Implementing the National Dance Education Standards

Having a set of standards that pertain to a well-rounded curriculum is critical. But standards alone do not ensure a good curriculum.

That’s where Implementing the National Dance Education Standards comes in. The tools in this book will help you apply those standards as you motivate students through engaging experiences that make dance education come alive for your students.

The standards in this book are an outcomes-based version of the original seven standards created by the National Dance Association in 1994. The updated standards are also more action oriented—and the tools that the many experienced contributors provide will help you to more easily implement the standards.

The chapters guide you in using new benchmarks to reflect desired student outcomes at grades 2, 5, 8, and 12; you can also use these benchmarks as a framework for developing state standards and local curricula.

In addition, Implementing the National Dance Education Standards offers

• 32 ready-to-use learning experiences to incorporate in your lesson and unit planning;

• tables of learners’ developmental characteristics for four grade levels, based on learner domains (psychomotor, cognitive, and affective), along with their implications for your teaching; and

• a three-step, standards-based assessment cycle.

This resource also contains a CD-ROM with the updated standards, new benchmarks, developmental characteristics, and a blank template for planning of learning experiences. The CD-ROM contains the 32 sample learning experiences and assessment suggestions. You can print these standards, benchmarks, sample plans, and other materials as you need them, so you don’t always need to tote the book around with you as you plan and teach.

The book covers all you need to know in order to implement the standards. Besides the revised standards and the new benchmarks themselves, you’ll learn about the relationship between learners’ developmental characteristics and the benchmarks, and you’ll explore the impact that various teaching and curriculum environments have on learning. You’ll also delve into how to design, plan, and implement a standards-based dance curriculum; how to assess students’ progress; and how to make technology choices that strengthen the curriculum and challenge students’ learning processes. Each chapter includes overviews and summaries to help you focus on the key points. A glossary defines dance and educational terms, and references provide additional sources of information for you to consider.

With its wealth of practical tools, Implementing the National Dance Education Standards will help you stay on the cutting edge as you develop a comprehensive, standards-based dance curriculum—one that develops the whole child, engages students in developmentally appropriate learning experiences, and makes dance fun and exciting for every student.

Fran Anthony Meyer, PhD, CHES, is an educational consultant in Fredericksburg, Virginia. For 19 years she taught dance, health, and physical education to students from preschool through eighth grade as well as to students of various ages with disabilities. She worked with teachers to plan and implement elementary and middle school arts programs. Meyer worked with the local schools and parks and recreation department to establish FREDANCO (boys’ and girls’ performing companies).

Meyer has served as a curriculum writer and a frequent workshop and in-service facilitator at the local, state, national, and international levels; as the founder and director of a state children’s dance festival; and as dance editor for the Virginia Journal. As a consultant to the Virginia Department of Education, Meyer served on task forces to develop state standards, write dance curriculum and assessment items for grades K through 12, and develop lessons for talented and gifted students in dance. She served as a planning team member and workshop facilitator for the Virginia Fine Arts Leadership Conference for 10 years as well as an adjudicator for the Governor’s Schools for Arts Education and the Virginia Fine Arts Scholarship Awards.

Meyer served as dance vice-president and later as president of the Southern District AAHPERD and as president of National Dance Association (NDA), and she is currently NDA’s representative to the AAHPERD Board of Governors.

Meyer has received numerous awards, including the VAHPERD Honor and Pioneer Awards, the Distinguished Service to the Community Award from Virginia Commonwealth University, Leaders Who Make a Difference Award from Longwood University, the NASPE Distinguished Leadership in Physical Education Award, and the NDA Presidential Citation Award. Meyer also is recognized as a fellow in the North American Society for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance.

National Dance Association is an association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and is the leading not-for-profit organization of professional educators addressing crucial issues in dance education. NDA strives to cultivate and promote excellence in dance programming. As a part of these initiatives, NDA conducts workshops and conferences across the United States, advocates for quality dance programs at all levels, and publishes state-of-the-art materials. NDA services also reach international markets: Some publications are translated into four languages.

Association membership includes professionals in a variety of dance disciplines and at all educational levels as well as students in higher education. During its long history, NDA has served as a resource for federal and state agencies and arts and education organizations. The National Endowment for the Arts, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Capezio BalletMakers, the United States Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities have supported NDA projects.