Visual and Performing Arts Standards (California) VAPA 

 

The Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools, Prekindergarten Through Grade Twelve, repre­sents a strong consensus on the skills, knowl­edge, and abilities in dance, music, theatre,and the visual arts that all students should be able to master at specific grade levels, pre­kindergarten through grade twelve, in Cali­fornia public schools.

Dance

Music 

Theatre 

Visual Arts

 

Each discipline and each grade follows a format  of five inter-related thematic standards.

 

1.0 ARTISTIC PERCEPTION

Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills Unique to the Art Form

 

2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Art Form

 

3.0 HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
Understanding the Historical Contributions and Cultural Dimensions of the Art Form 

 

4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING
Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works of Art

 

5.0 CONNECTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, APPLICATIONS
Connecting and Applying What Is Learned in the Art Form to Learning in Other Art Forms and Subject Areas and to Careers

 

Guiding Principles of the Arts Content Standards

Essential guiding principles for arts educa­tion programs are contained in the Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, and are reflected throughout these content standards. First, the arts are core subjects, each containing a distinct body of knowledge and skills. Academic rigor is a basic charac­teristic of a comprehensive education in the arts, including the following:

• Learning through active practice, rehearsal, and creation or performance of
works in the arts

• Reading about the arts and artists

• Researching, writing, and communicating
about the arts

• Reflecting on the arts in thoughtful essayor journal writing on one’s observations,
feelings, and ideas about the arts

• Participating in arts criticism on the basis of observation, knowledge, and criteria

 

Another important goal of the standards is to help students make connections between concepts in all of the arts and across subject areas. The fifth strand in these standards re­quires the student to connect and apply what is learned in the arts to other art forms and subject areas and to careers.

The arts standards respect the multiplicity of cultures represented in California schools. They allow students to experience the arts from the perspectives of American culture and worldwide ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups.