INTRODUCTION

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS STANDARDS

Catalina Foothills School District

June 2017
 Introduction to the Visual and Performing Arts Standards

The Catalina Foothills School District (CFSD) has a long-standing commitment to providing students with a comprehensive arts education. The adoption of the Visual
and Performing Arts standards and programs signify CFSD’s understanding that the Arts are an essential part of a total program of study, and also contribute to
raising overall student achievement. Artistically literate graduates are well-equipped with the creativity, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and
collaborative skills necessary to live rich, meaningful lives.

The CFSD Visual and Performing Arts standards build upon the philosophy and goals of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) and the National Association
for Music Education (NAfME) standards. The Arizona Academic Standards in the Arts (2015) are also referenced and used in the collective work. The standards
provide a structure within which educators can provide all students with key arts experiences. Through creative practices (imagine, investigate, construct, reflect),
these experiences help students to understand what it means to be artistically literate, and how that literacy prepares them for a lifetime of artistic pleasure and
appreciation.

Artistic Literacy
The CFSD Academic Standards in the Visual and Performing Arts embrace the idea of artistic literacy – the ability of students to create art, perform and present art,
respond to or critique art, and connect art to their lives and the world around them. Developing artistic literacy in our students is the overarching goal of arts learning
and programming in CFSD.

The following definition of artistic literacy from the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (2014) guides the work:

ARTISTIC LITERACY
Artistic literacy is the knowledge and understanding required to participate authentically in the arts. Fluency in
the language(s) of the arts is the ability to create, perform/produce/present, respond, and connect through
symbolic and metaphoric forms that are unique to the arts. It is embodied in specific philosophical foundations
and lifelong goals that enable an artistically literate person to transfer arts knowledge, skills, and capacities to
other subjects, settings, and contexts.

The CFSD Conceptual Framework for Arts Learning, found on the next page, communicates the purpose and relationship of the major elements of the new arts
standards: Philosophical Foundations/Lifelong Goals, Artistic Processes, Anchor Standards, Performance Standards, Process Components, Understandings,
Essential Questions, and Deep Learning Proficiencies. All of these elements are displayed visually to illustrate their role in the development of knowledge and skills
for the arts disciplines studied, as well as their overarching function of cultivating the goal of artistic literacy.

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 1

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 2
Philosophical Foundations and Lifelong Goals
The philosophical foundations and lifelong goals establish the basis for the new standards and illustrate artistic literacy by expressing the overarching common values
and expectations for learning in arts education across the arts disciplines.

Philosophical Foundation Lifelong Goals

The Arts as Communication
In today’s multimedia society, the arts are the media, and therefore provide Artistically literate citizens use a variety of artistic media, symbols and metaphors
powerful and essential means of communication. The arts provide unique symbol to independently create and perform work that expresses and communicates
systems and metaphors that convey and inform life experience (i.e., the arts are their own ideas, and are able to respond by analyzing and interpreting the artistic
ways of knowing). communications of others.
The Arts as Creative Personal Realization
Participation in each of the arts as creators, performers, and audience members Artistically literate citizens find at least one arts discipline in which they develop
enables individuals to discover and develop their own creative capacity, thereby sufficient competence to continue active involvement in creating, performing,
providing a source of lifelong satisfaction. and responding to art as an adult.
The Arts as Culture, History, and Connectors
Throughout history the arts have provided essential means for individuals and Artistically literate citizens know and understand artwork from varied historical
communities to express their ideas, experiences, feelings, and deepest beliefs. periods and cultures, and actively seek and appreciate diverse forms and genres
Each discipline shares common goals, but approaches them through distinct of artwork of enduring quality/significance. They also seek to understand
media and techniques. Understanding artwork provides insights into individuals’ relationships among the arts, and cultivate habits of searching for and identifying
own and others’ cultures and societies, while also providing opportunities to patterns and relationships between the arts and other knowledge.
access, express, and integrate meaning across a variety of content areas.
Arts as Means to Wellbeing
Participation in the arts as creators, performers, and audience members Artistically literate citizens find joy, inspiration, peace, intellectual stimulation,
(responders) enhances mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. meaning, and other life-enhancing qualities through participation in all of the arts.
The Arts as Community Engagement
The arts provide means for individuals to collaborate and connect with others in Artistically literate citizens seek artistic experience and support the arts in their
an enjoyable inclusive environment as they create, prepare, and share artwork local, state, national, and global communities.
that bring communities together.

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 3

 Visual and Performing Arts Core Belief Statements

The Catalina Foothills School District’s Visual and Performing Arts program is organized around core beliefs that guide our actions with students and colleagues. Our
commitment to students is to provide them with an exemplary student-centered arts education that enables them to participate actively as consumers and makers of
the arts in the global community.

We believe. . .

