Public Education Secretary-Designate Christopher Ruszkowski

ART EDUCATION News:

SANTA FE – Today, the New Mexico Public Education Department announced the adoption of statewide New Mexico Core Arts Standards. The new standards are expected to enrich the state’s educational communities with tradition, innovation and creativity – and make New Mexico’s students more globally competitive.

“A 21st century multi-medium arts education is an essential component of preparing our children for their futures—especially in a state with some of the greatest artistic talent in the world. It is imperative that we keep our students up-to-date with all of the latest educational opportunities,” Education Secretary-Designate Christopher Ruszkowski said. “The move to new arts standards—alongside raising the bar for reading, math, and science—will open new doors allowing our students to reach their full academic and creative potential.”

The New Mexico Core Arts Standards present the opportunity for schools to enhance students’ abilities to create, perform, produce, present, critique, and connect art to their lives and the world around them.

“The adoption of the National Core Arts Standards is important to art education as it directly addresses the creative process, breaking down steps in an easy explainable manner. Artists are not always aware of what they are doing while they are “making” and creating. The magic is in not always knowing the outcome but engaging with materials and moving forward regardless,” said Roni Rohr, National Board Certified Visual Arts Teacher at El Dorado Community School. “The written standards allow students to understand and reflect on parts of their own process. It allows for a better assessment tool when mastering a skill and it breaks down and helps the non-artist understand the all-encompassing wonder of Visual Arts and Visual Literacy.”

The new standards – created and adopted alongside New Mexico educators – will include:

• Dance;
• Media Arts;
• Music, Theatre; and
• Visual Arts.

They will inform curriculum, instruction and assessment, and improve student learning. Schools already have access to the new standards and educators will begin teaching them in the 2018-19 school-year.