Americans for the Arts and the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) will be joined by singer-songwriter and arts education activist Ben Folds to launch the new National Core Arts Standards on Monday, October 20.

The National Core Arts Standards are preK-12 grade-by-grade standards intended to guide educators seeking quality arts education for America’s students. The standards define artistic literacy, and support 21st-century skills and college and career readiness.

Seventy representatives from NCCAS’s arts education member organizations developed the standards for dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts. This effort was followed by having more than 6,000 educators, teaching artists, parents, students and state and local focus groups offer input in four national reviews that helped shape the final standards. 

The launch event with Ben Folds will be held at 9 a.m. at the Microsoft New York Metro District Offices in Times Square. The one-hour event will feature remarks by Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, and David A. Dik, NCCAS leadership member and national executive director of Young Audiences Arts for Learning. The event will also be livestreamed at www.nationalartsstandards.org/content/launch. 

“These new arts standards reaffirm the importance of a comprehensive education that extends beyond reading and math,” said Robert Lynch. “They identify pathways for students to become creative thinkers, creative makers and creative responders to the world around them. We join Mr. Folds and the NCCAS in celebrating this achievement in arts education”.

“In this public celebration of the new arts standards, we’re honoring teachers and students throughout the country who deserve a quality arts education to prepare them for college and their future careers. We truly believe that these standards can help them achieve that goal,” remarked Mr. Dik.

The arts standards are housed on the NCCAS website at www.nationalartsstandards.org. A key feature of the interactive website is the option for teachers and other users to create customized standards handbooks to match their curricula and students’ learning needs.  

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