Introduction

The New Hampshire K-12 Curriculum Framework for the Arts is the culmination of more than three years work by a volunteer task force. This framework represents unprecedented consensus about expectations for student learning in the arts in this state. Educators from all levels, business people, artists, students, arts educators, government officials, community representatives, and parents contributed to the development of these standards. Research findings, National Standards for Arts Education, models from other states, as well as an analysis of current instructional practices, informed the work.

This is the sixth curriculum framework developed by the New Hampshire Department of Education. This framework outlines a vision for student achievement and offers specific benchmarks at several grade levels. Like the earlier frameworks, this document will significantly influence teaching and learning for New Hampshire children.

The New Hampshire Department of Education and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts generously supported the writing of this document.

What is the role of the arts in education?

It is important for New Hampshire children to study the arts. First, the arts have intrinsic value. Producing art, whether it is creating a piece of visual art or performing through dance, theatre, or music, allows children to develop their creativity in ways that cannot be matched by core school subjects. Moreover, each arts discipline has its own distinct symbol system to aid in understanding the world. Each has its own vocabulary and distinct repertoire of skills. By accessing these modes of perception, students may respond to the everyday world in a more perceptive fashion.

Second, studying the arts enhances the study of other subjects. For example, patterning is an important concept in both art and science. It occurs in the arts as a sequence of musical notes, color, or texture. A reoccurring movement pattern characterizes dance. Dramatic works use pattern to establish conflict and its resolution. In nature, patterns occur in the formation of trees and leaves, markings on animals, and geologic formations. A further example of how arts enhance learning is drawn from the study of history, where knowledge is broadened by examining art, music, dance, and theatre from the same period.

Additionally, studying the arts develops important ways of knowing and understanding the world. This is reflected in standardized test scores and recent educational findings that suggest that in schools where strong arts programs exist, overall academic achievement is improved. For example, Martin Gardiner, research director and faculty member at the Music School in Providence, Rhode Island, has carried out research involving an innovative program at two city elementary schools that provides strong evidence that art and music instruction can greatly improve performance in reading and math (Castelluci, 1996). Additional research also indicates that SAT scores in reading and math increased when students had quality arts experiences in school (Dobbs, 1996).

"All evidence points to a relationship between the arts and other academic disciplines that is clear and compelling, indicating to both fields that one cannot really flourish without the influence of the other" (Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning the Arts, 1997).

The research of Frances Rauscher, research psychologist and musician, is a case in point. For the first time, she has shown that a causal link exists between spatial-temporal reasoning and musical intelligence (Mahlman, 1996). Pre-school students who experienced an additional thirty minutes of music per week performed 80% better on visual/spatial puzzle tests than those students who did not have the additional music (Mahlman, 1996).

Through study of the arts, students learn higher order thinking skills: critical thinking, analyzing, and decision making. A practical illustration of how students become better readers and problem solvers can be seen in Connecticutıs Higher Order Thinking Skills Schools. Here the arts are infused in teaching methods that are part of the daily program, and an increase in student achievement has been demonstrated (Connecticut Commission on the Arts, 1997).

How do quality arts programs contribute to school environment?

In addition to positive effects on student achievement, quality programming in the arts can have positive effects on school climate and culture. For example, research shows improvement in both teacher and student attendance where arts are integrated into the school curriculum. Improvement in teacher attendance has also been reported as a result of participation in the Higher Order Thinking Skills school initiative. Moreover, according to the Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning the Arts 1997 report, parent involvement has improved in schools where the arts curriculum contributed to providing schools with a more engaging environment.

How do the arts develop workplace and lifelong skills?

Policy makers now recognize that the benefits of arts education extend far beyond the school walls. Arts education is influential in developing appropriate lifelong and workplace skills. As early as 1993, Secretary of Education, Richard Riley stated, "The Arts Š enhance our economic competitiveness by developing creative problem-solving skills, imagination, self-discipline, and attention to detail" (Riley, 1993). In partnership with BusinessWeek, the J. Paul Getty Education Institute for the Arts published an insert aimed at business leaders in the October 1996 edition of the magazine. This insert recognized the impact of arts programming within the workplace. "Arts education helps the nation produce citizens and workers who are comfortable using many different symbol systems (verbal, mathematical, visual, auditory). Arts education develops the very capacities that business leaders, educators, and parents want the schools to provide our children: creative problem solving, analytical thinking, collaborative skills and judgment" ("Educating for the Workplace through the Arts," BusinessWeek, October 1996).

Policy makers are also recognizing the toll that the modern, stressful lifestyle takes on individuals. The ability to be resilient in the face of adversity has been identified as a key coping mechanism. Researchers have noted that the skills needed for the development of a studentıs resiliency may be developed through study of the arts. Resiliency skills serve as coping mechanisms, enabling individuals to effectively respond to stress and trauma in their lives. In addition, decreases in incidence of students involved with substance abuse have been noted, specifically with prevention programs and projects that address the resiliency of students (Shaw, 1997). The study shows that when students are involved with a long-term art program and have regular contact with adults who are invested in their progress, they will develop resiliency and creativity skills as well as self-confidence (Shaw, 1997).

