College-level Standards and Expectations for Arts Education

College Standards for Arts Education Purpose of Research: The revised National Standards for Arts Education will extend to grade 14 rather than grade 12. The purpose of this research is to gather resources and material that may inform the writers’ process as they develop grade 13-14 standards for the first time. Slide about WHY this research was undertaken

College Standards for Arts Education Research Goal: To understand current expectations for college-level instruction in the arts affecting students who are arts majors as well as non-majors. In other cases we’ve been able to review and summarize recently-revised state standards, or media arts standards, and it’s been a direct correlation to your work as writers in revising the standards. In the case of college-level work, though, there are no nationally-set existing standards, so this research wasn’t about analyzing agreed-upon standards but rather the goal was to try to identify what commonly-held expectations of students are – what are the closest things we have to standards? Are there any expectations and benchmarks that seem to be shared across the board, especially for students who are not arts majors? Aiming to find out what is currently being taught – not to make a “to-do list” that the standards need to adhere to and not to note all the places where college practices should change, but just to get a feel for the most common content and practices, especially for non-specialist students.

College Standards for Arts Education Phase I of the research on college level standards and expectations involved the following components: Textbook analysis Analysis and summary of accreditation standards Reviews of AP course goals and course descriptions In looking for standards at the college level, the short answer is that there aren’t any, so this research has been an analysis of all of the next closest things that we have: Textbook analysis: we collected descriptions and reviews of about 20 textbooks in each of the arts disciplines and analyzed them in terms of course content – identifying how many dealt with technique, analysis, criticism, history (western/non-western) etc – to get an idea of what the most common threads of college course material in the arts are Analysis and summary of accreditation standards – looking at similarities and differences in accreditation standards, specifically the parts that relate to course content and requirements for BFA or two-year degrees in the arts. Not looking at the standards that relate more to institutional-level practices. Reviews of AP course goals and course descriptions – AP course descriptions and guidelines are developed after extensive research into current best practices and common curricular themes in introductory college courses, so this may be the closest information we have to content-level standards for college-level arts courses. Of course, we only have data related to Studio Art, Art History, and Music Theory to draw upon here.

College Standards for Arts Education Part I: Review of Accreditation standards Reviewed the accreditation standards of NASAD, NASD, NASM, NAST. These are mostly institutional-level guidelines and recommendations, but a section of each document of standards relates specifically to course content and student expectations for 2-4 year degrees in the arts, so these guidelines were the focus of our study. ** mention that accreditation standards are broad for a reason: they want to allow a large amount of autonomy to the schools themselves.

Accreditation Standards College Standards for Arts Education Phase I Findings: Accreditation Standards Accreditation Standards Performance/Production/Studio Progressively building skill in at least one area Area of concentration within the discipline Familiarity with elements, principles, and discipline-specific techniques Performance, exhibition, critique History and theory Basic knowledge of history and repertoires Skills of analysis and evaluation Ability to place work in historical, cultural, and stylistic contexts Teaching Included in dance standards only Technology Working knowledge of technology related to area of specialization Synthesis Students should be able to work independently, drawing on their knowledge of performance, technique, analysis, and history Results Professional, entry-level competence Ability to form and defend value judgments Recommendations Understanding of the nature of professional work in the field Exploring areas of individual interest Business or entrepreneurial skills Review of accreditation standards The first part of the first report is an examination of accreditation standards. These are published by four related organizations: the National Association of Schools of Dance, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, National Association of Schools of Music, and National Association of Schools of Theatre. Their full handbooks are available online, listing accreditation requirements in detail. Most of these are institutional-level standards, oriented towards how schools of the arts are organized and run. Within that, though, there are recommendations about the content of degree-granting arts programs. And it’s that content that’s represented on this chart. There are standards for the creation of work, to varying degrees of specificity for each discipline. All disciplines acknowledge the importance of studying history and theory Dance alone addresses teaching Technology standards exist, but that single sentence is the extent of them. Results refer to the result of a full course of study, and the kinds of abilities students should have as a result The “recommendations” section is about further recommendations for study, for inclusion in the study of the arts. The content mostly revolves around real-world experiences, developing personal areas of interest and concentration, and business skills. On the whole, the accreditation standards are very general documents in their recommendations.

College Standards for Arts Education Phase I Findings: AP Course Goals

College Standards for Arts Education Phase I Findings: AP Course Goals AP Studio Art: Course Goals Encourage creative and systematic investigation of formal and conceptual issues Emphasize making art as an ongoing process that involves the student in informed and critical decision making Help students develop technical skills and familiarize them with the functions of the visual elements Encourage students to become independent thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the making of art. We also summarized AP course goals and descriptions, since AP course content is developed as a result of extensive research into introductory-level college courses. So we have these materials to reference in art and music, since there are AP courses in studio art, art history, and music theory. The first slide here is a very general outline of AP Studio Art course goals – there are four overarching goals – and then student performance is measured by their portfolio, which is divided into three sections: Quality, Concentration, and Breadth. So reviewers look for evidence of the broad course goals, as well as more specific technical criteria, in the portfolio submissions.

