Reading: Introduction to Minnesota Academic Standards in Arts

1. Arts area (1^st digit in code). The five arts areas are: dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts.

2. Grade level (2^nd digit).  0 = Kindergarten; 1 = 1st grade, etc. HS = high school 9-12 grade band.

3. Strand (3^rd digit). The standards are organized into five strands. Strands are big concepts or practices into which standards are grouped. They help communicate some of the most important aspects of learning in a content area. The five strands represent four artistic process and foundational knowledge and skills.

4. Anchor standard (4^th digit).  There are ten arts standards. Academic standards describe the expectations in arts learning that all students must satisfy to meet state requirements for credit and graduation. An anchor standard is a broad statement of the most important learning in a content area, kindergarten through twelfth grade. They are the same for all five arts areas.

5. Benchmark (5^th digit).  The benchmarks provide details about “the academic knowledge and skills that schools must offer and students must achieve to satisfactorily complete” the anchor standards. Each standard is supported by one or more benchmark. Benchmarks are unique to each arts area.

a. Benchmarks are grade level for kindergarten through 8^th grade. The 9-12 grades benchmarks are grade banded. These describe the years’ worth of learning that should occur in the one arts credit required for graduation.

b. Anchor standard #1 in the Foundations strand has no benchmarks listed below it. Instead, foundations are integrated across the benchmarks in the other strands. Text is bolded where foundational knowledge and skills are present in other benchmarks.

c. Each standard and benchmark begins with the phrase, “The student will…” Examples provided in the benchmarks are intended to clarify the meaning of the benchmark and are optional.

d. The 2018 arts standards include a glossary of terms referenced in the standards for each arts area. Italics in a benchmark indicate that the word or phrase is included in the glossary.