English 
Español 
Standards Refresher
National standards are a resource that will help you increase your afterschool program's effectiveness. Educational organizations in each of the four disciplines—dance, music, theatre, and visual arts—have created standards. Here is a summary of this effort, which outlines what students should know and be able to do by the time they have completed secondary school:
| They should be able to communicate at a basic level in the four arts disciplines: dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. | This includes knowledge and skills in the use of the basic vocabularies, materials, tools, techniques, and intellectual methods of each arts discipline. |
| They should be able to communicate proficiently in at least one art form. | This includes the ability to define and solve artistic problems with insight, reason, and technical proficiency. |
| They should be able to develop and present basic analyses of works of art from structural, historical, and cultural perspectives, and from combinations of those perspectives. | This includes the ability to understand and evaluate work in the various arts disciplines. |
| They should have an informed acquaintance with exemplary works of art from a variety of cultures and historical periods. | This includes a basic understanding of historical development in the arts disciplines, across the arts as a whole and within cultures. |
| They should be able to relate various types of arts knowledge and skills within and across the arts disciplines. | This includes mixing and matching competencies and understandings in art-making, history and culture, and analysis in any arts-related project. |
For more information about the arts standards, see ARTSEDGE Standards. This site has standards for all four disciplines and at all grade levels.