National Dance Education Organization announces the completion of three sets of Standards: Standards for Dance in Early Childhood, Standards for Learning and Teaching Dance in the Arts: Ages 5-18, and Professional Teaching Standards for Dance in Arts Education. These standards are posted here for free public access. Dance educators, administrators, legislators, students, parents, and anyone interested in dance education in the arts will be able to use the standards to develop curriculum, understand the breadth and scope of excellence in dance education, and assess if programs or individuals are achieving what students should know and be able to do in the art of dance. They are designed for use by all dance arts constituencies: private studios of dance, professional schools, PreK-12 schools, arts organizations, community cultural centers, teacher training programs, and higher education.

• Standards for Dance in Early Childhood
  Dance helps children mature physically, emotionally, socially, and cognitively. These standards in early childhood address the developmental needs of the young child through the art of dance. They are guideposts for what every child should know and be able to do at ages: Birth –One (infant), two (toddler), three, four, and five.

• Standards for Learning and Teaching Dance in the Arts
  These standards provide a scaffold upon which to structure the learning and teaching of dance as an art. They serve as a guide for dance teachers, artists, administrators, and students. They address expectations and achievement levels for ages from 5-18 years at the benchmark years of 4th grade (9-10 years), 8th grade (13-14 years), and 12th grade (17-18 years) in a graduates, sequential learning that encompasses the breadth and scope of the arts making processes of performing, creating, responding, interconnecting, and assessing.

• Professional Teaching Standards for Dance in Arts Education
  These standards describe the criteria expected of accomplished dance educators. These eight professional teaching standards address four domains of knowledge that include: the mastery of the dance content, the skills and knowledge in dance, the mastery of teaching and learning dance in relationship to education and community resources, and the mastery of reflective practice – research, student/teacher assessments, and program evaluation.

  NDEO provides a continuum of excellent learning and teaching in dance education from birth through a professional career. The standards address the arts making processes of Performing, Creating, Responding, Interconnecting, and Assessing.

  Interactive Standards
  The standards for early childhood and ages 5-18 are posted temporarily as documents. However, they will soon be available in an interactive design so that dance educators can “enter” from their personal needs or viewpoints. For instance, a teacher of an improvisation class will be able to click on “creating” and the standards will sort according to priorities based on creating dance. A social studies teacher can enter from a “Cultural/Historical” perspective, and the standards will sort accordingly. Needs and world views are customized.

  These standards are a new integrated model for the 21st Century. They reflect the individual core dancer in relation to a universal world view. They encompass multi-perspectives simultaneously; priorities that can change according to the teacher and the students. They help the educator teach from a four-dimensional approach so students can learn from a broad range of dance experiences. They are a new, holistic concept of dance education that embodies the future.

  Standards for Professional Development and Certification
  The Professional Teaching Standards for Dance in Arts Education grew out of a long-term need to recognize master and highly qualified dance educators teaching dance in the arts within higher education, Pre-K-12 education, private schools of dance, and performing arts institutions. In dialogue with the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards over the past eight years, NBPTS agrees they will not likely develop standards for dance. Thus, NDEO accepted the challenge.

  The Professional Teaching Standards for Dance in Arts Education provide guidelines for accomplished teachers and may be useful in ascertaining the “highly qualified” status of a dance educator in a state transitioning to full dance certification; or, in states without certification, they may be helpful in formulating policy towards certification in dance education.
  

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