able to establish their own standards for the arts to use as blueprints for local schools, districts, and others to develop classroom materials and lessons.

At about the same time, OERI and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released Arts Education Research Agenda for the Future designed to stimulate discussion among researchers and the broader community about the best direction for arts education research. It also looks at how arts education will seek its place within the broader education reform movement.

The agenda was developed to articulate the many unanswered questions in three main areas of arts education: curriculum and instruction, assessment and evaluation, and teacher education and preparation. Key questions include:

What are the most effective, efficient ways to teach about knowledge and skills relevant to the different arts and to achieve basic learning objectives in the arts?
What do teachers need to know and be able to do with respect to art forms, and how can they be helped to learn those skills?
What are the best ways to assess the outcomes of arts education?

Arts Education Research Agenda for the Future is the result of the work of a 12-member steering committee established by OERI and NEA. The book is based on 16 commissioned papers and a national conference that opened the dialog on research across the arts disciplines and among practitioners, researchers, and administrators. For more information about the project, contact Rita Foy, OR, OERI, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20208- 5648.

Copies of National Standards for Arts Education: What Every Young American Should Know and Be Able to Do in the Arts (#1605) are available for $15 from Music Educators National Conference Publications Sales, 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 22091. For information on other standards projects, contact FIRST at 202-219-1496.

Copies of Arts Education Research Agenda for the Future (#065-000- 00629-4, $3.25) are available from GPO.

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