NAEA's strategic plans.

Learn about the National Art Education Association by reading the following article. To become a member and learn more, contact the NAEA at 703.860.8000 or visit www.naea-reston.org.

NAEA began long-range planning in 1982, when a Long-Range Planning Commission was formed to make recommendations to improve the status of the art education profession five to ten years ahead. This commission made specific recommendations to improve the status of art in American education and to support professional growth for NAEA members. Goals for Quality Art Education, drafted by the NAEA Board of Directors in 1984, was circulated to members and ratified at the 1985 convention. These goals stimulated actions benefiting the association, including a management plan to guide state/province associations. The first strategic planning retreat of the NAEA Board of Directors was held in June 1986; as a result, 31 mission-oriented program initiatives were accomplished that year.

After the Goals 2000 Educate America Act became law in 1994, NAEA participated in the development of the National Visual Arts Standards, as well as in the consensus planning process for the 1997 National Assessment of Educational Progress in the Arts. During this period, under the leadership of then-president Sarah Tambucci. NAEA's strategic planning generated five interrelated goals aligned with emerging national policy and addressing content for art instruction curricula delivery standards, assessment. and professional development.

While the Association has developed long-range plans before the plan introduced in Denver is the first informed by all levels of the association. Our planning process began at the 2002 Board of Directors summer meeting in Minneapolis. The Executive Committee served as oversight committee, guiding the multi-year process which sought input from Delegates Assembly and the Distinguished Fellows at the 2003 conference, focus group discussions with two summer regional leadership meetings in June and July 2003, and an on-line survey open to all NAEA members from mid-November 2003 through mid-January 2004. A vision of the kind of art education NAEA supports emerged from these sources, along with one overarching goal for the next five years.

Vision

All PreK-12 students deserve a comprehensive, balanced, and sequential program of instruction in the visual arts. The art curriculum will be taught by teachers certified and qualified in the visual arts and designed to provide students with skills and knowledge in the arts in accordance with national, state, and local standards.

The curriculum-based art instruction offered in school will be enhanced with access to art museum and community education programs. These supplementary programs will reach learners of all ages and should complement school-based art education.

Goal

By the 2006 convention, NAEA will develop and implement a plan to advocate the importance of student learning in the visual arts to art educators. policy makers, parents and community leaders, and the mass media through identification of exemplary policies and practices, opportunities for professional development, and effective communication.