Glossary

Abi and Leah understand we may be using vocabulary that you are not familiar with. Here is a list of terms on the site that may need some clarity.

Assessment: the process of gathering and analyzing information about student learning to improve the learning experience 

Advanced: student can help peers understand/student can justify and/or defend their demonstrate understanding  

Proficient: student demonstrated understanding of the standards 

Moving towards proficient: with help, student demonstrated understanding 

Not yet proficient: even with help student did not demonstrate understanding 

Formative assessment: a collection of formal and informal assessment methods that teachers use during the learning process to improve student outcomes 

Common formative assessments: are a way to evaluate student understanding of learning objectives at a given time. They are created by teachers working together to break down standards and create assessment items 

Summative assessment: evaluation of student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark 

Canon artists: a list of artists considered the greatest in Western art.

Cultural appreciation: to learn, listen, understand, and honor a culture without benefit to yourself.

Cultural appropriation: is when a dominant culture adopts or exploits elements of a minority culture in a way that is disrespectful, exploitative, or stereotypical. It can include the use of another culture's language, music, dance, dress, or religious symbols without permission. 

Culturally responsive teaching: a teaching method that incorporates students' cultures, languages, and life experiences into lessons and activities.

Danielson Framework for Teaching: The Danielson Framework for Teaching is a model that evaluates teacher performance by rating how well they meet specific goals: 

Domains: The framework is divided into four domains: Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities. 

Sub-categories: Each domain has sub-categories that are further divided by level of mastery. 

Performance levels: The framework breaks down teacher performance into four levels: highly effective (4), effective (3), partially effective (2), and minimally effective (1). 

Goals: Administrators observe classrooms and rate teachers based on how well they meet goals such as organizing physical space, engaging students in learning, and using assessment in instruction. 

Focus: The framework emphasizes a growth-oriented view of success and supports teacher growth. 

Updates: The 2022 update to the framework put more focus on promoting equity and social and emotional learning (SEL).

Demonstration of Understanding: the way a student shows you to what level they understand the I can statement. 

Grading for Equity: is a book by Joe Feldman Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms that highlights the importance of equitable grading practices. 

I can statement: a student friendly (age appropriate) statement of what you are asking them to know and do. 

Inquiry: an educational approach that involves students in investigating and solving problems. 

Learning Outcomes: statements that describe what students should know, be able to do, or value after completing a unit or lesson. 

NAEA (National Art Education Association): Founded in 1947, the National Art Education Association is the leading professional membership organization exclusively for visual arts, design, and media arts education professionals. 

NCAS (National Core Art Standards): are designed to guide the delivery of arts education in the classroom with new ways of thinking, learning, and creating. The standards also inform policy-makers about implementation of arts programs for the traditional and emerging models and structures of education. 

Create: The Create strand of the National Core Arts Standards focuses on the process of generating and conceptualizing ideas, organizing, developing, and refining artistic work. It is designed to cultivate creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills in students by encouraging them to engage with materials, explore personal interests, and make artistic choices.

Key Components of the Create Strand:

1. Generating Ideas and Conceptualizing Work

   • This involves students investigating, brainstorming, and experimenting with ideas, materials, and techniques. They are encouraged to explore their personal interests, questions, and curiosities to inspire their art-making.

2. Planning and Developing Artistic Work

   • Students plan and organize their concepts, creating a blueprint for their artistic projects. They make thoughtful decisions about materials, tools, and approaches, developing their ideas into more concrete plans.

3. Refining and Completing Work

   • Through reflection and constructive critique, students revise and refine their work. This process emphasizes perseverance and attention to detail, encouraging students to improve their creations and bring their artistic vision to completion.

4. Risk-taking and Innovation

   • The Create strand encourages students to take creative risks, push boundaries, and explore new approaches to art-making. This cultivates their ability to think outside the box and develop original ideas.

Importance of the Create Strand:

• Cultivates Creativity: The strand fosters a mindset where creativity is nurtured and developed as a crucial life skill.

• Encourages Problem-Solving: Students learn to overcome challenges and find solutions through the artistic process.

• Develops Personal Expression: By connecting personal interests and experiences to their art, students develop a deeper sense of identity and expression.

• Fosters Artistic Growth: The emphasis on reflection, revision, and refinement helps students grow as artists, building resilience and adaptability.

Overall, the Create strand is foundational in empowering students to develop as independent, creative thinkers and makers.

