The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has completed the selection of schools and teachers for the High School Model Cornerstone Assessment Pilot Project. The project is partially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs), a component of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards, were created at the benchmark grades of 2, 5, 8 and the three high school levels (proficient, accomplished, advanced) to demonstrate the type of standards-based evidence needed to show student achievement. In 2015, NCCAS completed the field testing of the elementary and middle school MCAs, and will be posting benchmarked examples of student work gathered as part of that project on the standards website.

For the high school project, NCCAS received applications from more than 120 schools and teachers to participate in the project focusing on MCAs in dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts. Between 10 to 15 pilot sites were chosen for each discipline. The professional arts service organizations and members of the NCCAS Media Arts leadership committee made the choices based on a careful review of applicants, with the goal of creating a diverse cross section of urban, suburban, and rural schools from across the nation.

Participating educators began professional development training in the Core Arts Standards and the MCAs this month, in order to prepare them to pilot the tasks in their classrooms February through May. Student work will be collected and benchmarked during the summer for archiving on the standards website. Individuals and organizations interested in the project can follow the work or obtain more details as it unfolds, including a list of the states participating by geographic region, on the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards wiki at http://nccas.wikispaces.com.