NC ARTS EDUCATION HONORS COURSES

In November 2004, the State Board of Education approved standards to be used for all honors courses effective with the 2005-2006 school year as a result of State Board of Education Policy HSP-L-004.  The Honors Course Implementation Guide includes the standards approved by the State Board of Education for developing and implementing honors courses in our state.  Honors versions of all courses shall adhere to, align with and reflect these North Carolina Honors Course Standards. The honors policy requires that prior to the honors designation there must be a curriculum guide and administrative review of each proposed course. The development, review and approval process must be established and ongoing in each school and/or system to ensure honors courses warrant the additional weighted credit.

According to the policy, there may be honors courses in arts education. Those courses that are the third and fourth year course components of a numerical sequence of courses in any discipline area of arts education (dance, music, theatre arts or visual arts) may have honors versions. Students may only receive credit for an individual honors course one time.

The NC Honors Course Standards require school systems to develop honors courses in adherence to the new standards, use an approval process, and prepare a curriculum guide for each individual honors course offered. The Arts Education Teaching Preparation Portfolio form should be used in the development of arts education honors courses. When completed, the form and any additional materials should be submitted to the appropriate administrators for approval, as required by the LEA. Using this form ensures that Arts Education Honors Courses meet both the general NC Honors Course Standards AND the Arts Education Honors Course Standards.

The 2005 Arts Education Honors Course Standards
include overviews, prerequisites, and relevant standards for honors courses in the subjects of dance, music, theatre arts and visual arts. Please be aware that changes have been made to the Arts Education Honors Course Standards document since the 1994 and 1998 versions. This 2005 document, starting with the 2005-2006 school year, supersedes all other previous Arts Education Honors Course Standards.