In the work of the authors with states over the years, they have observed that most follow a similar process when they develop policies or guidelines to support statewide implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL), such as establishing learning goals or standards for student social and emotional competencies, or providing guidance to…

The Fine Arts--Music, Dance, Theater Arts, Visual Arts--Standards of Learning are part of Virginia's efforts to provide challenging educational programs in the public schools. Knowledge and skills that students acquire through Fine Arts instruction include the ability to think critically, solve problems creatively, make informed judgments, work…

These Colorado state music content standards are based on the idea that music education benefits students by developing them fully and gradually building music literacy while cultivating intuition, reasoning, imagination, and dexterity into unique forms of expression and communication. The guide suggests that standards provide a substantive…

Quality music education in schools integrates fundamental musical activities and presents them in a sequential, pedagogically sound curriculum. As identified in the 1997 National Assessment for Educational Progress in music, the processes of creating, performing, and responding to music are interwoven throughout a balanced and complete music…

This document outlines the performance standards for dance in North Dakota public schools, grades K-12. Four levels of performance are provided for each benchmark by North Dakota educators for K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 grade levels. Level 4 describes advanced proficiency; Level 3, proficiency; Level 2, partial proficiency; and Level 1, novice. Each grade…

Dance should be seen as an authentic avenue for allowing students to learn kinesthetically by using movement that is essential to brain development. Ideally students would be exposed to dance forms and patterns in other art forms like music and drama as well as units within physical education classes. These North Dakota standards may be taught…

The goal of these Colorado state economics content standards is for students, by the time they graduate from high school, to understand economics well enough to make good judgments about personal economic questions and about economic policy in a complex and changing world. Students need an understanding of basic economic concepts to become…

As the educational community works together to improve academic achievement, the importance of character traits such as honesty, trustworthiness, self discipline, kindness, empathy, respect, responsibility, and courage must not be neglected. This guide has been designed to help educators and families in Massachusetts link character development and…

These Colorado state civics content standards summarize the knowledge and skills that are the basis of responsible citizenship whether it is taught in history, geography, or other social studies courses. The guide points out that civics should be a central concern from kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is through systematic instruction in…

This Colorado state visual arts content standards guide is based on the idea that visual arts education benefits the student because it cultivates the whole person, gradually building many kinds of literacy while developing intuition, reasoning, imagination, and dexterity into unique forms of expression and communication. Students develop an…

Developing standards of the heart means becoming a caring, contributing, productive, and responsible member of society. It includes being successful in school; making responsible decisions; caring about others; contributing to society; developing social and personal skills, such as problem solving, accepting various perspectives, and setting and…

Educating students about character development and responsibility can and should be an integral part of the academic curriculum. This collection contains units of study that were written to exemplify some of the many ways that these themes might be taught in preK-12 Massachusetts classrooms. Using the standards of the Massachusetts Curriculum…

Arts cultivate the whole child, building many kinds of literacy while developing intuition, reasoning, creativity, imagination, and dexterity into diverse forms of expression and communication. The arts enable students to make decisions and seek multiple solutions. They advance higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.…

Social studies provides coordinated, systematic study of such disciplines as economics, history, geography, government, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and elements of the humanities. It develops the knowledge, skills, and processes necessary to understand historical and present day connections among diverse individuals and groups. A study of…

The Illinois Learning Standards are state content standards that describe what students should know and be able to achieve in grades K-12. The challenge for the 2000-2001 school year was to produce performance standards that would indicate how well students should perform to meet the state standards. The performance standards describe how well…