EDU

543 VAPA Frameworks Reading Assignments

Use this table to complete your reading assignments. Work with a group of 3-5 colleagues and divide the chapters 1-7.
The rest each person must do. Then share the work and each person will compile your own set of notes.

Chapter 1
Chapter 1: 10 Guiding What is the content of each principle? Briefly explain.
Principles of the VAPA
Framework (p. 2)
List each principle in
brief terms.
1: Support of Section 51210 specifies that the required adopted course of study used by schools for
Education Code grades one through six must include the visual and performing arts. Section 51220
sections 51210 and specifies the same requirement for grades seven through twelve. As with all other
51220 requiring subject areas except physical education, the Education Code does not state the number
instruction in the arts. of minutes of instruction required, although it does require schools to provide
instruction in the arts for all students.
2. Use of the visual and Those standards serve as curriculum guideposts for teachers and provide clear-cut
performing arts curriculum goals for all learners. (Note: The Western Associa tion of Schools and Colleges
content standards also looks for standards-based courses - during its accreditation process.) Curriculum
adopted by the State based on the content standards requires active learning through the study, practice,
Board of Education as creation, or performance of works of art. It also requires reading about the arts and
the basis of artists; researching the arts from the past and present; writing about the arts and artists
curriculum. to reflect on one’s own observations, experiences, and ideas about the arts; and
participating in arts criticism based on reliable information and clear criteria
3. Definition of a Students in a comprehensive program are expected to master the standards of an arts
balanced, discipline, which are grouped under the following standards:
comprehensive arts a) Artistic perception
program as one in b) Creative expression
which the arts are c) Historical and cultural context
studied as discrete d) Aesthetic valuing
disciplines related to e) Connections, relationships, and applications.
each other and, when
appropriate, to other
subject areas in the
curriculum.
4. Promotion of That alignment will prepare students to meet the new visual and performing arts
alignment of requirement for freshman admission to the University of California Chapter 1 Guiding
standards-based Principles of the Framework 4 Chapter 1 Guiding Principles of the Framework and the
curriculum, California State University (see Appendix B). It will also require that teachers be prepared
assessment, and through preservice and in-service professional development programs to teach a
instruction throughout standards-based curriculum in the arts.
the grades at the
school and school
district levels to
provide a
comprehensive,
coherent structure for
visual and performing
arts teaching and
learning.
5 . View of assessment The assessment of student work in the arts helps students learn more about what they
of student work as know and can do, provides teachers with information for improving curriculum and
essential to a instruction, and gives school districts the data required for ensuring accountability.
standards-based Performance assessments, such as those involving portfolios, projects, exhibitions, and
program in the arts. reflections, are inherent in the arts and in the artistic process.
6. Expansion of an In the past 200 years, technological processes have provided many new ways of making,
emphasis on using new recording, and delivering the arts, allowing a variety of systems to document, create, and
media and electronic teach dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. This framework uses the term new
technology in the arts. media and electronic technology to reach back over the past 200 years to photography
and film and includes the most recent developments in computer technology and
electronic, audio, and digital media.
7. Inclusion of all At each school level arts instruction should provide avenues in which each student can
learners in the work at a personalized pace to learn and develop self-expression and self-confidence.
classroom. Curriculum and instruction may need to be modified or adapted to encourage the
successful participation of students with a variety of disabilities and those who excel or
have a special interest in the arts.
8. A broad view of Students experience the five component strands in the arts content standards from the
culture. perspective of American culture and of worldwide ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural
groups. Respect for the multiplicity of cultures pervades the framework and the content
standards.
9. Recognition of the Arts education provides direct training for jobs in the flourishing arts industry in
role the arts play in California. (See examples of careers in the visual and performing arts in Appendix C.)
preparing students for According to information on workforce 5 development related to arts education,
careers and full “Creative industries are key to the economy of California and a source of future
participation in employment for up to one in five California students.” 1 1 An Arts Education Research
society. Compendium. Sacramento: California Arts Council, 2001, p. 6. Further, education in the
arts prepares students for work in any field. The National Governors Association (NGA)
states that “programs incorporating the arts have proven to be educational,
developmentally rich, and cost-effective ways to provide students with the skills they
need to be productive participants in today’s economy.” It also expresses the conviction
that the arts are one tool that states can use to enhance workforce readiness for
students in both general and at-risk populations.
10. Usefulness to The Visual and Performing Arts Framework is a tool for teachers and a guide for
teachers, arts publishers and those who develop educational materials. It is also useful to those
professionals, library planning arts programs as well as to staff developers, artists who teach in the schools,
media teachers, principals, district and county leaders of curriculum and instruction, those who provide
administrators, the arts in the community, college and university arts teachers and educators, parents,
parents, and community members, and business and industry leaders.
supporters of the arts.

