What impact does proficiency have at the elementary level and middle school level?
A. The arts graduation requirement, as with all proficiency, is a K-12 developmental process. Elementary, middle, and high school teachers must work in concert to provide every kindergartener the opportunity to achieve proficiency by the time they graduate high school. As with all disciplines, students develop life long attitudes and learning skills during crucial elementary years. Students must learn to experiment and take risks with a variety of forms of personal expression and art making. They must find the experiences rewarding and appropriately challenging. They must learn values inherent in the arts, its connection to history and culture as well as to other disciplines. Elementary educators must take advantage of involved parents and communicate the importance of arts learning in the lives of their children. Middle level educators must be aware of students’ prior knowledge and what is expected of them in high school. When learners build upon prior knowledge and understand what is
