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The National Core Arts Standards in Dance (NCAS) Resources include lessons, units, Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs), and curriculum maps as well as guidance documents to help you understand and implement the standards. Contributors include members of the dance standards writing and leadership teams and participants in the NDEO Online Professional Development Institute (OPDI) courses Implementing the National Core Dance Standards for Dance and Developing Cornerstone Assessments for the New Dance Standards. The contributor’s name and bio is provided at the end of each document. Contributors represent all NDEO sectors, teaching in K-12, Higher Education, Private Studio, and Community and Performing Arts organizations. This cross sector representation demonstrates that the standards provide essential content to all constituents.
These standards resources were partially funded by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Dance teachers in all sectors, and of all genres and populations, are encouraged to use these documents as models for using the National Core Arts Standards in Dance when designing curriculum, creating lesson plans, and planning assessments. Designed by dance educators working in the field, they provide practical, real-world applications of the standards in studio and classroom settings. These resources provide examples of how the standards can be used to create learning experiences and assess student work in K-12, higher education, private studio, and community settings, with students ranging from pre-K to young adult. Use these resources as a guide for creating unique learning experiences, based on the nationally recognized NCAS standards in dance, that meet the needs of your students.
These materials, created by the members of the team who created the NCAS Standards in Dance, will help you better understand the standards and how they can be implemented into your teaching practice.
Sample curriculum maps demonstrating how the standards can be used to overarching learning experiences for short or long term dance courses in higher education, K-12, community programs, and private studios.
Sample units showing how the standards can be used in creating short units of study for use in all dance education sectors.
Sample lesson plans provide an example of how the standards can be used to create plans for individual lessons for use in all dance education sectors.
Examples of how teachers in K-12 schools and private studios used the Model Cornerstone Assessments to design and implement assessments of student work at different grade levels.
Rubrics and video clips are from the Model Cornerstone Assessment pilot, during which K-12 teachers completed the tasks outlined in the MCA with their students. These resources demonstrate student work that meets the standard in different grade levels. Some video clips show the through line of student tasks in an MCA, and others show the student work on a single task. NDEO thanks the teachers who piloted the MCA with their students and contributed these videos.
Photo by Angela and Ithyle and Jennifer Oliver