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CURRICULUM

State standards (EALRs) that include grade level and discipline-specific frameworks lay out what students should know and be able to do in each of the four arts disciplines, establishing the foundation for effective arts instruction in the classroom. But exactly what, when, and how should students in the arts be taught? What is an exemplary curriculum—and where do assessments fit in?

A well-designed curriculum is fundamental to effective teaching and learning in any field. As in other subjects, successful curriculum in the arts provides specific targets and criteria for day-to-day teaching, aligns teaching strategies and assessment with the EALRs, and provides teachers with all the resources and tools they will need for comprehensive, sequential, standards-based instruction. But because the arts are new to many teachers and schools, high quality curriculum in the arts is especially important. Arts curriculum aligned with Washington’s EALRs is most often generated by experts in arts education in collaboration with arts specialists, classroom teachers, or district arts coordinators, or adapted from proven sources. To make a lasting difference, however, arts curriculum must be institutionalized and widely used, so that it is not just the province of one or a few dedicated arts teachers. Successful schools and districts make sure to document, disseminate, and train teachers in their arts curriculum so that all teachers will have a consistent basis for continuing their work with students.

Ideas for Practice

Creating sequential arts curriculum in multiple arts disciplines. Ptarmigan Ridge Elementary School in Orting has organized and aligned arts curricula from reliable state and national sources supported by arts education professionals and teaching artists. The adopted curricula in visual arts and dance give teachers a sequential roadmap that includes all the necessary components for day-to-day teaching.

Arts-infused curricula. By including EALRs for the arts in Washington’s education standards, the state has defined the arts as a core discipline with its own value. But some schools have also found ways to integrate arts curricula with other subjects, creating synergy across disciplines.

One approach to arts integration, sometimes known as “arts infusion” or “concept-based integration,” teaches arts by studying concepts that are shared among the arts and other disciplines. A lesson may explore the idea of symmetry, for example, as it is expressed in math and in visual art, or the idea of character as it is expressed in literature and in theatre performance. Such methods can help children with different learning styles to engage more deeply with important concepts.

Integrated arts curricula. Study of the arts also guides students to understand that the arts shape and reflect history and culture. At the John Stanford International School in Seattle, K-3 students participated in a short and simple but culturally authentic schoolwide project in which they made Japanese tea bowls and presented them in a culminating event, a Japanese tea ceremony in a simulated Japanese tea house. The children learned arts vocabulary as well as Japanese vocabulary, and learned about the cultural significance of ceremonial art objects. As the school studies different traditions of the world each year, it continues to link the study of ceramic arts to ceramic traditions of other cultures.

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