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National Core Arts Standards (NCAS)
Gap Analysis of DoDEA Arts Standards and the
NCAS, K-12
DoDEA’s standards have different expectations of students and of how the standards build understanding.
NCAS performance expectations reflect a higher level of cognitive demand than is found in the DoDEA stand-
ards and engage students in creating, performing/presenting/producing, reflecting and connecting. Students
will demonstrate their proficiency in the arts, not by recalling specific facts, but by engaging in actual artistic
practices that are outcomes-based. The NCAS expect instruction to be focused on a smaller set of ideas, while
keeping an eye on what the students should have already learned and what they will learn at the next level.
The NCAS host a Web-based/dynamic Instructional Resource gallery that includes Enduring Understandings;
Essential Questions, and Model Cornerstone Assessments.
Arts teaching requires a learning environment in which students are encouraged to imagine, investigate, con-
struct and reflect. Arts literacy fosters connections among the arts and other disciplines, providing opportuni-
ties to collaborate, connect, access, develop, express and integrate meaning across a variety of content areas,
with the capacity to transfer arts knowledge and understandings into a variety of settings both in school and
outside of school.
The horizontal and vertical progressions for each grade band assume that the student has learned the neces-
sary previous material. The NCAS make explicit connections to the CCRS (ELA and mathematics). The 21
st
Cen-
tury Skills are reinforced in the standards of every arts discipline, at every grade level, and as a primary com-
ponent of the standards. The NCAS consider the content and performance expectations of the CCRS to ensure
a symbiotic pace of learning in all content areas and specifically refer to related standards in the CCRS.
The NCAS Performance standards for students up to grade 8 are listed grade-by-grade, are discipline-specific,
and there are three proficiency levels in high school (proficient, accomplished and advanced). These perfor-
mance standards and proficiency levels translate the anchor standards into specific, measurable learning goals.
They are flexible enough to accommodate varying degrees of achievement by students during high school, in-
cluding those who build on their PreK-8 foundation by pursuing deeper engagement in one arts discipline, as
well as those who explore a wide range of artistic pursuits and experiences. While the NCAS provide clarity,
flexibility is still given to the educator flexibility is still given regarding the development of curriculum.