Present: The Present strand of the National Core Arts Standards focuses on selecting, interpreting, and presenting artistic work. It emphasizes the importance of curating and sharing art with an audience while considering various contexts, methods, and purposes. This strand helps students understand how to thoughtfully present their work, enhancing their communication skills and connection to broader cultural and historical narratives.

Key Components of the Present Strand:

1. Selection and Curation of Art

   • Students learn to analyze, interpret, and choose artworks for display or presentation. They consider the purpose, audience, and venue when selecting works and gain insight into how art can be showcased in various environments (e.g., museums, galleries, public spaces, or digital platforms).

2. Analyzing the Context and Purpose of Presentation

   • This component encourages students to understand the cultural, historical, and social contexts that influence how art is viewed and valued. They explore why and how certain pieces are selected for preservation and display, reflecting on the criteria that make an artwork significant or meaningful.

3. Preparation and Presentation of Art

   • Students focus on the technical and aesthetic aspects of preparing art for presentation. This includes framing, arranging, and ensuring the work is ready to be experienced by an audience. The process helps students recognize the importance of detail and professionalism in presenting their artistic work.

4. Audience Engagement

   • A crucial part of the Present strand is understanding how the presentation of art affects viewers. Students learn to consider the experiences and perspectives of their audience, developing a deeper awareness of how art can influence emotions, beliefs, and understanding.

Importance of the Present Strand:

• Enhances Communication: Students learn how to convey ideas, emotions, and messages effectively through the presentation of their work, using both visual and contextual elements.

• Develops Critical Thinking: By selecting and curating art, students engage in thoughtful decision-making and reflection on the meaning and impact of their work.

• Connects to Broader Contexts: This strand helps students understand the role of art in society, including how it can reflect cultural values, social issues, or historical events.

• Fosters Professional Skills: Preparing art for public presentation teaches students organizational, technical, and collaborative skills, which are valuable in both artistic and non-artistic careers.

In summary, the Present strand emphasizes the thoughtful selection, curation, and sharing of artistic work, helping students become skilled communicators and curators of both their own and others' art.

Respond: The Respond strand of the National Core Arts Standards focuses on understanding, interpreting, and evaluating artistic works. It encourages students to engage deeply with art by analyzing its form, content, and context, leading to more informed and personal interpretations. This strand emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and reflection when encountering art, allowing students to develop a deeper appreciation for both their own creations and the work of others.

Key Components of the Respond Strand:

1. Perception and Analysis

   • Students are guided to observe and analyze works of art with attention to detail. They explore elements like form, medium, technique, and subject matter, considering how these contribute to the overall meaning of the artwork.

2. Interpretation of Artistic Work

   • This component emphasizes interpreting the intent and meaning behind artistic works. Students are encouraged to use visual art vocabulary to articulate their understanding, considering how an artist’s choices convey ideas, emotions, and themes. They learn to view art as a text to be "read" and understood, making connections between form, media, and meaning.

3. Evaluation and Critique

   • Students evaluate works of art based on established criteria, both formal and conceptual. They reflect on personal and external factors that influence their responses to art, including cultural, social, or historical contexts. The process encourages thoughtful criticism and the ability to justify opinions about the quality, impact, or value of an artwork.

4. Contextual Understanding

   • This strand encourages students to examine the context in which an artwork was created, including the artist’s background, the historical period, and cultural influences. Understanding these elements allows students to interpret artworks more fully and gain insights into how art reflects and affects society.

Importance of the Respond Strand:

• Enhances Critical Thinking: By analyzing and interpreting art, students sharpen their critical thinking skills, learning to make thoughtful observations and form well-supported opinions.

• Builds Visual Literacy: Students learn to "read" artworks, understanding not only the visual elements but also the broader messages and contexts, which helps them engage more deeply with visual culture.

• Develops Personal Insight: Responding to art allows students to reflect on their own reactions and connect art to personal experiences, fostering empathy and emotional intelligence.

• Fosters Appreciation: This strand cultivates an appreciation for diverse artistic expressions, enabling students to value different styles, cultures, and perspectives in art.

In summary, the Respond strand helps students become active and thoughtful viewers of art. By perceiving, interpreting, and evaluating artistic works, students gain deeper insights into the meaning and significance of art and develop critical skills that extend beyond the classroom.

Connect: The Connect strand of the National Core Arts Standards emphasizes the relationship between art and the personal, cultural, and societal contexts that shape it. This strand encourages students to link their own experiences, knowledge, and understanding of the world to the art they create and respond to, fostering deeper meaning-making and engagement with both individual and collective expressions.

