Art History, Art Criticism, and Art Production: Comparing the process of change across districts

This volume reports the findings from a cross-site analysis of seven school districts that were implementing a discipline-based approach to visual arts education. A discipline-based approach incorporates four art disciplines in the classroom: art history, art criticism, aesthetics, and art making. The study focused on two major areas: (1) factors generating support for a strong substantive art education program in a district's curriculum, and (2) factors influencing the willingness and ability of school districts and teachers to carry out and maintain a discipline-based art education program. This volume identifies the commonalities across research sites and compares the process of change in the seven selected school districts. It discusses factors associated with sustaining quality art education programs in view of declining student enrollments, shrinking school budgets, and emphasis on basic reading and computational skills. Six chapters detail the premise and purpose of the study, the study design, initiation, implementation, institutionalization, and conclusions. The study's findings affirm that discipline-based art education theory has found its way into school practice. Although the forms of application vary from district to district, most of the criteria that define this approach to art education are universally present: attention to productive, historical, and critical areas of art learning; a written curriculum; sequential and cumulative instruction; and the use of adult work as exemplary. (LH)