National Core Arts Standards Opportunity

NCCAS seeking adjudicators to score high school student work

Contact: Cory Wilkerson
Tel: 800-587-6814
Email: projectmanager@seadae.org

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) is issuing an invitation for arts educators interested in serving as adjudicators of the high school student work collected from diverse school settings across the nation as part of the 2015-16 Model Cornerstone Assessment (MCA) Pilot Project. The MCA high school pilot, partially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, is the second phase of the project that began last year with a benchmarking of elementary and middle school student work in the arts disciplines of dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts. As was done in the project’s first phase, adjudicators will score the collected high school student work, with the goal of creating a resource bank of standards-based student work aligned to the 2014 National Core Arts Standards.

Model Cornerstone Assessments tasks at the benchmark grades of 2, 5, 8 and the three high school levels (proficient, accomplished, advanced) were released simultaneously with the Core Arts Standards. They were created by the five arts discipline NCCAS writing teams to serve as examples of the type of evidence needed to show student achievement reflected in targeted performance standards. The benchmark teams will conduct independent reviews of the student work virtually before gathering for a three-day meeting in Reston, Virginia, August 6-9 to determine final benchmark scoring. Five educators from each arts discipline will be selected to serve as benchmarking team members through a rigorous application and interview process that will open April 26th and continue until midnight, May 23, 2016. All travel, room, and board costs for the team members will be covered by NCCAS.  Interested individuals may apply at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HSBenchmarkers.

To access more details about the project please go to the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards wiki at http://nccas.wikispaces.com. The National Core Arts Standards can be found at www.nationalartsstandards.org

Update on National Core Arts Standards Theatre Standards

James Palmarini, Dir. of Educational Policy for the Educational Theatre Association
Thursday May 12, 2016 – Noon to 1:15 CENTRAL

WEBINAR INFORMATION

We first covered this topic back in January 2015. This webinar workshop will begin with an update on the nationwide state adoption/adaptation status of the theatre and other arts standards informed by the 2014 National Core Arts Standards. The presenter will then do short review of the purpose, structure, and web-based environment of the Core Standards, before moving into a detailed presentation on the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards’ (NCCAS) Model Cornerstone Assessment Pilot Project, a two-year initiative designed to identify standards-based student learning outcomes in the arts. The session will conclude with an overview of the relationship of the arts standards to the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeed Act. The session will also include periodic and concluding Q&A opportunities.

By attending this workshop, participants will be able to….

1. Find out where their state stands regarding the alignment of theatre and other arts standards to the National Core Standards.
2. Understand the structure and purpose of the new core standards and their applicability to in-school and after school theatre education programs taught by certified educators and/or teaching artists
3. Gain literacy around the web-based environment of the standards
4. Learn how the Model Cornerstone Assessments Pilot Project is helping to refine the NCCAS assessment model for measuring student learning that will help improvement achievement and validate the pedagogy of classroom educators and teaching artists.
5. Become literate in the basic opportunities for arts education that are embedded in the “well-rounded” education language of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

REGISTRATION

Click: TYA/USA MEMBERS – FREE
Click: NON TYA/USA MEMBERS – $20.00

For nonmembers: after payment, you will be redirected to the webinar registration page. If you are not redirected, CONTACT US, and we will send you the registration link.

For all: We will confirm your membership status and approve your registration, or contact you with any questions. Upon approval, you will receive instructions on how to log-on to the webinar.

Unsure of your membership status? Please CONTACT US. To join or renew, visit our MEMBERSHIP page.

CLICK HERE for further information on our Professional Development Webinars and to suggest topics and guests for future events.

GUEST
James Palmarini is the Director of Educational Policy for the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), and was the founding editor of Teaching Theatre, the association’s journal for theatre educators. James serves on the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) Advisory Board; the Washington D.C.-based Arts Education Working Group; the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) Leadership committee, and the board for the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education.

In 1994 he was an editor for the theatre section of the National Standards for Arts Education. He served as a lead facilitator for the theatre writing team for the 2014 National Core Theatre Standards. During the past four years, James has presented and co-presented several workshops and webinars on the new arts standards, including at an AEP Forum, the Kennedy Center, Americans for the Arts, Southeastern Theatre Conference, and the National Guild for Community Arts. In 2013, he served on two committees for AEP’s 2020 Action Agenda. Currently, he is leading the theatre team of fifteen high school educators who are part of the NCCAS Model Cornerstone Assessment Pilot Project focusing on secondary assessment. He tweets regularly at @edtadvocacy and blogs occasionally at http://schooltheatre.org/advocacy.

