The papers gathered in this volume were presented at the 1996 meeting of the American Educational Research Association, mostly at programs of the Arts and Learning Special Interest Group. Papers in the volume focus on research in the arts in the areas of profiles of learning and assessment (section 1), community-based art education (section 2), and semiotics and arts education (section 3). Following a preface/introduction, section 1 papers are: "Primary, Elementary, and Secondary Art Students' Cognitive Functioning: A Norm-Reference Pilot Study" (C. Stavropoulos); "Aesthetic Orientation of Academic Honors Students: Aspects of a Three Year Longitudinal Evaluation Study" (R. M. Diket); "Incorporating Art Criticism into the Studio Curriculum: Assessing Understandings" (G. Short); and "Deepening Art Understandings through Supplemental Use of Interactive Multimedia" (N. Cason). Section 2 papers are: "ArtWORKS: School-to-Work Transitions through the Arts" (J. D. Betts); "Success in Education: Creating a Community of Learners through the Arts" (J. S. Bray; P. Pinciotti); and "The Effects of Special Training and Field Experiences upon Preservice Teachers' Level of Comfort with Multicultural Music Teaching Situations" (N. Barry). Section 3 papers are: "Where Is the Fit for Art Education Research in Semiotics?" (R. M. Diket); "Snapshots of Happy Childhood" (P. Duncum); "Aesthetics and Proxemics: Semiotic Understanding of Personal Space" (K. Grauer); "It's about Time We Noticed Time" (R. Irwin); "Making Collages, Reading Cultures: A Place between Phenomenology and Structuralism" (C. S. Jeffers); "Young Children, Semiotics, and Art Education" (S. Myers); "Reflecting on Sign Systems in Postmodern Visual Culture" (M. Koos; D. Smith-Shank); "The Semiotic Analysis of 'The AIDS Timeline'" (M. Wyrick); and "Conclusion: Semiotic Activism" (D. Smith-Shank). (BT)