The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) announced that the first draft of the revised PreK-8 National Core Standards for Music Education will be posted online for public comment on June 30, 2013.The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) announced that the first draft of the revised PreK-8 National Core Standards for Music Education will be posted online for public comment on June 30, 2013. NAfME seeks input from music educators, arts administrators, music teacher educators, and the general public on this document, which will be posted online here. “Our nation’s first standards for arts education were published in 1994, and have served for nearly two decades to guide improvements in the structure, delivery, and assessment of arts education,” said Mike Blakeslee, deputy executive director of NAfME. “With the increasing emphasis on core standards as drivers for our education system in areas ranging from curriculum development to teacher assessment, we need music standards that match current and future policy needs.”
The new standards intentionally connect students’ music achievement with thinking processes and other skills that not only align with Common Core standards, but also contribute to success in later life. They provide compelling philosophical foundations, “enduring understandings” and “essential questions,” and anchor and performance standards to guide instruction and curriculum.
The high school music standards draft is scheduled for release in January 2014. Detailed release of the standards, and the beginning of fieldwork for implementation, will occur around April 2014.
“It’s important for music teachers to get involved in this process,” said NAfME’s Blakeslee. “The standards will help professional music educators hone their curricula, and also help administrators and parents deepen their understanding of why music is good for students.”