NCAS

High school Model Cornerstone Assessment Pilot Project launches

January 20, 2016

Contact: Cory Wilkerson
Tel: 800-587-6814
Email: projectmanager@seadae.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has completed the selection of schools and teachers for the High School Model Cornerstone Assessment Pilot Project. The project is partially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.  Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs), a component of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards, were created at the benchmark grades of 2, 5, 8 and the three high school levels (proficient, accomplished, advanced) to demonstrate the type of standards-based evidence needed to show student achievement. In 2015, NCCAS completed the field testing of the elementary and middle school MCAs, and will be posting benchmarked examples of student work gathered as part of that project on the standards website.

For the high school project, NCCAS received applications from more than 120 schools and teachers to participate in the project focusing on MCAs in dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts. Between 10 to 15 pilot sites were chosen for each discipline. The professional arts service organizations and members of the NCCAS Media Arts leadership committee made the choices based on a careful review of applicants, with the goal of creating a diverse cross section of urban, suburban, and rural schools from across the nation.

Participating educators began professional development training in the Core Arts Standards and the MCAs this month, in order to prepare them to pilot the tasks in their classrooms February through May.  Student work will be collected and benchmarked during the summer for archiving on the standards website.

Individuals and organizations interested in the project can follow the work or obtain more details as it unfolds, including a list of the states participating by geographic region, on the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards wiki at  http://nccas.wikispaces.com.

National Core Arts Standards

Volunteer to contribute

Model Cornerstone Assessments help bring the Standards into focus. National Association for Music Education did initial piloting of these Assessments in the Spring of 2015, and we’re expanding that pilot in the Fall of 2015 and Spring of 2016.

Teachers who pilot test these assessments learn deeply about the Standards and contribute greatly to the field. Request a part in the essential work of piloting assessments by going here.

Teachers in all areas of music are welcome, but we’re particularly looking for teachers in:
8th grade general music
Alternative ensembles
Composition and Theory
Music Technology
Harmonizing Instruments

Volunteer to take part now!

Core Arts Theatre Standards

TYA/USA Professional Development
Special Guest James Palmarini, Director of Educational Policy for the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA)
Wednesday January 14, 2015 Noon to 1:15 CST

This session will present an introduction of the purpose, structure, web-based environment, and state adoption strategies of the new Core Theatre Standards. The presenter will offer an overview of the creation of the standards, the philosophy and framework elements behind it, a tour of the website, and future plans around standards-based professional development, instructional resources, and advocacy. The session will also include periodic and concluding Q&A opportunities.

By attending this workshop, participants will be able to….

1. Understand the structure and purpose of the new core standards and their applicability to in and after school theatre education programs taught by certified educators and/or teaching artists
2. Gain literacy around the web-based environment of the standards
3. Learn how the Model Cornerstone Assessments embedded in the standards can be used to create reliable standards-based measures of student learning in theatre
4. Discover what role they can play to support adoption in their state

REGISTER NOW (Visa/MC):
Click: TYA/USA MEMBERS – $5.75
Click: NON TYA/USA MEMBERS – $15.75

After payment, you will be redirected to the event registration page. If you are not redirected, email us, and we will send you the registration link.

Click here for further information on our Professional Development Webinars and to suggest topics and guests for future events.

Our Guest
James Palmarini is the Director of Educational Policy for the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), a member of the Leadership Team for the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), and executive editor of Teaching Theatre, the association’s journal for theatre educators that he co-founded in 1989. James was awarded EdTA’s Founders Award in 2005, and was recently inducted in the Ohio Educational Theatre Association Hall of Fame.

James has written extensively about arts education, including articles on methodology, standards, assessment, and a wide range of theatre-specific subjects. In 2013, he interviewed assessment expert Jay McTighe in for Teaching Theatre, and wrote articles focusing on the rise of Career and Technical Education (CTE) in theatre education and the new wave of teacher evaluation models and their impact on arts educators. Most recently, he wrote an overview of teacher evaluation strategies for the journal.