• A quality visual and performing arts education is an essential part of a comprehensive academic program for all students.
• The arts foster lifelong learning skills such as creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and problem solving.
• Artistic literacy is the knowledge and understanding required to participate authentically in the arts.
• The arts educate, communicate, and inspire a deeper understanding of self, community, and cultures around the world.
• Education and engagement in the arts, delivered by highly skilled and qualified arts specialists, ensures the kind of rigor in arts study that leads to artistic
literacy and independence.
• Creating and communicating through the arts is a uniquely human experience that resonates across cultures.
• Learning experiences in the arts includes a progressive development of skills, incorporating the latest research, practices, and technology.
• Artistic literacy cultivates connections among and between the arts and other disciplines.
• A successful arts program engages the community as an active partner in promoting and experiencing the arts.

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. – Degas

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything. – Plato

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 4

Organization of the Standards
The organization of the standards reflects the importance of separate arts disciplines (e.g., music, theatre, visual arts, media arts) as one common body of knowledge
and skills, while still pointing to the unique requirements of individual disciplines. An essential goal of the standards is that all students have regular, sequential arts
instruction throughout their K-12 education.

Artistic Processes
The CFSD visual and performing arts standards are arranged under four actions or skill sets called artistic processes. They are Creating, Performing / Presenting /
Producing, Responding, and Connecting. They are designed to answer the question, “What do artists do?” While the artistic processes are consistent across all arts
disciplines, individual courses or grade levels will determine focus areas. For example, students in an ensemble course will spend more time in Performing, while
students in a Composition and Theory course will experience more learning in the Creating and Responding processes.
• Creating involves conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work in the arts disciplines, or it may involve improvising in music or theatre.

• Performing/Presenting/Producing is a multi-faceted process. Performing in music and theatre is the realization of artistic ideas and work through
interpretation and presentation. Presenting in visual arts is the interpreting and sharing of artistic work. Producing in media arts is the realization and
presenting of artistic ideas and work.

• Responding to the arts involves understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning.

• Connecting in the arts involves relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external content.

Anchor Standards
Each of the four artistic processes branches into anchor standards. The anchor standards describe the general knowledge and skills or “big ideas” that are
embodied within each artistic process. The anchor standards serve as the tangible educational expression of artistic literacy. As with the artistic processes, the
anchor standards are shared across the arts disciplines. Each anchor standard is further defined by one or more performance standards, which are discipline-specific
and change with each grade level (K-8) and each level in high school.

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 5

Performance Standards
For each grade level or course, performance standards are specified for each of the anchor standards and artistic processes. The performance standards describe
student learning in each of the specific arts disciplines. In the visual arts, for example, they are grade-by-grade articulations of student achievement at grades K-8.
Because specialization in the performing arts can begin at the middle school, the music ensemble standards are presented at two levels of proficiency: novice and
intermediate. The high school standards for both the visual and performing arts are presented at three levels of proficiency: proficient, accomplished, and advanced.

Descriptors for Performance Achievement Levels

Novice* Intermediate* Proficient Accomplished Advanced
A level of achievement attainable A level of achievement attainable A level of achievement attainable A level of achievement attainable A level and scope of achievement
by most students in the first year(s) by most students who complete 2- by most students who complete a by most students who complete a that significantly exceeds the
of study. 4 years of study. high school level course in the arts rigorous sequence of high-school Accomplished Level. Achievement
(or equivalent) beyond the level courses (or equivalent) at this level is indisputably rigorous
foundation of PreK-8 instruction. beyond the Proficient level. and substantially expands
students’ knowledge, skills, and
understandings beyond the
expectations articulated for
Accomplished achievement.
Students at the Novice level have Students at the Intermediate level Students at the Proficient level Students at the Accomplished Students at the Advanced level
started specialization in an art form are continuing study in a chosen have developed the foundational level are, with minimal assistance, independently identify challenging
of their choice. They are beginning specialized art form. Their technical and expressive skills and able to identify or solve arts arts problems based on their
to develop the basic artistic development continues in artistic understandings in an art form problems based on their interests interests or for specific purposes,
understanding and technique to understanding and technical and necessary to solve assigned or for a particular purpose; conduct and bring creativity and insight to
create, perform, and respond expressive skills, enabling the problems or prepare assigned research to inform artistic finding artistic solutions. They are
according to their skill level. student to begin to independently repertoire for presentation; make decisions; and create and refine adept at using at least one art form
Students explore means of artistic and collaboratively create, perform, appropriate choices with some arts products, performances, or as an effective avenue for
expression. They may participate and respond at their given skill support; and may be prepared for presentations that demonstrate personal communication,
in presentation and performance level. Their presentation and active engagement in their technical proficiency, personal demonstrating a higher level of
opportunities in and out of school. performance opportunities in and community. They understand the communication and expression. technical and expressive
Their curiosity in the art form out of school increase. Through art form to be an important form of They use the art form for personal proficiency characteristic of honors
begins their journey toward continued study of their art form, personal realization and wellbeing, realization and wellbeing, and or college level work. They exploit
personal realization and wellbeing. they continue their journey toward and make connections between have the necessary skills for and their personal strengths and apply
personal realization and wellbeing. the art form, history, culture and interest in participation in arts strategies to overcome personal
other learning. activity beyond the school challenges as arts learners. They
environment. are capable of taking a leadership
role in arts activity within and
beyond the school environment.

*Used in Music only

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 6

Process Components
Process components are the actions artists carry out as they complete each artistic process (e.g., Imagine, Plan and Make, Rehearse, Evaluate and Refine). The
students’ ability to carry out these operational verbs empowers them to work through the artistic process independently. The process components serve as the action
verbs that build toward the artistic processes.

Understandings and Essential Questions

The standards have been written using understandings and essential questions to help both teachers and students organize the information, skills, and experiences
within the artistic processes. Understandings and essential questions focus on what are often called “big ideas,” which have a lasting value beyond the classroom and
have been shown to facilitate greater transfer in learning. Each arts discipline has its own set of understandings and essential questions; they differ for each anchor
standard, but are the same across levels.

Deep Learning Proficiencies

While each of the arts disciplines has its own unique set of knowledge, skills, and processes, they share common characteristics that makes arts education powerful
preparation for college and career pathways, and a fulfilling life (P21: Partnership for 21st Century Learning). The arts standards focus on the deep learning
proficiencies of Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Communication, and Collaboration.
• Creativity and Innovation are essential for the development of knowledge and skills in arts education. The fundamental creative practices of imagination,
investigation, construction, and reflection, which are essential in the arts but equally important for science and mathematics learning, are cognitive
processes by which students not only learn within an individual discipline but also transfer their knowledge, skill, and habits to other contexts and settings.
Creative practices are essential for teaching and learning the arts, and are therefore included in the standards documents to help arts teachers identify
methods to implement the arts standards. The inclusion of creative practices in instruction and the recognition that creativity is an integral tool for learning,
positions Creativity and Innovation as an inherent aspect of teaching and learning in the arts.
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving is the vehicle through which students learn the higher-order thinking skills necessary to engage in the artistic
processes and, therefore, begin to achieve artistic literacy.
• Communication lies at the heart of the arts. In studying the arts, students develop a vast repertoire of skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal processing,
listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing and evaluating meaning.
• Collaboration is also an inherent part of arts instruction, whether the collaboration includes all of the students in a performing cast or ensemble, or the
partnership between a single artist and his or her peers and audience or in a shared visual arts project that incorporates the ideas and techniques of
multiple student artists.
Collectively, the framework for the CFSD academic standards in the arts is a cohesive and aligned system that allows for commonality across and specificity within
each arts discipline, establishing the appropriate level of breadth and depth required for students to develop artistic literacy. We believe these standards provide a
framework for quality arts education programs for students.

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 7

 COMMON ANCHOR STANDARDS
ANCHOR ARTISTIC
THEATRE – VISUAL ARTS – MEDIA ARTS MUSIC
STANDARD PROCESS
#1 Creating Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. Generate musical ideas for various purposes and contexts.

#2 Creating Organize and develop artistic ideas and work. Select and develop musical ideas for defined purposes and contexts.

#3 Creating Refine and complete artistic work • Evaluate and refine selected musical ideas to create musical work
that meets appropriate criteria
• Share creative musical work that conveys intent, demonstrates
craftsmanship, and exhibits originality.

#4 Performing Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for • Select varied musical works to present based on interest, knowledge,
presentation. technical skill, and context.
Presenting • Analyze the structure and context of varied musical works and their
implications for performance.
Producing
• Develop personal interpretations that consider creators’ intent.
Performing
#5 Develop and refine artistic work for presentation. Evaluate and refine personal and ensemble performances, individually
Presenting or in collaboration with others.
Producing
#6 Performing Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic Perform expressively, with appropriate interpretation and technical
work. accuracy, and in a manner appropriate to the audience and context.
Presenting
Producing

#7 Responding Perceive and analyze artistic work. • Choose music appropriate for specific purposes and contexts.
• Analyze how the structure and context of varied musical works inform
the response.
#8 Responding Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work. Support an interpretation of a musical work that reflects the creator’s /
performer’s expressive intent.
#9 Responding Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work. Support personal evaluation of musical works and performance(s)
based on analysis, interpretation, and established criteria.
#10 Connecting Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make
experiences to make art. music.
#11 Connecting Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural Relate musical ideas and works with varied context to deepen
and historical context to deepen understanding. understanding.

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 8

 RESOURCES

Academic Standards for the Arts (2015). Arizona Department of Education.

http://www.azed.gov/artseducation/

American String Teachers Association.

https://www.astastrings.org

National Association for Music Education.

www.nafme.org

National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (2015).

www.nationalartstandards.org

Odegaard, Denese. President, National Association for Music Education (2017).

State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education.

seadae.org

Arts K-12 Learning Standards (2017). State of Washington, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay (2005). Understanding by Design. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (2nd ed.).

2017 – CFSD; K-12 V&P Arts Intro 9