Recognizing that the arts make a contribution to developing workplace and lifelong skills, a conscious decision was made to include a career standard within each discipline of the framework. The career standard guides the art educator in providing knowledge of career opportunities in the arts to their students. Developing an awareness of the variety of careers in the arts may include discussion of how designers create what is around us everyday, whether it be our cars, toothpaste tubes, or clothes. Other areas of focus are the fields of architecture, museum and classroom education, industrial design, web design, illustration, apparel design, film, composing, and performance in dance, music, or theatre. Arts careers can vary widely from marketing and management, to the technology of lighting and video, or product and set design.

The intent of providing a focus on careers in the curriculum standards is not to imply that all students will become artists and performers; rather, it is to provide students with an understanding of and awareness about the many career options available to them. For example, if a student excels in computer technology and has an interest in theatre, perhaps he or she may pursue both through a career in technical theatre.

Integration and the Arts

In order to maximize the benefits of the arts in education, it is vital that the arts are integrated into the total school curriculum. This framework encourages connections among the arts and other subjects as local districts develop school curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

There are many ways to define integration and there are a variety of valid instructional practices that lead to meaningful integration. The framework does not endorse one particular method, but encourages educators to make substantive, standards-based connections among the arts and other subjects. Mutually reinforcing connections are identified when students make concept-based connections rather than subject-specific ones. For example, symmetrical design is a major theme of ancient Egyptian art. Students may apply their knowledge of symmetry to the study of equations in mathematics, the principles of balance in physics, or the creation of a palindrome in music or dance.

Integrating among subjects requires students to use critical thinking skills. Stephen Mark Dobbs, national arts education consultant to the College Board, states that the arts "promote the broad and deep thinking necessary for integrated studiesŠThe arts by virtue of their capacity to embody and share the rich diversity of human experience across time, space and cultures, are prime sources of meaningful themes and curricular centers" for integrated approaches to learning.

A subsequent addendum to the K-12 Curriculum Framework for the Arts will address methods of integration with sample lessons, curricula, student work, and assessment strategies.

What is the purpose of this K-12 Curriculum Framework for the Arts?

The standards that follow do not comprise a curriculum with designated course offerings, teaching methods, or materials. Instead, they provide a vision for the future, outlining high but reachable expectations for student learning at the end-of-grades 4, 8, and 12. The framework provides a balanced, comprehensive, and sequential guide for instruction in the four arts disciplines: Dance, Theatre, Music, and Visual Arts. Each discipline represents a unique combination of ideas, skills, and knowledge that are taught for their intrinsic value.

It is the responsibility of teachers, administrators, and school board members to design educational programs appropriate for their communities. Decisions about curriculum, specific grade-level and course offerings, and instructional methods, activities, and materials remain at the local level. Arts educators must identify and implement methods that enable students to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills. To implement the arts framework, local curriculum planning committees might ask, "Where are we now?" and "Where would we like to be?" District goals and objectives can then be crafted from the framework. Aligning local curriculum with framework standards will require the support of community, students, educators, and the administration.

Arts educators are utilizing computers and other technologies as creative and expressive tools with which to study and create experiences in the arts. This framework encourages schools to provide opportunities for students to master the creative possibilities of technology. The framework embraces the study of traditional art forms while recognizing the need to explore a variety of technologies and their implications for arts education. Currently, schools are using computer-based assessment portfolios, MIDI computer networks, virtual reality for student exhibitions, and creating technical magic on stage with computer-run light and sound boards. Therefore, technology is included as a broad goal in this framework.

How is this framework organized?

The four arts disciplines serve as primary organizers. Each organizing strand of Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts includes three major components: a purpose statement, curriculum standards, and proficiency standards.

• Purpose Statements

  The introductory statements for Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts explain why it is important for students to understand and appreciate each discipline. Within the purpose statements, each arts discipline is described in both theoretical and practical contexts. Each purpose statement illustrates how the arts are part of daily life both in and outside of the classroom. A working knowledge of each discipline will enable students to make connections within and among the arts disciplines and other subjects.

• Curriculum Standards

  Curriculum standards outline the scope of the content recommended for Grades K-12. They are statements of what students should know and be able to do in the arts by the time they have completed secondary school in New Hampshire.

• Proficiency Standards

  Proficiency standards specify the levels of achievement that students are expected to attain at the completion of grades 4, 8, and 12. All students should experience the four arts disciplines in grades K-8. They should have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills identified in the K-8 proficiency standards. Typically, students in grades 9-12 elect to focus on one arts discipline. Therefore, they should be given the opportunity to master proficiency standards from that discipline. Students with a particular interest or talent may choose a higher level of achievement in an arts discipline by pursuing the additional proficiency standards.

Proficiency standards for Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts address the three basic processes common to the arts; creating original works of art, performing new or existing works of art, and responding to the artworks and performances of self or others. These artistic processes provide unifying threads that help art educators organize sequential, standards-based instruction and assessment. Using them requires students to understand and apply skills outlined in this framework.