Discipline Outcomes

Art & Design

The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)  identifies standards for student learning outcomes in both practice and research-oriented degrees in a variety of specializations in the arts (e.g., film/video, sculpture, theatre design). The Handbook that outlines these measures is found at http://nasad.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=Handbook.


Dance

The National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD) publishes the booklet, Outcomes Assessment and Arts Programs in Higher Education to examine the issue of outcomes assessment in arts education with an emphasis on skill and artistic ability.


History

The American Historical Association (AHA)  has developed criteria for Standards in History/Social Studies/Social Sciences to compliment accreditation standards being developed in many states. An emphasis is on analytical and critical thinking skills with a global perspective of the entire human experience. A suggested reading for History Faculty is A Competency-Based Approach to Teaching History Surveys by William W. Cutler III in the April 2002 issues of Perspectives at http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/Issues/2002/0204/0204teach1.htm


Literature & Writing

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)have provided on their website twelve inter-related “Standards for the English Language Arts”. These are outcomes students should be able to demonstrate on completion of their program which reflect information literacy and competency.


Music

The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) supports the use of student competencies for both learning and accreditation through documents that demonstrate how “the institution’s curricula, processes, and evaluation systems ensure the development of basic competencies for all students enrolled in a specific program.” The 2003-2004 Handbook at http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/site/docs/NASM Handbook 2003-2004 PDF/D1539-NASM 03_04 Handbook.pdf provides descriptions of standard competencies for all music students.


Theatre

The National Association of Schools of Theatre’s (NAST) discusses the essential competencies in both general and sub-discipline-specific terms for undergraduate through doctoral degrees. Supporting documents include the organizational philosophy on accreditation.