Nebraska Arts Education Standards
The current Nebraska Arts Education Standards were adopted by the Nebraska State Board of Education in 2014. They cover a broad array of core knowledge and proficiencies in the areas of media arts, visual arts, dance, music, and theatre. The standards clearly describe what students need to know and be able to do, placing student learning at the center of schooling. Nebraska’s Fine Arts Standards are organized in grade bands of K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. These statements are organized into categories and are not course specific.
The Nebraska Department of Education uses a collaborative writing process that utilizes the expertise of Nebraska educators and includes representation from all stages of Nebraska’s education system (i.e., early childhood education, K-12 education, and postsecondary education). Revision of the Arts Standards will begin in 2025.
Horizontal Views:
- Media Arts (pdf) Media Arts (doc)
- Visual Arts (pdf) Visual Arts (doc)
- Dance (pdf) Dance (doc)
- Music (pdf) Music (doc)
- Theatre (pdf) Theatre (doc)
Vertical Views:
- K-2 Standards (pdf)
- 3-5 Standards (pdf)
- 6-8 Standards (pdf)
- 9-12 Standards (pdf)
To ensure that the standards for each content area are well-organized and internally coherent, NDE articulates a common format for all content area standards across subjects.
Standards: At the highest level of generality, Nebraska’s content area standards include a set of broad, overarching content-based statements that describe the basic cognitive, affective, or psychomotor expectations of the students. They reflect long-term goals for learning. There is one comprehensive K-12 Arts standards for each area of media arts, visual arts, dance, music, and theatre.
Indicators: Under each standard are indicators which further describe what a student must know and be able to do to meet the standard. Indicators are performance-based statements that provide educators with a clear understanding of the expected level of student learning and guidance. Indicators provide guidance for assessment of student learning.
Glossaries
To assist in reading the standards, glossaries for each content area contain definitions, explanations, and additional resources you may find helpful.
Standards vs. Curriculum
The Nebraska content area standards describe the knowledge and skills that students should learn, but they do not prescribe particular curriculum, lessons, teaching techniques, or activities. Standards describe what student are expected to know and be able to do, while the local curriculum describes how teachers will help students master the standards. Decisions about curriculum and instructional are made locally by individual school districts and classroom teachers. The Nebraska Department of Education does not mandate the curriculum used within a local school.
Course Codes
School Year 2023-2024 Fine Arts Course Codes
Each year, the Nebraska Department of Education updates the Course Codes and Clearing Endorsements guidelines, the tool by which Nebraska districts report the courses and subjects offered in their schools. This information is collected annually per approval regulations.
To date, the fine arts course codes have lacked the specificity necessary for schools to report courses offered in the areas of Media and Visual Arts, Dance, Music, and Theatre. This has resulted in a high number of “other” enrollments.
For school year 2023-2024, updates to the guidelines will allow for more accurate reporting. An additional factor to these significant changes is Nebraska’s upcoming participation in the Arts Education Data Project a national project that takes our publicly reported data (arts education access, enrollment, and participation), standardizes it, and then provides data visualization tools that will help inform future decision making. Information about this new partnership will be shared with school districts and arts educators as it develops.
The spreadsheet below shows the 2023-2024 fine arts education courses, both changes to specific courses that already exist and new courses that have been added. We are asking districts to evaluate the current courses offered and categorize them according to the new course codes. We urge districts to move enrollments from “other” course codes to one of the new course codes that are available. You will also note that the subject of “Art” has been renamed to “Visual Art” to help distinguish it from “Fine Arts,” “Language Arts,” and “Communication Arts.”
You will also find the courses taught in Nebraska schools and the appropriate endorsements for those subjects or courses. In instances where no specific endorsement is required, the “level” of endorsement must still be appropriate for the assignment.
Nebraska approval regulations (Rule 14) and accreditation regulations (Rule 10) require that certain percentages of F.T.E. (Full Time Equivalency) elementary and middle grade teachers hold appropriate endorsements and that certain percentages of instructional units at the secondary grades be assigned to teachers holding appropriate endorsements. For teachers to be considered appropriately endorsed for their assignments, they must teach the grade levels and subjects indicated on their certificate. The grade level designations are shown on the attached spreadsheet.
As you work through the following pages, please let us know if you have any questions. Please contact Cody Talarico at cody.talarico@nebraska.gov or Marissa Payzant at marissa.payzant@nebraska.gov. It’s important to know that this change is a work in progress. We welcome specific questions and feedback that will inform the course codes for future years.
Nebraska’s Fine Arts Standards are for grades K-12. For early childhood, visit the Early Learning Guidelines for Nebraska’s Birth to Age Five Learning and Development Standards and refer to the Creative Arts section which includes information for the areas of music, visual art, dramatic play, and movement.