Grant Awarded to Neb. Dept. of Ed. to Create Art Standards - KHGI-TV/KWNB-TV/KHGI-CD-Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings

A grant has been awarded to the Nebraska Department of Education to help set standards for art programs in the state's schools.

The $46,100 grant from the Nebraska Arts Council will be used to draft the standards, but the plan will not include assessment tests like the state uses for the core subjects of math, science, reading and writing.

The arts standards, set to be finalized by August 2014, will include dance, media arts, music, theater and visual arts.

The state currently has had guidelines for arts education, but no standards. Donlynn Rice, the department's administrator of curriculum, instruction and innovation, says the department eventually would also like to develop standards for world language and coordinated school health education.