Chapter 2:
Planning/administering Explain key points.
VAPA
Planning: Much of the success of educational programs hinges on how well counties,
school districts, and schools collaborate, how much the parents are involved, and to
what extent colleges, universities, and communities participate in designing and
implementing the programs. All students benefit when the school district governing
board, district administrators, school staff members, parents, and the community
together acknowledge the arts as basic in education, value the arts, and consider each
 arts discipline in planning for facilities, resources, professional development, and
assessment. Establishing arts education programs in a school or school district requires
examining existing site or district programs. In doing so, school or district administrators
may want to consider using an assessment tool, such as the Arts Education Program
Toolkit. The following areas should be considered by school or district administrators
when examining a school or district program: Standards-based curriculum; Instruction
and methodology; Student assessment; Professional development for those
implementing the arts education program; Qualified teachers, personnel, and program
administration; Partnerships and collaborations; Budgetary needs; Facilities, logistics,
and necessary resources; Program evaluation; and Time and timing.

Administering: District-level administrators and staff, from superintendents to visual and
performing arts coordinators and lead teachers, are key participants in implementing
district policies for arts education programs. The first steps to be taken are to complete a
self-study of the current arts education programs; gain the endorsement of a long-range
plan by district, school, and community stakeholders; and have the plan adopted by the
school district governing board. The long-range plan should include the following
elements: • Allocating personnel and instructional resources, including appropriate
materials, equipment, and facilities • Ensuring that the district has a standards-based
arts curriculum for kindergarten through grade eight and high school • Developing
collaboration to support the program with school district, community, state, and national
resources • Securing funding and grants for the arts education program within and
outside the district.
Conducting arts Programs should include performing and experiencing the arts as well as talking, reading,
education in and writing about them. The delivery of programs to help students achieve the arts
Elementary Schools content standards may involve the collaboration of credentialed arts specialists,
classroom teachers, professional artists, and other community resource persons to
support standards-based arts experiences. Teachers, knowledgeable about the artistic
and aesthetic development of their students, should respect the students’ self-
expressions. They should include activities in the arts that relate to the interests of the
students, such as artwork and performances initiated, designed, and completed by the
students, and should balance student-initiated and teacher-directed activities. In
addition, by having students read literature about the arts and artists that includes
stories, biographies, and histories of dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts, the
teacher helps the students understand the connections between the creative work they
do and that done by others.
Partnering with library The school library should provide a variety of resources for all students to help them talk,
staff. read, and write about the arts. Such materials provide students with hands-on
experiences and background for artistic development and expression. In addition, plays,
monologues, sheet music, art production software, specialized magazines, and online
resources help middle and high school students to refine their knowledge and skills in
the arts. Because the school library is used by all students and staff and is often open to
parents and the community, it provides an effective location for a variety of activities
related to the arts. It can be a prime location for rotating displays of student artwork,
often including ceramics, photography, and digital art projects. Further, puppet plays,
skits, and storytelling that are a regular part of the school library program can be
presented as a natural link to the dramatic arts.
Evaluating Arts ed. A structured, ongoing evaluation of the visual and performing arts education program
programs and implementation plan should provide a general profile of what has been
accomplished, what is still needed, and what would revitalize the program. An ongoing
arts education committee can be effective in monitoring the implementation process
and keeping the school board, the district superintendent, the school staff, and the
community updated on progress. A preliminary self-evaluation instrument may include
 questions designed to collect baseline data for comparing program results later. Such
questions may include asking why the program has been effective and successful, what
the contributing factors have been, which resources have been particularly effective, and
what has been left undone. In the revision and expansion of the arts education program
and implementation plan, focus should be placed on what financial and human resources
are 17 available to expand a program, what changes have occurred in the student
demographics in the school or district that require program changes, and what kind of
professional staff development is needed.
Providing Access for all The use of a variety of teaching strategies (for example, separating students individually,
students in pairs, in small groups, and in large groups) provides opportunities for everyone to
succeed. All students should be encouraged to participate in dance, music, theatre, and
the visual arts as performers and as members of the audience. Arts instruction should be
modified to encourage the successful participation of students with disabilities. The
advent of theatre for the deaf, wheelchair dance, museum tours for the visually
impaired, and access by touch to musical sounds makes the arts more accessible. Special
education staff can collaborate with teachers to plan, suggest, and recommend
modifications.
Application of media The development of a solid foundation in an arts discipline brings depth to the mixing of
and technology technology and art so that students can be bold and innovative in discovering
themselves and the world around them. As equipment becomes more accessible,
students have the opportunity to use technology to enhance their artistic skills and
create more professional productions and performances. They can use technology to
produce animation, analyze works of art, create graphic designs, design sets, develop
choreography, computerize stage lighting and scenery, and compose, edit, mix, practice,
and sequence music

Chapter 3 VAPA Content
Select ONE of the 4 content areas of VAPA listed below. Explain the Key Standards in your content area selection
for your selected grade level. Provide an example. Keep notes simple/to the point.


