Music Standards PK through Grade Twelve
California Arts Standards for Music Grade TK-Twelve
The CAS for Music, adopted in 2019, provides a blueprint for students to achieve music literacy. There are five sets of performance standards that describe learning expectations and are not tied to any specific style or genre. Access the full standards document here. The music standards are on pages 83-170.
California Preschool/Transitional Kindergarten Learning Foundations
While the California Arts Education Framework provides guidance for teaching music in pre kindergarten, California PK/TK Learning Foundations (CA PTKLF) for Visual and Performing Arts provides guidance for teaching music to three-to-five-and-a-half-year-old children. See the California Arts Education Framework (page xi) for guidance about when to use the CAS and when to use the CA PTKLF.
Spotlight on Music Education
- Artscapes–Del Norte County is a short video that features Del Norte Unified School District, a small district in rural Northern California where a vibrant TK-12 music education program is thriving. You can read more about music education in Del Norte County in this spotlight.
Professional Learning
Professional Organizations
The California Music Educators Association and the National Association for Music Education offer a “professional home” for existing and aspiring music educators. A variety of resources are available to both members and non-members of these organizations.
Creativity at the Core Professional Learning Modules
- Developing Empathy and Understanding through World Music focuses on how to help students develop empathy and understanding using music as a lens to view the historical and cultural connections of people around the world and within their communities. For teachers of grades K-12.
- Music Instruction and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Focuses on expanding access to music education and integration for students in grades TK- 6 with diverse abilities through Universal Design for Learning. Topics include the UDL framework, creating a flexible learning environment, accommodating individual learning differences, and learning styles and barriers in the music classroom.
