Visual and Performing Arts Elective Requirement

Our school offers four course titles to cover the 10 credit elective requirement for Visual and Performing Arts. These are Music, Theater, Dance, and Visual Arts. Choose one of these course titles in the FLang/V&Parts section (8) of the report card to count as the required course for graduation. The 10 credits for this course must be completed in the same subject area, not studies in two different areas.

Each of the 4 courses must contain five visual and performing arts strands: artistic perception; creative expression; historical and cultural context; aesthetic valuing; and connections, relations, and applications. More specific information can be found at the CDE website at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/pn/fd/documents/visperfmarts-stnd-comp.pdf.

Guiding Principles of the Arts Content Standards:

(Taken from the CDE website referenced above)

Essential guiding principles for arts education programs are contained in the Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools and are reflected throughout these content standards. First, the arts are core subjects, each containing a distinct body of knowledge and skills. Academic rigor is a basic characteristic of a comprehensive education in the arts, including the following:

• Learning through active practice, rehearsal, and creation or performance of works in the arts
• Reading about the arts and artists
• Researching, writing, and communicating about the arts
• Reflecting on the arts in thoughtful essay or journal writing on one's observations, feelings, and ideas about the arts
• Participating in arts criticism on the basis of observation, knowledge, and criteria

Another important goal of the standards is to help students make connections between concepts in all of the arts and across subject areas. The fifth strand in these standards requires the student to connect and apply what is learned in the arts to other art forms and subject areas and to careers. The arts standards respect the multiplicity of cultures represented in California schools. They allow students to experience the arts from the perspectives of American culture and worldwide ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. Throughout the standards technology is recognized as an essential tool that enhances learning and expression in all the arts disciplines and provides for expanded forms of expression in digital and electronic media. New technologies for the arts, arts-related computer applications, and emerging arts-related careers are especially vital in California, where the demand for individuals with artistic skills and career orientations has been steadily growing in the vast arts and entertainment industry.

Additional courses in Visual and Performing arts:

Any additional courses completed in this area may be applied to the graduation requirements in the Elective area.