CURRICULUM AND STANDARDS: THEATRE EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS
A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Television, Radio, Film, and Theatre San JosŽ State University
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts
by Shauna Honey Yelnick December 2008
ABSTRACT
CURRICULUM AND STANDARDS: THEATRE EDCATION IN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS
By Shauna Honey Yelnick
This thesis examines the Theatre Content Standards issued by the California Department of Education. A brief history of the Standards is given, along with an examination of the importance of arts education in schools. The literature review examines the value of having Standards in the theatre arts classroom, as well as criticism from its opponents. Research revealed that the list of suggested literature from the Department of Education for use in the 9-12 classroom is outdated and inadequate. Many of the books suggested were published before the StandardsÕ 2001 inception. The remaining suggested literature either does not fulfill any of the five Standards, or fulfills only one per book. To research what theatre teachers in California are using in their high school classrooms, a survey of forty teachers was conducted to see if theatre teachers are teaching a Standards-based curriculum. The research revealed that California theatre teachers are, in fact, not teaching the Standards in their high school classroom. This thesis makes suggestions for future research to discover if the survey data is similar and consistent with the data of the three other visual and performing arts disciplines: music, dance, and visual art.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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