SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's top education official said the state plans to emphasize a need to teach and support the arts by adopting new statewide K-12 education standards on the arts.
State Public Education Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski announced Tuesday that the state has adopted the National Core Arts Standards, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported .
The new standards, which will take effect in July, will give public school students the chance to study at least one of the following disciplines: dance, music, theater, visual arts and media. The change also allows teachers to weave elements of the arts into other core classes like math, reading and social studies, Ruszkowski said.
The state's adoption of the guidelines comes after discussions with arts educators from across New Mexico, Ruszkowski said
"Everything that we are doing is based upon what we are hearing in the field," Ruszkowski said during an event at New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe.
The national standards were developed by a coalition of arts educators from across the country and are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans for the Arts and the National Guild for Community Arts Education. At least 15 states have adopted the guidelines that the group first published in 2014.
The adoption of the standards marks the first time in nearly a decade that the state Public Education Department has made changes to its arts guidelines. The change also marks the first time in about two decades the state arts standards have seen significant overhaul.