Key Components of the Connect Strand:

1. Relating Artistic Ideas and Works to Personal Experiences

   • Students are encouraged to draw upon their personal lives, interests, emotions, and experiences to create and interpret art. This process helps them see the connections between their individual perspectives and artistic expression, fostering a sense of identity and self-awareness.

2. Relating Art to Social, Cultural, and Historical Contexts

   • This component emphasizes understanding how art reflects and responds to societal, cultural, and historical influences. Students explore how artists address social issues, communicate cultural values, or comment on historical events, allowing them to see how art can serve as a powerful tool for social commentary or change.

3. Art as a Form of Communication

   • Students learn that art is a universal language that can communicate beliefs, values, and ideas across different cultures and time periods. They explore how art can influence or reflect societal change, shape personal and collective identities, and serve as a medium for dialogue about important issues.

4. Synthesis of Knowledge

   • This element focuses on how students integrate various aspects of their learning—personal, academic, cultural, and societal—into their creative processes. By synthesizing these experiences, they create more informed and meaningful artwork, and better understand how art-making can contribute to a broader understanding of the world.

Importance of the Connect Strand:

• Fosters Personal Expression: The Connect strand allows students to relate their art to their personal experiences, fostering a deeper sense of ownership and authenticity in their creative work.

• Promotes Cultural Awareness: By connecting art to cultural and historical contexts, students gain a broader understanding of diverse perspectives and the ways art reflects and influences society.

• Encourages Critical Thinking: Students learn to analyze the social and historical implications of art, enhancing their ability to think critically about both the world and their role in it.

• Empowers Social Engagement: Through this strand, students see how art can serve as a tool for expressing viewpoints, addressing social issues, and advocating for change, helping them become more engaged and informed citizens.

In summary, the Connect strand enriches students' understanding of art by linking it to personal experiences and broader cultural, societal, and historical contexts. This approach helps students create more meaningful work and understand the important role art plays in reflecting and shaping the world around them.

Benchmark: a standard benchmark is a measurable standard or expectation that students are expected to meet at a specific point in their learning.

Process component: The process components are action verbs that help students work through the artistic processes independently. They also help generate performance standards and enduring understandings.

Anchor standard: a set of skills and knowledge that students are expected to demonstrate throughout their education. 

Enduring understanding: are important ideas and processes that students learn and apply to new situations. They are central to a discipline and can be used to frame big ideas, solve problems, and provide a conceptual foundation for learning.

Essential questions:  are open-ended questions that are used in lesson plans to guide students' thinking and help them connect what they learn to real life. They are designed to spark deep thought and discussion, and to encourage students to consider alternatives, weigh evidence, and justify their answers 

Grade level progression: a way to measure a student's progress towards mastering specific skills at each grade level.

PLC (Professional Learning Community):  are groups of educators who work together to improve teaching and student learning. 

Priority standard: are a subset of standards that are most important for students to learn in a specific grade level, course, or content area. They are the foundation for teaching and learning decisions, and help teachers develop units to help students master big ideas.

Professional development: the set of tools, resources, and training sessions for educators to improve their teaching quality and effectiveness. 

Representation matters: Representation in education is important because it can help create equitable learning environments and promote positive mental health for students. It can also help students feel included and valued, and can lead to stronger connections with the content being taught. 

Student agency: is the level of power and autonomy a student has in their learning environment. It's a multi-faceted skill that involves students having a voice and choice in their learning, and being able to take responsibility for their learning.

Studio Habits of Mind: The eight studio habits of mind are a set of thinking practices that artists use when creating art, and that teachers hope their students will learn while making art:

• Develop craft: Identify the skills and practices needed to create new ideas

• Engage and persist: Get started on a project with curiosity and action

• Envision: Use imagination to develop an idea and plan the steps to achieve it

• Express: Convey a concept, mood, or story through an authentic expression of yourself

• Observe: Use your senses to discover new perspectives and acknowledge your thoughts, feelings, and sensations

• Reflect: Identify what went well and what could be improved in your project

• Stretch and explore: Move outside of your comfort zone with courage and a playful spirit

• Understand art worlds: Recognize and accept differences and connections between yourself and the world

Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB): Teaching for Artistic Behavior is a teaching pedagogy where the student is the artist, the art room is the students' studio, and students explore the question "what do artists do?". 

Universal Design Learning: is a teaching approach that works to accommodate the needs and abilities of all learners and eliminates unnecessary hurdles in the learning process.

Unpacking standards: is a process that teachers use to analyze and break down standards to help them plan lessons and assessments. It's a fundamental skill for educators and a key step in the curriculum design process.