"Creativity is now as important in education as literacy"- Sir Ken Robinson
A well-rounded education includes the arts. The fine arts provide a place for students
to explore new ideas, take appropriate risks, creatively problem solve, collaborate,
develop aesthetic awareness, explore the world and other cultures, and to express
oneself.
Fine Arts Strands
The Utah Core standards are organized into strands, which represent significant areas
of learning within content areas. The Fine Arts have four strands: Create, Perform/Present/
Produce, Respond, and Connect. These four strands provide the framework for a comprehensive
experience in each of the five art forms: Dance, Drama/Theatre, Media Arts, Music,
and Visual Arts.
Create
Conceptualize, generate, develop and organize artistic ideas. Refine through persistence,
reflection, and evaluation.
Perform/Present/Produce
Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work. Develop techniques and concepts to refine
work and express meaning through presentation.
Respond
Perceive, analyze, interpret, articulate, and evaluate work and process.
Connect
Synthesize and relate knowledge with personal meaning relating to societal, cultural,
and historical context to deepen understanding.
Utah Core Standards
The Utah State Board of Education adopted the most recent revision of Fine Arts standards
on April 15, 2016, and designated the 2016-2017 school year for partial implementation
with full implementation in the 2017-2018 school year.
In September 2022, the Board voted to not begin the standards revision process for
Fine Arts standards.
For applications, spec sheets, and to apply for an endorsement, visit our Licensing
team's Educator Endorsements page under the ‘Fine Arts’ tab. There you will find information and tutorials on using
SM Apply.
Endorsement Resources
For information, support, and resources in obtaining a Fine Arts Endorsement, please
see the Fine Arts Endorsement FAQs sheet.
To see what each Fine Arts Endorsement and license area qualifies you to teach, please
see the Fine Arts Qualifying Endorsements spreadsheet. If a course is listed more than once it means that there are multiple
endorsement options that can meet that course requirement. The tabs at the bottom
of the document represent active courses in each art form. Not all courses listed
meet graduation requirements. Please refer to the Comprehensive Administration of Credentials for Teachers in Utah Schools (CACTUS) for details related to graduation requirements, questions about CACTUS, and course
descriptions and standards.
Professional Learning
Massively Integrated Data Analytics System (MIDAS)
One license point is awarded for each clock hour of participation. No credit cost
to educator. Educators will need to defend the applicability of the activity to their
professional responsibilities.
Utah State Board of Education Credit
Eighteen license points = One semester hour credit. No credit cost to educator. Providers
of the in-service credit need to get the activity pre-approved to determine if it
meets the standards, which include support of the core curriculum.
University/College Credit
Professional development events may offer University/College credit and the participant
will be required to pay that institutions recording fee to receive the credit.
This interactive dashboard illustrates Utah’s secondary public school arts education
data, as gathered longitudinally through the state’s Comprehensive Administration of Credentials for Teachers in Utah Schools (CACTUS) and other data sets. With five years of data displayed by year, it provides
a snapshot of trends over time, arts discipline and course participation rates and
regional arts education participation and offerings. The dashboard is color-coded
and fully searchable by region (county, district, school, and charter) as well as
by arts discipline, courses offered, enrollment, including some demographic information.
Data from ensuing school years will be added annually to ensure this new tool remains
relevant and useful. The Utah Secondary Arts Education Data Dashboard is part of the
National Arts Education Data Project and is powered by Quadrant Research.
The Arts Education Data Project dashboard enables parents, educators, school administrators,
and policymakers to see what arts education courses are offered in public schools
and districts across the state and gives decision makers the ability to track trends.
It was created in partnership between the State Education Agency Directors of Arts
Education (SEADAE) and Quadrant Research.
The nationwide project coordinates with participating state departments of education
to collect and report arts education data (music, art, theatre, and dance) from State
Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) and other state department of education data sets
on an annual basis.
Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program (BTS Arts) is a teaching partnership between highly qualified arts educators and K-6 classroom
teachers in Utah elementary schools. The arts educator works collaboratively with
the regular classroom teacher to deliver quality, sequential, and developmental arts
instruction in alignment with the state Fine Arts Core Curriculum.
This program is bringing music, visual arts, dance, and theatre back into the classroom.
As the art form integrates with language arts, math, social studies, and science,
it is helping to reinforce the classroom core. Arts integration provides students
with a deeper level of understanding in grade-level core content, and enriches the
learning experience for both students and teachers.
Since its inception in 2008, BTS Arts has grown from 50 to over 450 schools, bringing
integrated arts education to nearly 250,000 elementary public and charter school students
across all LEAs statewide. This represents close to 80% of elementary schools in Utah
with BTS Arts integrated learning in their schools. Over 100 schools were added between
SYR 2022-23 and SYR 2023-24 alone. Demand continues to grow across multiple LEAs.
Professional Outreach Programs in the Schools (POPS)
Professional Outreach Program in the Schools (POPS) is sponsored by the Utah State
Legislature and managed by the Utah State Board of Education. POPS supports arts education
in Utah’s public schools by creating customized and meaningful offerings from professional
arts organizations. POPS offerings embody the state’s core learning standards and provides arts education opportunities to all Utah schools for free.
POPS Resources
Looking for a lecture, demonstration, assembly (in-school or field trip!), arts instruction
in your classroom, teacher professional development workshops, concerts, performance
in DANCE, MEDIA ARTS, THEATRE, MUSIC, or VISUAL ARTS at your school? See the updated
POPS offerings below!
The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) Sorenson Legacy Awards for Excellence in
Arts Education recognizes excellence in arts education in Utah's public schools. Children
and teenage students need a well-rounded education that addresses the whole child.
The study of drama, dance, music, visual art, and media arts helps students explore
realities, relationships, and ideas that cannot be expressed simply in words or numbers.
The arts teach social, emotional, and academic learning through making cultural connections. Research supports the claim that learning in the arts increases learning in other
academic areas. In the global economy, creativity is essential. Study of the arts
provides a venue for creativity to flourish.
Beverley Taylor Sorenson worked tirelessly to promote the arts as an avenue for students
to develop voice, sustain engagement in school, and evoke reflection and response.
The USBE Sorenson Legacy Awards for Excellence in Arts Education recognize the essential
nature of education in the arts for Utah's students, distinguish those educators who
embrace the arts with excellence in their practice, and ensure that Beverley's legacy
will continue on.
These 2025 awards are made possible by a generous grant from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation.
Up to 13 awards may be given, in these categories:
- Elementary Dance Instruction
- Elementary Drama Instruction
- Elementary Music Instruction
- Elementary Visual Arts Instruction
- Secondary Dance Instruction
- Secondary Media Arts Instruction
- Secondary Music Instruction
- Secondary Theatre Instruction
- Secondary Visual Arts Instruction
- Elementary Arts Integration, for the Classroom Teacher
- Exemplary Arts Education Administration
Each winner of these awards will receive $2500 for themselves, and $500 for arts support
for their school.
- Exemplary Arts Program
- Lifetime Achievement in Arts Education (winner selected by committee)
Each winner of these awards receives $5000.
*Elementary Arts Integration Instruction nominees should be elementary classroom teachers.
Other nominees should be teaching in the specified art form.
No in-person awards event will be held. We look forward to honoring each of the 2025
winners in their school communities.
