National Art Standards - Grades 5 - 8
1. Content Standard: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes
Achievement Standard:
Students
a. select media, techniques, and processes; analyze what makes them effective or not effective in
communicating ideas; and reflect upon the effectiveness of their choices
b. intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of *art media, techniques, and
processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas 2. Content Standard: Using knowledge of *structures and functions
Achievement Standard:
Students
Achievement Standard:
Students
Achievement Standard:
Students
(19)
5. Content Standard: Reflecting upon and *assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others
Achievement Standard:
Students
Achievement Standard:
Students
a. compare the characteristics of works in two or more art forms that share similar subject matter,
historical periods, or cultural context
b. describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines taught in the school
are interrelated with the visual arts
National Art Standards Grades 9-12
1. Content Standard: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
a. apply media, techniques, and processes with sufficient skill, confidence, and sensitivity that their
intentions are carried out in their artworks
b. conceive and *create works of visual art that demonstrate an understanding of how the commu-
nication of their ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
Students
c. communicate ideas regularly at a high level of effectiveness in at least one visual arts medium
d. initiate, define, and solve challenging *visual arts problems independently using intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
2. Content Standard: Using knowledge of *structures and functions
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
Students
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
a. reflect on how artworks differ visually, spatially, temporally, and functionally, and describe how
these are related to history and culture
b. apply subjects, symbols, and ideas in their artworks and use the skills gained to solve problems in
daily life
(22)
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
Students
c. describe the origins of specific images and ideas and explain why they are of value in their art-
work and in the work of others
d. evaluate and defend the validity of sources for content and the manner in which subject
matter, symbols, and images are used in the students’ works and in significant works by others
4. Content Standard: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
Students
d. analyze and interpret artworks for relationships among form, context, purposes, and critical mod-
els, showing understanding of the work of critics, historians, aestheticians, and artists
e. analyze common characteristics of visual arts evident across time and among cultural/ethnic
groups to formulate analyses, evaluations, and interpretations of meaning
5. Content Standard: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
Students
e. correlate responses to works of visual art with various techniques for communicating meanings,
ideas, attitudes, views, and intentions
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6. Content Standard: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
a. compare the materials, *technologies, media, and processes of the visual arts with those of other
arts disciplines as they are used in creation and types of analysis
b. compare characteristics of visual arts within a particular historical period or style with ideas,
issues, or themes in the humanities or sciences
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
Students
c. synthesize the creative and analytical principles and techniques of the visual arts and selected
other arts disciplines, the humanities, or the sciences
1. Content Standard: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes
Achievement Standard:
Students
a. select media, techniques, and processes; analyze what makes them effective or not effective in
communicating ideas; and reflect upon the effectiveness of their choices
b. intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of *art media, techniques, and
processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas 2. Content Standard: Using knowledge of *structures and functions
Achievement Standard:
Students
- generalize about the effects of visual structures and functions and reflect upon these effects in
their own work
- employ organizational structures and analyze what makes them effective or not effective in the
communication of ideas
- select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of their
ideas
Achievement Standard:
Students
- integrate visual, spatial, and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in
their artworks
- use subjects, themes, and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics
that communicate intended meaning in artworks
Achievement Standard:
Students
- know and compare the characteristics of artworks in various eras and cultures
- describe and place a variety of art objects in historical and cultural contexts
- analyze, describe, and demonstrate how factors of time and place (such as climate, resources,
ideas, and technology) influence visual characteristics that give meaning and value to a work of art
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5. Content Standard: Reflecting upon and *assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others
Achievement Standard:
Students
- compare multiple purposes for creating works of art
- analyze contemporary and historic meanings in specific artworks through cultural and aesthetic
inquiry
- describe and compare a variety of individual responses to their own artworks and to artworks
from various eras and cultures
Achievement Standard:
Students
a. compare the characteristics of works in two or more art forms that share similar subject matter,
historical periods, or cultural context
b. describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines taught in the school
are interrelated with the visual arts
National Art Standards Grades 9-12
1. Content Standard: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
a. apply media, techniques, and processes with sufficient skill, confidence, and sensitivity that their
intentions are carried out in their artworks
b. conceive and *create works of visual art that demonstrate an understanding of how the commu-
nication of their ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
Students
c. communicate ideas regularly at a high level of effectiveness in at least one visual arts medium
d. initiate, define, and solve challenging *visual arts problems independently using intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
2. Content Standard: Using knowledge of *structures and functions
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
- demonstrate the ability to form and defend judgments about the characteristics and structures to
accomplish commercial, personal, communal, or other purposes of art
- evaluate the effectiveness of artworks in terms of organizational structures and functions
- create artworks that use *organizational principles and functions to solve specific visual arts
problems
Students
- demonstrate the ability to compare two or more perspectives about the use of organizational
principles and functions in artwork and to defend personal evaluations of these perspec-
tives
- create multiple solutions to specific visual arts problems that demonstrate competence in produc-
ing effective relationships between structural choices and artistic functions
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
a. reflect on how artworks differ visually, spatially, temporally, and functionally, and describe how
these are related to history and culture
b. apply subjects, symbols, and ideas in their artworks and use the skills gained to solve problems in
daily life
(22)
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
Students
c. describe the origins of specific images and ideas and explain why they are of value in their art-
work and in the work of others
d. evaluate and defend the validity of sources for content and the manner in which subject
matter, symbols, and images are used in the students’ works and in significant works by others
4. Content Standard: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
- differentiate among a variety of historical and cultural contexts in terms of characteristics and
purposes of works of art
- describe the function and explore the meaning of specific art objects within varied cultures, times,
and places
- analyze relationships of works of art to one another in terms of history, aesthetics, and culture,
justifying conclusions made in the analysis and using such conclusions to inform their own art making
Students
d. analyze and interpret artworks for relationships among form, context, purposes, and critical mod-
els, showing understanding of the work of critics, historians, aestheticians, and artists
e. analyze common characteristics of visual arts evident across time and among cultural/ethnic
groups to formulate analyses, evaluations, and interpretations of meaning
5. Content Standard: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
- identify intentions of those creating artworks, explore the implications of various purposes, and
justify their analyses of purposes in particular works
- describe meanings of artworks by analyzing how specific works are created and how they relate
to historical and cultural contexts
- reflect analytically on various interpretations as a means for understanding and evaluating works
of visual art
Students
e. correlate responses to works of visual art with various techniques for communicating meanings,
ideas, attitudes, views, and intentions
(23)
6. Content Standard: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines
Achievement Standard, Proficient:
Students
a. compare the materials, *technologies, media, and processes of the visual arts with those of other
arts disciplines as they are used in creation and types of analysis
b. compare characteristics of visual arts within a particular historical period or style with ideas,
issues, or themes in the humanities or sciences
Achievement Standard, Advanced:
Students
c. synthesize the creative and analytical principles and techniques of the visual arts and selected
other arts disciplines, the humanities, or the sciences