Music Curriculum
National Core Arts Standards
K - 12 Music Curriculum
What do we teach?
The National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) were developed in 2016 by the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) to reimagine the 1994 National Standards for Arts Education.
Why the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS)?
Based on lifelong goals, the NCAS were designed using understanding by design (UbD) to create standards that focused on "measurable and attainable learning events based on artistic goals" (2016, p.7)
They were developed with full knowledge of current educational trends and are aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
For example, one lifelong goal the standards strive to instill in students during their time in the arts:
"Artistically literate citizens find joy, inspiration, peace, intellectual stimulation, meaning, and other life-enhancing qualities through participation in all of the arts" (2016, p.10)
Standards at a glance
National Core Arts Standards Category Definitions
Creating: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work
Performing: Realizing artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation
Responding: Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning
Connecting: Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context
Process Based Standards
Musical traditions and knowledge can vary over cultures and communities, and each school provides different amounts of curriculum time to the arts; therefore, the NCAS standards have moved away from focusing on specific skills and content knowledge.
Instead, the standards teach students the process of creating, performing, responding, and connecting at every level of musical learning. This allows educators to meet students at whichever level they enter the Arts and allows educators to tailor the skills and content they teach based on contact time and professional judgment.
What does this look like in the classroom?
page-1-video-attachment-1.mp4Create
Grade 4 composition
Music Concepts:
Form (ABBC)
Rhythm (syncopation, sixteenth note, eighth note, quarter note, half note)
page-1-audio-attachment-1.m4aPerform
Grade 4 xylophone melody in C pentatonic
Garageband loops and recording
Respond
Grade 4 reflection response
*Connecting standards are integrated into creating, performing, and responding standards*
How we assess and grade standards @ KIS
Copy of KIS Learning Progression Descriptors & Overview 2022-23.pdfImplementation challenges
While process-based standards allow for more flexibility and freedom to personalize musical skills and content, they can also leave teachers wondering when and what skills & content to teach through the creating, performing, responding, and connecting standards.
Creating a scope & sequence can help guide teachers' lesson planning and support vertical alignment.
Scope & Sequence k-5.pdfWant to learn more? Click here to read how the NCCAS constructed the National Core Arts Standards
References
National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. (2016, July 21). National Core Arts Standards: A conceptual framework for arts learning. Retrieved from https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/sites/default/files/Conceptual%20Framework%2007-21-16.pdf
National Core Art Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/