The school year is now in full swing. Mid-terms are going home. Most students now know where their next class is and you have memorized everyone's name (you have, right?). In our theatre classroom and stages lines are being learned, characters fleshed out, and songs chosen, sung, and sung again. Oh, and there are those pesky administrators asking for documents--the much beloved SLOs, the self-evaluations, budgets (for those who actually have them) and maybe a nod to those dusty old state standards. Does dusty standards ryhyme with useless or barely breathing in your state? Feeling
marginalized, dismissed, or envied by those folks in the test pool of math and English?
Well, now is your chance to do something about it, before the year get's any older and you get any grayer trying to figure out how to prove that your students actually do create AND learn at the same time when making theatre (that's right, arts learning is measureable). Here's how: In case you missed it, the National Coalition of Core Arts Standards--including the Educational Theatre Association--have been working on new l arts standards for the past two years. And now it's showtime, or at least rehearsal. That's where you come in.
The public review of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards is open until October 21. Yes, it's "public" and we do want everyone from your grandma to the postman to raise their voice, but it's YOU, arts educator, who is the end user of the standards so your opinion matters more than anyone else. If you don't take the time to review this work, who will? Assuming you do, if you don't like them, or don't see your teaching or your students in the work, say so. If you do, say that too, and why.
To get started go to
http://nccas.wikispaces.com/. There's a short training video to get you up to speed before you begin your review. If you want a little more back story, watch the Standards Town Hall video that was presented at the recent EdTA Conference at
http://new.livestream.com/EdTA/events/2410225
Who needs high school theatre standards? You do, because you are a trained professional whose skill, understanding, and experience is honored and articulated in these standards. You do, because you care about your students, their future, and the craft of theatre. You do, because you're tired of hearing that it's "just theatre" and not as important as history, math, English, and football. You need standards because they say "yes, there is knowledge and skill within arts that all students can learn and grow from, now and for the rest of their lives." So, go forth and teach. But take some time out to raise your voice too. We need you now more than ever.