The Mississippi Arts Frameworks And The National Core Arts Standards

In most affluent schools, parents have the expectation that their kids are being offered a full liberal arts curriculum that will allow them to further their creativity and curiosity. However, many schools have been only focusing on the subjects that are being tested on standardized tests set by the state, because they receive more school funding if they achieve higher test scores. In her article titled “The Essentials of a Good Education”, Diane Ravitch, utilizing direct examples of schools, and policies that limit student’s knowledge of the arts in order to have more time preparing for tests, points out that this shift in focus is causing students to suffer academically and is killing their curiosity and creativity.

In order to complete this activity, that is, create an Arts Unit of Inquiry (UOI) plan, my skills and understanding had to meet the unit’s learning outcomes. My UOI plan demonstrates that I have a good understanding of authentic arts education and am able to apply such practices through the implementation of The Arts curriculum (Unit Outcome 1). My UOI plan also closely reflects Unit Outcome 2: “Within a lifelong learning framework, develop arts literacy and capability through personal investment in visual and media arts praxis, reflection and appreciation, to a foundational standard for teaching” in that it demonstrates my arts literacy as well as highlights the arts skills that I have attained throughout the unit by practical exploration.

As a result of reading the forward of “The National Core Arts Standards: A Conceptual Framework for Arts Learning”, I saw that there was some information that I learned from past classes that I already understood. I knew that the standards was first established when Goals 2000s made dance a core subject in all schools. When that happened a council was formed to create standards to make sure that it included the most important concepts and ideas. Art programs are really important for school systems to enforce. The arts help children understand the world and society. The information students learn will help them understand the material they are learning in their other subjects. Having dance classes, will reiterate the information they are working on in other

“It has become a mantra in education that No Child Left Behind, with its pressure to raise test scores, has reduced classroom time devoted to the arts.” This

As a mother of a 2nd grader, in Temecula, California I have noticed that the Art department in public school is basically nonexistent; the curriculum at Ysabel Barnett Elementary school in Temecula relies mostly on the common core curriculum. As explained by the Common Core website, “is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy”. By working with these standards the student has specific guidelines of where a student should be at a certain grade. It is somewhat of a guideline. As the government decides to look at the budgets of American schools, the first department to focus on is the Music and Arts department. The Arts department of a school includes Music, Art, Dance and Theater.

Establishing new national fine arts standards and programs from previously attempted standards will give students equal opportunities to succeed and develop themselves to their full potential. These standards would be a refined and reshaped version of the 1992 and 1994 attempted national standards for fine arts, but would be integrated with Common Core values and lessons (National Association for Music Education). Refining the following standards to meet today’s technological standards would be beneficial for fine arts students because they would have applications to what they are learning and would be able to use Common Core’s goals to positively impact each student; three sections by grade level: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 all with different but similar standards (6 in total) and benchmarks (44 in total) for each different fine arts

Greek philosopher Aristotle defines the arts ¨as the realization in external form of a true idea, and is traced back to that natural love of imitation which characterizes humans, and to the pleasure which we feel in recognizing likenesses.¨(IEP). The fine arts which have been a part of human history for 30,000 years have played an essential role in the development and advancement of our societies. As of today, the fine arts are facing the danger of vanishing in the education system of the United States Schools in places like Minnesota, Michigan and Philadelphia struggle to obtain arts programs within their schools. Districts like the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district, have been struggling with raising student’s academic scores in courses

It is a shame that students will miss out on the many benefits of arts programs and that the arts are still being cut even though extensive research shows they are beneficial, Sandra Ruppert, AEP Executive Director concludes that “the power of the arts lead the way in helping every child realize success in school.” (Hawkins) Schools are already pressured to meet the high demands of core curriculum reading, math, science, and history. Core curriculum is what is tested in schools, this testing is in interest of the school's proficiency and ranking, not in the interest of the students and what kind of person that student is growing up to be. Even though research has shown that arts programs are academically beneficial to students, these programs continue to be cut due to the emphasis put on the core

