Evaluates the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the visual arts, discussing issues such as the formulation of performance expectations and reporting procedures. States that, when exploring the scores, the context within which the arts are taught must be considered. Asserts that educational improvement requires changes in the…

Highlighting the fundamental concepts of discipline-based art education (DBAE), this essay supports a comprehensive elementary and secondary education visual arts teaching approach that features content and skill learning in art history, production, criticism, and aesthetics. Section 1, "The Arts and the Mission of Education," considers:…

This book contends that although the arts are often thought to be closer to the rim of education than to its core, they are in fact critically important for developing complex aspects of the mind. The book aims to dispel the idea that the arts are somehow intellectually undemanding. It argues that many of the most subtle forms of thinking take…

Based on the presumption that art teachers ought to be able to describe the value of what they do and place it within a framework for rationalizing the contributions of their work to the educational development of the students they teach, this research is an attempt to describe what children learn when they paint, draw, or make three-dimensional…

Responds to James Catterall's article "Does Experience in the Arts Boost Academic Achievement: A Response to Eisner." Contends that Catterall does not support his claims concerning the relationship of the arts to academic achievement; instead, Eisner maintains that Catterall is actually examining the contributions of the arts to cognitive…

The author describes the relationship between media, expression, and the arts and suggests what these relationships imply for educational practice, the arts and media research. (Author/AS)

Describes nine consequences for children who are given the opportunity to work with art teachers. Some of these are that making images provides intrinsic satisfaction; children learn that the images they create can function as symbols; and children's power to conceptualize visual ideas and to use effective means of expressing them increases. (KC)

Outlines the components of Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE). The program is based on the development of four domains in art: production, criticism, art history, and aesthetics. These areas are important dimensions in artistic development, and the acquisition of art skills broadens childrens' sensitivities to the world in general. (MD)

Develops a conception of the arts as cognitive activities. Draws implications of this conception for the schools including the following: concepts of talent and lack of talent have been used too long to cover up for weak or non-existent arts programs, and full cognitive development cannot exist without substantial arts instruction. (JDH)

The contributions of education in the cultural arts to students in the Fresno City Unified School District are evaluated as part of PROJECT DESIGN, funded under ESEA Title III. There are at least four areas or domains in which artistic learning is possible and which can be used to formulate elements in an arts curriculum. These are the productive,…

Presents an art educator's reflections upon his career. Discusses psychological views of art, the role of the arts in enlarging human knowledge, and implications for the curriculum. Describes teaching as an artistically pervaded activity. Reveals how the educator's experience in the arts has influenced his thinking about education. (KM)