VAPA Guidelines

VAPA SMC
Item 3.A.2. Attachment 2
September 27–28, 2017

Draft Guidelines for the Revision of the Visual and Performing Arts Standards for California Public Schools, Prekindergarten through Grade Twelve

Per California Education Code (EC) Section 60605.13, on or before January 31, 2019, “The Superintendent, in consultation with the Instructional Quality Commission, shall recommend to the state board revisions to the visual and performing arts content standards in the subjects of dance, theater, music, and visual arts adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605.1, and shall recommend visual and performing arts standards in the subject of media arts.” EC Section 60605.13 further specifies that the National Core Arts Standards “shall serve as the basis for deliberations.” The following guidelines are based on testimony received at three focus groups and are intended to direct the work of the Visual and Performing Arts Standards Advisory Committee (VAPA SAC) who shall assist in developing these recommendations.

In general, the revised Visual and Performing Arts Standards for California Public Schools, Prekindergarten through Grade Twelve (VAPA Standards) shall:

1. Be based on the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) , including
   
   
   1. the way they are organized around the five artistic disciplines of dance, media arts, music, theater and visual arts;
      
      
   2. the numbering system for identifying the standards as modeled in the NCAS.
      
      
2. Incorporate the artistic processes (creating, performing/producing/presenting, responding, and connecting) utilized in the NCAS into each of the artistic disciplines and ensure that creating, performing, and responding are embedded throughout.
   
   
3. Follow the principles of Universal Design for Learning, with inclusion for students with disabilities, and have them woven throughout (for reference, see Students with Disabilities and the Core Arts Standards: Guiding Principles for Teachers for Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts (PDF).
   
   
4. Support the student’s art experience (and the skills they learn) to be enjoyable and also transferable to personal, scholarly, and professional endeavors.
   
   
5. Reflect the point of view of students rather than the point of view of the teacher—that the student is demonstrating what the standards call for within each discipline.
   
   
6. Be written in language that is inclusive and supportive of multiple users including specialists and generalists, such as multiple subject teachers in elementary grade levels.

In their deliberations, the VAPA SAC shall consider the following:

7. Adopting or modifying of the anchor standards as outlined in the NCAS
   
   
8. The guidance provided in the National Core Arts Standards: A Conceptual Framework for Arts Learning (PDF) on how Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions inform and organize the NCAS and for understanding what students are asked to do within the standards
   
   
9. Dividing the standards grade levels into the categories of Prekindergarten and Kindergarten, grades 1–8, and high school, with high school organized by levels of achievement that a high school student may attain such as proficient, accomplished, advanced, etc.
   
   
10. Ways the VAPA Standards can reflect the diverse cultural and ecological realities of California and how the arts can connect students and teachers with the realities that students experience
    
    
11. Including up to 15% of current VAPA Standards, if needed, to reflect any California-specific goals for student learning in the arts
    
    
12. Structural elements that demonstrate how Media Arts standards may support or be woven throughout the other arts disciplines
    
    
13. How the standards can support interdisciplinary connections to other content areas
    
    
14. The open-endedness of the student performance standards as an opportunity to engage in project-based and 21st century learning (including the “4Cs” of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication) to build soft skills