College Standards for Arts Education Phase I Findings: AP Course Goals AP Studio Art: Course Goals Encourage creative and systematic investigation of formal and conceptual issues Emphasize making art as an ongoing process that involves the student in informed and critical decision making Help students develop technical skills and familiarize them with the functions of the visual elements Encourage students to become independent thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the making of art.

College Standards for Arts Education Phase I Findings: AP Course Goals AP Studio Art Portfolio Quality Works that demonstrate mastery of [2-D design, 3-D design, or drawing] apparent in the composition, concept and execution of the works. Concentration A concentration is a body of work unified by an underlying idea that has visual coherence. Coherence and/or development — is the work presented actually a concentration? Quality of the concept/idea represented — is there evidence of thinking and of focus? Degree of development and investigation that is evident in the work — including the amount of work or number of pieces represented Quality of the work in both concept and technique Breadth A variety of works demonstrating understanding of the principles of design. Look for engagement with a range of design principles: Unity/Variety Balance/Emphasis/Contrast Rhythm Repetition Proportion/Scale Figure/Ground Relationship

College Standards for Arts Education Phase I Findings: AP course goals AP Art History Course Objectives Ability to apply art and art historical terminology Appreciation for process of making and displaying art Understanding of purpose and function of art Ability to analyze works of art in historical and social context Understanding of cross-cultural and global nature of art Ability to perform higher order thinking skills and articulate visual and art historical concepts in verbal and written forms Here are the AP Art History goals. Again, the course strikes a balance between requiring students to have the historical knowledge, but also being able to apply it in meaningful ways. Balance of information and cognitive skills.

College Standards for Arts Education Phase I Findings: AP course goals AP Art History Course Objectives Ability to apply art and art historical terminology Appreciation for process of making and displaying art Understanding of purpose and function of art Ability to analyze works of art in historical and social context Understanding of cross-cultural and global nature of art Ability to perform higher order thinking skills and articulate visual and art historical concepts in verbal and written forms

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase I Findings: AP course goals AP Music Theory Skill Method Aural skills Listening exercises Sight-singing skills Performance exercises Writing skills Written exercises Compositional skills Creative exercises Analytical skills Analytical exercises Content and concepts: The AP Music Theory description is the most detailed in terms of outlining skills and concepts to be mastered – offering guides for types of exercises that align with types of skills – but analysis plays a heavy role here as well. Pitches Intervals Scales and keys Chords Meter Rhythm Melodic and harmonic dictation Composition Harmony Realization of a figured bass Analysis of repertoire Sight-singing

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase I Findings: Textbook Analysis Textbook recommendations were gathered from a number of sources: Researched bestselling textbooks online Gathered recommendations from NCCAS members and other colleagues AP-recommended textbooks in the areas of studio art, art history, and music theory, located on apcentral.collegeboard.com The next phase was an analysis of college course textbooks in the arts. We surveyed professors of the arts and looked at lists of bestselling textbooks to get an idea of what types of resources are most widely used. We also looked at recommendations for textbooks that are used in conjunction with AP courses in the arts. We ended up with about 20-25 textbooks in each discipline. Most of the textbooks fit into one of these categories...

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase I Findings: Textbook Analysis Most textbooks for each arts discipline fit into one of four categories: Technique History Theory Criticism and Analysis

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase I Findings: Textbook Analysis

College Standards for Arts Education: Textbook Analysis Findings: DANCE Of the 24 recommended textbooks, 10 aligned with one or more of the technique categories. Of these, three covered concepts/fundamentals, six addressed dance creation and performance, and two included teaching. 10 textbooks included content that fell into one or more of the history categories. Nine included surveys of dance history (making this the category with the greatest representation in the dance survey), six included specifically Western content, and three included non-Western examples. There were three results in criticism and analysis category. It is interesting to note that in these cases, the books’ content is not geared towards teaching students strategies for analyzing dance performance themselves; rather, they are collections of essays and analyses written by dance professionals. In particular, the content in the dance creation category varies widely, ranging from straightforward dance technique Instruction to memoirs and essays by well-known dancers and choreographers. Overall, there was a fairly even divide between books that fell into technique and history categories. There were no instances of overlap between the two; books related to dance technique did not appear to cover historical content, and vice versa. Dance was the only discipline to include books on teaching in its review. This inclusion is especially interesting, considering that the accreditation standards for dance are the only ones that require courses in teaching as well. History Technique Criticism/Analysis

College Standards for Arts Education: Textbook Analysis Findings: MUSIC Of the 26 recommended textbooks, 21 aligned with one or more of the music theory categories. Of these, 20 covered fundamentals, seven addressed sight singing, nine featured information on composition, and 19 included listening and analysis. Thirteen textbooks included content that fell into one or more of the history categories. Twelve included surveys of music history, seven included specifically Western content, and two included non-Western examples. There were no results in performance category. This is in line with a trend across the survey of textbooks in all four arts disciplines, of very few textual resources for the creation and performance of works of art, as opposed to the appreciation, history, and analysis of the arts. Overall, the most general categories, including music theory fundamentals and music history survey, had the greatest representation, which is not surprising, given that these are the categories that probably have the greatest representation in college course offerings. In the entire analysis, there are more textbooks associated with music theory topics than with music history, analysis, or performance. This may be an accurate representation of college music textbooks as a whole, or it may be attributed to the fact that so many of the recommendations were garnered from AP Music Theory resources. Within the larger analysis of textbooks in all four arts disciplines, music was the only category to have textbooks with a marked overlap between history and theory content. There were eight instances of textbooks that covered music fundamentals and also had music history content (particularly survey content). Similarly, nine of the 19 books that involved content in listening and analysis also had music history content; presumably, students are listening to and analyzing great works from music history. It appears that, more than in other disciplines, music theory is taught by incorporating music history, and there is a less pronounced divide between history and practice into the study of music. Music Theory History Performance

