Final Public Review of Core Standards Set for February

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has scheduled the final public review of its draft Pre-K-12 arts standards in dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts to run February 14, 2014 through February 28. A draft reading copy of will be available on January 30 at nccas.wikispaces.com.

This review is part of the NCCAS’s process designed to allow time for each arts discipline time to incorporate changes suggested by those reviewing the drafts.  The project’s timeline was recently revised, with this February review coming as the first in a series of new benchmarks that will lead to the web-based release of the standards in June, 2014.

The stated goal of the writing teams has been to create a set of “anchor standards” that guide educator toward an “alignment of artistic practice” between the several art forms taught at schools. A rolling “first-glance” of the final standards is scheduled to become available beginning in March. This version of the standards will highlight be designed to offer teachers, administrators, and the public a realistic understanding of what the standards with include, as well as their impact on education in the future.

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.