The primary aims of this qualitative interpretive inquiry were to gain better understanding of dance teaching artists' preparation and preparedness, workplace challenges, and the role and impact of policy and regulations in P-12 schools. A secondary aim focused upon identifying school environments that support effective and purposeful dance…

Social and emotional competencies (SEC) are critical for success in school and life, as they include the ability to interact with others, regulate one's emotions and behavior, solve problems, and communicate effectively. Research and practice show that dance experiences enhance social-emotional development, yet less is known about the mechanisms…

The COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns that academic skills would wither away during the lockdown and with it, social-emotional skills. This is assumed to be as true for neurotypical students as for neurodiverse ones. When students return to their schools, how will they function again in their social environment? The key to addressing the…

We contend that improvements are needed in current dance audition practices in higher education regarding inclusivity, equitability, and diversity. As a case study, we critically evaluated and modified audition practices at Ball State University with a specific goal to generate strategies and future considerations that provide a more inclusive,…

The purpose of this study was to understand the contextual, school-level factors associated with the availability of arts education courses in the high schools of the United States. In the study, course offerings for a nationally representative sample of N = 940 high schools that were part of the National Center for Education Statistics High…

With the advent of the global pandemic wrought by COVID-19, much of the world's citizenry was forced to immediately pivot to new ways of doing business. This included shifting instructional delivery systems around the globe to online platforms. In the US and elsewhere, the dance education community displayed remarkable resiliency and perhaps more…

Arts education advocates sometimes point to extrinsic benefits of arts learning, including Social Emotional Learning (SEL). This study considers if and how the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) in dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual art may align with SEL standards adopted by the state of Illinois, upon which other SEL standards have…

Parents and guardians are the first individuals who impact a child's daily life. However, no single person is responsible for the growth and development of a nation's children. Collaboration is critical to a successful community-based program. One often hears the phrase, taken from an African proverb, it takes a village to raise a child. The…

The "Dance Entry Level Teacher Assessment" (DELTA) measures pedagogical content knowledge and subject-specific content knowledge in dance. Created and administered jointly by the National Dance Education Organization and the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education, DELTA represents a first step toward reaching national…

This article provides an overview of dance education in schools in Singapore with regard to physical education, co-curricular activity, initiatives by the National Arts Council's Arts Education unit, and pre-tertiary and tertiary dance programs. In an effort to gain a better understanding of how well the official discourse and the reality of…

This article proposes the existence of an "Isadora Effect": the propositions that motor development plays a primal role in brain development, and the first understanding of symbolic meaning among young children occurs from an understanding of movement and gesture. Anecdotal evidence for the past few decades has demonstrated that dance…

This article examines students' choices in a postsecondary dance major curriculum where students selected to study one or more of five dance practices (African and Diaspora Movement Practices, Contemporary Ballet, Movement Language Sources, Postmodern Contemporary Dance, and Urban Movement Practices) each semester along with required coursework…

Teacher evaluation policy is a poignant and high-stakes issue. Driven by research, stakeholders are forging ahead with the premise that quality teachers are a critical, if not the most important, resource. As a result, many states are reforming procedures in response to educational reforms. The change to evaluate teachers in a systematic way has…

Media advances have changed the ways in which we interact, communicate, teach, and learn. The growth of telecommunication, video sharing sites, specifically YouTube, and social media, have exponentially increased the number of people interested in dance and dance education. Technology presents new ways for students to think about their learning,…

This article synthesizes current dance education research that demonstrates connections between the culturally relevant pedagogy and student academic achievement, details why the arts are exponentially important and valuable to all communities, and provides practical solutions for the everyday teacher. Through a pointed focus on culturally…