Visual and Performing Arts Elective Requirement   

revised 5/29/07

Students are required to complete 10 credits of either Language Other Than English (LOTE) or Visual or Performing Arts (VPA).  If a student chooses to pursue a Visual or Performing Art to meet this requirement, a full year (10 credits) of the same visual or performing arts course must be completed.

In order to meet the VPA requirement, a student must choose a course listed in the Regular or a-g Catalogs or take an approved course at a community college. 

The catalog courses which may be used to fulfill the VPA requirement are as follows:

Visual Arts 1, regular or a-g

Dance 1

Instrumental Music 1, regular or a-g

Theatre 1

In order to meet this requirement at a college, the college course must be titled, or fall within one of the following four disciplines: Music; Theater; Dance; or Visual Arts. 

Additionally, in order to satisfy the VPA graduation requirement, the course must contain the five visual and performing arts strands of the state standards: artistic perception; creative expression; historical and cultural context; aesthetic valuing; and connections, relations, and applications. More specific information about these strands and the corresponding state standards for each discipline can be found on the CDE website at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/.  The curriculum framework for the Visual and Performing Arts can be accessed at http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/pn/fd/vpaframework.asp.

Any additional courses completed in this area may be applied to the graduation requirements in the Special Interests/Elective area.

Guiding Principles of the Arts Content Standards:

(Taken from the CDE website referenced above)

Essential guiding principles for arts education programs are contained in the Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools and are reflected throughout these content standards. First, the arts are core subjects, each containing a distinct body of knowledge and skills. Academic rigor is a basic characteristic of a comprehensive education in the arts, including the following:

*            Learning through active practice, rehearsal, and creation or performance of works in the arts

*            Reading about the arts and artists

*            Researching, writing, and communicating about the arts

*            Reflecting on the arts in thoughtful essay or journal writing on one's observations, feelings, and ideas about the

                arts

*            Participating in arts criticism on the basis of observation, knowledge, and criteria

Another important goal of the standards is to help students make connections between concepts in all of the arts and across subject areas. The fifth strand in these standards requires the student to connect and apply what is learned in the arts to other art forms and subject areas and to careers. The arts standards respect the multiplicity of cultures represented in California schools. They allow students to experience the arts from the perspectives of American culture and worldwide ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. Throughout the standards technology is recognized as an essential tool that enhances learning and expression in all the arts disciplines and provides for expanded forms of expression in digital and electronic media. New technologies for the arts, arts-related computer applications, and emerging arts-related careers are especially vital in California, where the demand for individuals with artistic skills and career orientations has been steadily growing in the vast arts and entertainment industry.