CA Art Ed History

History

In 1970, passage of the Ryan Act eliminated art and music requirements for elementary teacher preparation. As a result, the vast majority of today’s K-8 classroom teachers have had little or no systematic preparation to introduce their students to the visual and performing arts.

In the 1980s and 1990s, independent teaching artists, parent volunteers, and educators from state and local arts organizations partially filled the arts gap in some schools on a limited basis.

In response to the State’s adoption of content standards in the arts, elementary teacher education programs in California are now required to provide a minimum level of arts methods coursework as of December 2004. Link

An Unfinished Canvas: Arts Education in California

To inform California policymakers, Stanford Research Institute(SRI) examined student access to arts education in California schools and conducted follow-up studies examining factors influencing K-12 arts education. The research resulted in a series of reports. 

Despite expectations and enthusiasm for instruction in the arts, little information about California students' access to and performance in the arts was available, and statewide information about the delivery of arts education was lacking.

To better inform policymakers and arts education funders about the status of arts education in California, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation funded SRI International to conduct a study to examine students' access to arts education in California schools, followed by a series of follow-up studies examining some of the factors influencing K-12 arts education.

https://www.sri.com/work/projects/unfinished-canvas-arts-education-california

California State Alliance for Arts Education

(excerpt. link)

The Arts Are Required Subjects in California Public Schools

The Visual and Performing Arts were added to the list of required subjects in the California Education Code in September 2000. This means that all California public schools must provide arts instruction to all of their students. Since 2001, the Visual and Performing Arts have been core subjects in our federal elementary and secondary education legislation, No Child Left Behind.

Visual and Performing Arts Standards and Framework

The California State Board of Education adopted Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards in January 2001, describing what every student should know and be able to do in the visual and performing arts in grades pre-K through 12.

The standards include dance, music, theater, and visual arts, and are divided into five strands within each discipline:

The revised Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve was published in September 2004, and identifies key standards in each arts discipline.

Download the arts standards and framework at:  http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/index.asp.