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NEW YORK STATE LEARNING STANDARDS FOR THE ARTS
Current state guidelines require that arts in education programs address these standards.

STANDARD 1: CREATING, PERFORMING, AND PARTICIPATING IN THE ARTS

Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performances in the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts.

Students will improvise, compose, and perform music, dance, and theatre pieces and will create visual art works. When students express their artistic ideas, they share with others their creations in a specific medium using the techniques of that discipline. Expression, technique, and sharing are the heart of the arts and arts education.

STANDARD 2: KNOWING AND USING ARTS MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Students will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources available for participation in the arts in various roles.

To create and perform in the arts, people must convert ideas to sounds, images, or actions in different media. They must, therefore, know about the basic properties of the various mediums (such as pitch and duration in music or line and color in the visual arts), and how they work together in a performance or creation (such as harmonious movement in dance or tone of voice and gesture in theatre).

STANDARD 3: RESPONDING TO AND ANALYZING WORKS OF ART

Students will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.

Expressing and sharing one's understanding and evaluations of artistic creations or performances is an important part of education in the arts. By understanding the connection between our responses to and preferences about art works on the one hand and the conditions that caused them, we gain an understanding of the arts and how to analyze and interpret them. Arts education programs encourage and guide students in this critical process.

STANDARD 4: UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURAL DIMENSIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ARTS

Students will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and present society.

Students should learn to connect the various art objects and performances with the people who created them and with the cultures that shaped the artists and their expressions. An arts education program will engage students in making the connections between the art works and the cultures from which they arise.

Learning Standards For The Arts, New York State Education Department