Select a grade level K-6 Describe the developmental Provide an area of Provide an area of integration for each
levels. What changes do you integration for each area area with literature/language arts.
Explain the content of each see from the younger age with social studies/science. Explain your ideas. Be sure that your
area of the VAPA Standards group to the older students? Explain your ideas. Be sure ideas are age appropriate.
in the space below. that your ideas are age
appropriate.
Music Grade 7 The level of complexity
In 3.1, students Like in the left box, students can
increases. compare music from compare the music of different
various cultures as to cultures, and analyze and describe
some of the functions the differences that occur.
music serves and the
roles of musicians. I
think this can be
related to the history
of different ways math
and science developed
over different cultures.

Chapter 4 – Read and Discuss in class

Chapter 5: Assessment of the Arts

Purpose of Assessment Assessment of student work in the arts helps teachers determine how they should adapt
 their instruction so that their students can achieve the content standards. It also helps
teachers build a profile for each student that can be used to communicate progress. At
the school district level, the assessment data help administrators make effective
decisions about instruction, personnel, and resources for the arts education program.
Types of assessment: Entry level: Do students Progress monitoring: Are students Summative
Fill in each type in possess crucial progressing adequately toward Evaluation:
boxes to right. prerequisite skills and achieving standards? Monitoring, which Summative
knowledge? Do they should occur regularly, helps guide evaluation helps
already know some of instruction in the right direction. In determine
the material being standards-based classrooms monitoring whether students
taught? If so, the teacher becomes a crucial component of have achieved
can more easily instruction for every student. It signals the goals defined
determine the most when alternative routes need to be in a standard or
efficient starting point for taken or when students need to review group of
learning. Some entry- material before moving forward. Only standards. It
level assessments should through such monitoring can teachers answers the
measure mastery of focus instruction continually so that all following
foundational standards; students are constantly progressing. questions: Do
others should measure Everything students do during students know
the degree to which instruction provides opportunities for and understand
students have mastered monitoring. Ongoing assessment allows the material? Can
some portion of what is student artists to reflect on their own they apply the
to be learned next. creations, using the insights gained to material in
Teachers should use the enrich their own work. They need to another
information from the learn how to appraise their own work situation? Are
entry-level assessment to and that of peers and professional they ready to
ensure that students artists. Therefore, monitoring, whether move on?
receive support in internal or external, should reflect the Typically, this
specific areas. Entry-level essential nature of the knowledge or type of
assessments might skill being assessed, direct student assessment
consist of vocabulary learning, and establish expectations for comes at the end
pretests, open-ended achievement. of an
conceptual questions, Internal monitoring (self-assessment) instructional unit
performance helps students determine their level of or school year.
opportunities for mastery according to a set of clear The most
students to show current criteria. External monitoring helps important aspect
mastery of theory or teachers, also using a set of clear of summative
technique, or criteria, determine the students’ level of evaluation is that
opportunities to mastery. External monitoring should (1) it measures the
demonstrate current document performance; (2) help students’ long-
level of skill by using a set teachers make instructional decisions term growth and
of material or prompts. and adjustments according to mastery of grade-
documented performance; (3) identify level standards.
student performance in relationship to
the standards; and (4) include a variety
of strategies to determine students’
level of knowledge and skills
Assessment Tools: Rubrics: Whenever a Portfolios: One way to assess student Media: Using
performance assessment learning is to examine collections of new media and
tool is used, explicit students’ work. Student artists should electronic
criteria for evaluating maintain portfolios of formal and technologies for
students’ work should be informal work to monitor progress and assessment is
determined and shared display the depth and breadth of their increasingly
with the students before skills over time, as do professional valuable to visual
the evaluation occurs. artists. Portfolios help students observe and performing
Because the arts improvement in their work and assist arts educators
encourage enthusiasm or teachers in evaluating student progress and students. To
novelty, students enjoy a and the effectiveness of their teaching deliver
variety of ways to solve strategies. When the portfolios have constructed
artistic problems. been reviewed according to response items, a
Therefore, an assignment predetermined criteria, teachers and school or school
or performance task may students can establish the levels of district may
produce a result far content mastery already achieved. select exemplary
different from what was Portfolios can also be used to work by teachers
envisioned yet meet the demonstrate to parents how far who are artists or
stated criteria for students have advanced toward the goal by students to be
assessment. Students can of content mastery. Assessment digitally
express their creativity portfolios might include examples of photographed or
fully according to the draft sketches, technique development, recorded. For
accepted criteria when and finished work as well as example, virtual-
they and their parents or documentation of artwork or reality software
guardians are familiar performances, including photographs, facilitates a 360-
with the criteria and audios, videos, digitally formatted degree view of
scoring rubrics that compilations, and reflective writings. an object or
teachers use to identify performance by a
the students’ levels of simple command
success in meeting the on the computer.
content standards. To Once burned
help students focus on onto a CD, the
their work, teachers may items may be
attach to assignments or used by the
performance tasks entire school or
sample scoring rubrics school district as
describing levels of part of an
accomplishment. assessment. In
any arts
discipline
portfolios of
student work can
be burned onto a
CD or DVD,
stored, and
shared with
others for
assessment.
Students may
send their
portfolios to
colleges or
universities for
entrance into a
program or use
them to apply for
employment. In
creating
portfolios,
 students develop
skills in critiquing
their own work, a
sense of
accomplishment,
marketable
technology skills,
insight into their
body of work,
and a portable
record of that
work. Students
who are
performance
artists will find
videos, CDs, or
DVDs especially
valuable in
documenting and
critiquing their
work.


