This fall, the South Dakota Board of Education announced that they are seeking to change state standards for fine arts – as well as science and technology – to keep their students on par with other states and help them succeed. 

Through a series of four meetings, the state’s Board of Education is working through a careful process to assess their options and to ensure that new standards fit in the local South Dakotan educational environment.  Specifically, the proposed new fine arts standards recognize that the arts are integral to holistic childhood development and organize standards requirements by grade.  The new Fine Art Standards “broadly document and collectively articulate what students should know and be able to do to become competent in the arts,” and recognize that a robust arts education includes: Music, Theater, Media Arts, Visual Arts, and Dance.  If these standards are implemented, arts education for students in all grades K-12 will include creating, performing, responding, and connecting processes in those five arts subject areas.

In addition to proposing fine arts standards specific to grade level, the South Dakota Board of Education is also proposing Optional Pre-Kindergarten Fine Arts Standards. All together, they hope to enact these new standards by May 2015, after a public review process and continued comparison to other state and national standards.