The American education system has not managed to survive a single day in which it has not been placed beneath society’s microscope to be analyzed and critiqued by both those involved and not. It comes as no surprise that there are a plethora of flaws involved in the institution of education. However, there is one entirely unique aspect of American education that has potential to alter the system’s negative persona; the fine arts programs. Rick Dean, a journalist for Topeka Capital Journal, researching Topeka’s new arts and education program stated, “Teachers and students participating in the program benefit from infusing fine arts across the curriculum, thinking critically. . . . to find creative and innovative solutions to problems beyond

All around the United States, art programs are being cut out of the budget in public schools. The arts include dance, band, chorus, theatre, film, drawing, painting, photography and literary arts. Some school board members feel these art programs are not necessary and do not benefit the students in any way. Elementary, middle, and high school students are forced to quit their passion and feel that their talents are not supported by their schools. Although many are not aware, there is a strong connection between arts education and academic achievement. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts in many public schools, the art classes are first on the list to be cut. It is important that the students, parents and teachers

The National Association for Music Education has several general standards put into place (the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards). These standards center around the theme of music literacy and attempt to improve the three most important aspects of music learning: creating, performing, and responding. These aspects are designed to be applied to a student 's musical performance as well as their conduct in the community. The standards are used throughout the United States, introducing new topics throughout a child 's preschool-8th grade education. They are also provided in small "strands" throughout high schools. Teachers implement these techniques through the teaching of theory, music history, collaboration, creating and performing throughout their own individual curricula. They also have created "Model Cornerstone Assessments," which are designed to measure a student 's academic achievement and performance within the Core Arts Standards. As far as arts in the schools go, NAfME also has several organizations which help to promote music in schools across America. I believe that having these national requirements is extremely beneficial in that students across America will be learning similar concepts in the same efficient manner, giving each individual student an opportunity to thrive as well as any other fellow American student. I do think, though, that there should be ways for these codes can be more enforced, as I had never really heard of

There were many activities in all three classrooms that connected to the National Core Arts Standards for Music. I chose to connect the standards to all of Mr. Leonhardt’s music classes.

Music was one of the first areas to set standards for education in the mid-1990s, but currently professionals are trying to revise them to better fit the needs of music educators. "The aim of Common Core standards is not just getting students to do well – in any subject – but enabling them to critique what they have done, and to suggest improvements to their own work" ( Powers, 2013, p. 32). Scott Shuler comments, "They provide a lens for looking at our classrooms, and they have changed the conversation about what should be taught" (cited in Powers, 2013, p. 34). As one teacher comments, the standards help to create balance between activities in the classroom (Powers, 2013, p. 35). Students, when the teacher applies the standards to his teaching, become more well-rounded, efficient musicians. The standards give the end result without demanding a specific method of arrival allowing teachers more creativity and flexibility (Powers, 2013, p. 36). Music teachers nationwide are looking to the revision of the standards as another benchmark in music

“Artistic achievement requires many different kinds of thinking. Students learn to attend to details, as well as to ‘the big picture’. They learn to unify diverse elements into cohesive works of art. They become adept at applying tools of critical thinking, and they learn to confidently approach and solve problems in numerous ways”, says the Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts

The era of accountability has heavily swayed public schools towards narrowing the curriculum across content and disciplines. Student test scores have become the measure in which states, districts, schools, classrooms, and teachers are deemed “excellent.” Also, many schools have been confronted with budget cuts that determine the content offered in schools. Unfortunately, arts programming across the United States’ K-12 public education has been minimized and/or not given the proper attention it deserves. To strengthen the argument for arts education, researchers have developed the integration of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to curriculum and lesson planning. I argue that the integration of the arts in classroom curriculum with early childhoods students can provide benefits not only for students but teachers. Arts education centers on allowing both students and teachers to engage in creativity and bring out their multiple intelligence. I recognize four reasons why arts education is a valuable tool with young children: (1) arts can be used across subjects and context (interdisciplinary), (2) it touches on the needs of different learners (multiple intelligence), (3) flexibility that allows creativity in the classroom, and (4) shifts away from traditional methods of rote learning.