As EdTA Director of Educational Policy, James serves on the Arts Education Partnership Advisory Committee; the Washington D.C.-based Arts Education Working Group; and the board of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education. He has led or participated in presentations addressing the new National Core Arts Standards at conferences sponsored by Americans for the Arts; the Kennedy Center; the Arts Education Partnership; and the National Guild for Community Arts Education, among others. He tweets regularly at @edtadvocacy and blogs occasionally at http://schooltheatre.org/advocacy.

NCAS Launch

Monday, October 20

The public launch of the National Core Arts Standards will take place, Monday, October 20, 9:00am. Some of the featured presentations will be from Ben Fols, Songwriter and arts education activist, Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, and David A. Dik, Executive Director of Young Audience Arts for Learning. To attend the livestream please click here www.nationalartsstandards.org/content/launch. If you can not join live, the link will take you to the archive of the stream that you can access as a follow-up.

 

National Core Arts Standards

Released – June 4, 2014

The National Core Arts Standards were publicly released on June 4. In celebration, a webinar was provided that included several guests including our own Director of the Maine Arts Commission. Julie Richard spoke eloquently about the need for those responsible for arts education to work collaboratively with the next steps of the standards.

If you missed the webinar you can access the archive by clicking here and following these directions.       If you did not attend the event as audience, you will need to fill in the brief registration form. If you attended as an audience member, use the password you received when you logged in to the meeting.

Several teacher leaders from the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative reviewed and provided feedback during the development of the standards in the last year. These standards cover not only dance, music, theatre, and visual arts, but also the interdisciplinary field of media arts. The standards are built on the Artistic Process model.

The Conceptual Framework for the standards is available at nccs.wikispaces.com. If you have questions please check the FAQ by clicking here. 

The following blog about the new standards was posted on the Education Week curriculum blog at this link. You can access and download the standards for all five disciplines by clicking here.                  

Opportunities to pilot Model Cornerstone Assessments in your classroom will be announced soon by your professional arts education association (NAEA, NAfME, NDEO, EdTA, etc.).

Thanks to Scott Shuler for providing some of the information for this post. And for those of you who know Scott, after 25 years as the Connecticut Department of Education’s Arts Consultant, he will be retiring on July 1. Maine wishes him well as he continues on his journey committed to quality arts education!

National Core Arts Standards Release

National Core Arts Standards to launch in June 4 webinar

Please note: Only the first 3,000 to register may attend. The link to register is at the bottom of this page.

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) will launch the 2014 National Core Arts Standards in a streaming webinar on Wednesday, June 4, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. EDT. The event will feature interviews with a broad spectrum of arts education providers, including certified educators, teaching artists, administrators, national/state policy makers, and arts education advocates.

The new standards for dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts were created by seventy writers representing NCCAS’s arts education member organizations. More than 6,000 educators, teaching artists, parents, students and state and local focus groups offered input in four national reviews that helped shaped the final standards.

The PreK-12 grade-by-grade standards are intended to guide educators seeking to provide quality arts education for America’s students, define artistic literacy, and support 21st century skills and college and career readiness. The arts standards will be housed in the NCCAS website at www.nationalartsstandards.org. A key feature of the interactive website is the option for teachers and other users to create customized standards handbooks that match their curriculum and students’ learning needs.

All are welcome to join the National Core Arts Standards webinar launch. To participate, register at http://tinyurl.com/lrsajg9. Sign up will be limited to the first 3,000 registrants. Highlights of the webinar will be available on the website at a later date.

Virtual Launch of NCAS

Mark your calendars for the birthday party!

NCAS

National Core Arts Standards Review Opened Feb 14th – Closes Feb 28th

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has scheduled a final public review of the draft PreK-12 arts standards in dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts.  The downloadable excel spreadsheets include eleven overarching anchor standards that cross disciplines along with Pre K – 12 discipline specific performance standards aligned to those eleven anchors. For this review, the spreadsheets do not include the standards’ Understanding by Design format elements, such as EU’s and EQ’s;  however they are included in sample Model Cornerstone Assessments also available for review, and will be a part of the materials available to the public when the standards are launched.  The review will close on  February 28, 2014 so this is the last two days that you may provide feedback. February 28. NCAS now available at http://nccas.wikispaces.com