College Standards for Arts Education: Textbook Analysis Findings: THEATRE Of the 17 recommended textbooks, three aligned with the acting category of the technique section. None of the texts appeared to offer instruction on writing or directing. This aligns with findings in all other disciplines, wherein there was less information on artistic technique than history, theory, or analysis. Six of the featured textbooks were aligned with theatre appreciation content, covering fundamentals of theatre from an audience member’s perspective. Nine textbooks covered content related to theatre history. All nine were general in nature, aligning them with the survey category, making this this the most popular category, again aligning with findings in other disciplines. Of these, six could be determined to include Western content (although the true number is probably higher; some textbook descriptions did not get into specifics of their historical content), and four addressed non-Western material. Four of the 17 textbooks offered material that fit into the analysis category, offering techniques and guidelines for responding to performances. In general, theatre textbooks did not span more than one theme or topic; for example, technique-related books did not cover history or analysis. In an instance of overlap among similar categories, however, two theatre appreciation textbooks also contained content that fit into one or more of the history categories. History Analysis Technique (Acting)

College Standards for Arts Education: Textbook Analysis Findings: VISUAL ART Of the 30 total textbooks, eleven addressed topics in the technique category. Of these, four addressed drawing content, three dealt with other 2-D techniques, three addressed sculpture techniques, and five offered instruction in photography and digital media. Three textbooks were aligned with the elements and principles category. Of these, two titles simultaneously aligned with the survey category, suggesting that in some cases, historical content is being used to illustrate or encourage understanding of art-making fundamentals. These were the only examples of overlap between history and technique categories within single texts. Sixteen textbooks included content that fell into one or more of the history categories. Eleven included surveys of art history, twelve included specifically Western content, and six included non-Western examples. Six titles fell into the analysis category – all of these aligned with one or more of the history categories as well. A category that was unique to the visual art textbook analysis was creativity, offering techniques and methods to encourage creative thought and divergent thinking among students. Three titles aligned with this category. Elements/Principles History Technique Analysis

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase I Findings: Textbook Analysis Overall findings: More resources in the history category than for any other Fewest textbooks in categories related to artistic production With the exception of music theory, studies of history and practice in the arts appear to be dealt with entirely separately. The findings gave us very general information about the types of course content that is most widely offered on college campuses.

College Standards for Arts Education Phase II of the research on college standards will include an analysis of foundation-level college arts curricula, developed by surveying and interviewing college arts educators and administrators nationwide. We found that Phase I was a useful starting place, but the information gathered was very basic, so we’ve come up with a plan and are getting started on Phase 2, which goes a little deeper into looking at college curricula in the arts and holding interviews with department heads in colleges who are making these decisions about what is being offered or not, and why.

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase II: College Curriculum survey Research question: What specific habits, skills, and abilities associated with the standards framework of creating, performing, responding, and connecting are most often emphasized in introductory-level college coursework in the arts?

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase II: College Curriculum survey Survey details: Surveys will be sent to department heads of 100-200 schools per discipline, including small and large public and private schools Surveys are discipline-specific

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase II: College Curriculum survey The first section of the survey will collect general program information: Program size Types/numbers of courses offered Student population – arts majors vs. non- majors Slide about how we are beginning by trying to figure out some basic information about program size, # of students, majors vs. nonmajors, etc., Trying to get a sense of the focus of that arts program, and who their audience is most broadly, to get the beginning of a sense of what they are aiming to do – what the goals of the program are.

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase II: College Curriculum survey Put entire framework here.

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase II: College Curriculum survey

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase II: College Curriculum survey On a 1-5 scale, to what extent are the following skills or content emphasized in your department’s foundation-level course of study : 1. Developing technical skills in one or more areas of specialty 1 2 3 4 5 2. Creating a coherent body of work 3. Developing and investigating one’s own ideas 4. Thinking critically about one’s own work and the work of others

College Standards for Arts Education: Phase II: College Curriculum survey What are you, as writers, most interested in finding out about current foundation-level arts offerings and expectations in colleges nationwide? What types of information would be the most useful to your process?

Find College Board/NCCAS research online The College Board: Arts at the Core http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/preparation-access/arts-core. National Coalition for Core Arts Standards http://nccas.wikispaces.com. Amy Charleroy, Associate Director, Office of Academic Initiatives acharleroy@collegeboard.org Nancy Rubino, Senior Director, Office of Academic Initiatives nrubino@collegeboard.org