Chapter 6: Professional Development
Read and reflect: How Use this information to guide your philosophy paper below.
might you develop • Look into what city or county agencies in the community can be resources.
your knowledge and • Teachers can participate in workshops with their peers, learn from one another.
ability to teach the • To achieve the vision of a standards-based arts education for all students, in every
VAPA (arts)? grade, teachers must be trained in crucial areas. Teachers should engage in ongoing
PD to acquire knowledge of (1) the strands of the arts content standards, including,
when appropriate, training related to state-adopted visual and performing arts
instructional materials; (2) processes and products in arts education; (3) the
interdependence and independence of the arts; (4) the arts and learning across the
curriculum; (5) affective and cognitive aspects of the arts; (6) world arts and cultures;
(7) collaboration and articulation; (8) student assessment; and (9) the uses of new
media and electronic technology.
Chapter 7: Page 193: Instructional Planning and Support;
Explain the Teacher-support materials built into the instructional materials should specify
Instructional suggestions and illustrative examples of how teachers can implement a standards-based
Approaches visual and performing arts program. That assistance should be designed to help the
mentioned in the teacher implement the program to ensure that all students have opportunities to learn
Category 5 paragraph the essential knowledge and skills called for by the standards. Because the criteria do not
on Instructional recommend or require a particular pedagogical approach, the materials should contain
Planning and Support recommendations to teachers regarding those approaches that best fit instructional
goals. Accordingly, the materials should offer a variety of instructional approaches that
might include but are not limited to direct instruction, reading, writing, demonstrations,
creation of artwork, and Internet use and inquiry.
Reflection: Philosophy Paper for the teaching of VAPAs
Write a short (¾ -1 page) paper concerning your philosophy of teaching the visual and performing arts in a CA
public elementary classroom. Keep your readings, appropriate theory, Biblical links and the Education Code in
mind as you develop your ideas and include links where appropriate.
 In this section, I’d like to discuss my philosophy of teaching the visual and performing arts in a CA public

elementary classroom. However, instead of an elementary classroom, relate it more to teaching middle school and

high school math, as that is what I do. Honestly, I had not considered much inclusion of visual arts of performing

arts into my curriculum, prior to this class. In reevaluating, I can see opportunities to include them, especially since

my situation that I had started this school year, has changed throughout the year.

When I started the year, it was teaching strictly high school students and only Algebra 1 and Algebra 2.

Then I was given 8th graders at the school, as well as 8th graders at a couple other middle schools, not attached to

the high school I work. With the start of this new semester, many of the students took a math placement test, to

see how ready they were for Algebra 1, since many of the students were struggling. It was an eye opener to see

nd
that students were being placed into 2 grade level math placements. The reason I bring this up, is because more

and more, I am less strictly a high school teacher, and more and more a teacher that works with grade level math,

that goes even into elementary level.

Some of the trouble I had when developing lessons, was at times it’s hard to come up with ways to

incorporate visual or performing arts into a high school level math, when I do not have an extensive background in

it already. I have and had looked up possible ideas online, which is usually a great source for ideas, however, I ran

more into ideas geared towards lower level mathematics. Though now that I am working with students at those

lower levels I have looked more into where I can incorporate those into the lesson. One of the areas I can really

see incorporating into math, is with music. There is a lot of great research showing the effectiveness of teaching

with music in math. In the lesson I had made, I related teaching quarter notes, eighth notes, etc. to fractions in

math.

“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech

that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us,” Titus 2: 7-8

I think regardless of the strategy I try to implement, I think it’s important to remain a good model when doing

so. That includes how I conduct myself, but also the types of tools I use. For example, if I want to incorporate a

music video related to math, I should be sure that it’s truly appropriate to my students, and not pushing the

boundaries of what may or may not be acceptable.