About Us
Platform and Position Statements
NAEA's platform and position statements relate to national issues or topics of interest to the profession and/or field of visual arts education and advances the mission of the organization.
What are the Visual Arts?
Visual Arts, as defined by the National Art Education Association, include the traditional fine arts, such as, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and sculpture; media arts, such as, animation, video and emerging digital technologies; design, such as, communication, product, and interactive; environmental, such as, architecture, landscape architecture, interior and urban planning; conceptual, performance, participatory, street, and folk arts and works of art in clay, glass, metal, wood, fiber, paper and other materials.
NAEA Platform and Position Statements as of March 2022
Alphabetical Listing of Position Statements Adopted as of March 2022
NAEA Position Statements by Platform Category as of March 2022
Category: Learners
NAEA Position Statements in this Category:
- Early Childhood Art Education [Adopted April 2010; Reviewed and Revised March 2013 and March 2016]
- Equity for All Learners [Adopted March 2012; Reviewed 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2020]
- Graduation Requirements in the Visual Arts [Adopted March 2011; Reviewed and Revised April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Impact of Visual Arts Workforce Development [Adopted March 2018; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
Category: Art Educators
NAEA Position Statements in this Category:
- Visual Art Educators with Disabilities [Adopted March 2017; Reviewed and Revised March 2020]
- Achieving an Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive Visual Arts Education Profession [Adopted March 2016; Revised and Adopted July 2016; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
- Certified/Licensed Visual Art Educators in Pre-K through 12 School Settings [Adopted April 2010; Reviewed and Revised March 2013; Reviewed and Revised March 2016; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Collaborations between the Visual Art Educator and the Teaching Artist [Adopted March 2012; Reviewed and Revised March 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2020]
- Excellence in Art Museum Teaching [Adopted March 2012; Reviewed and Revised March 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2020]
- Importance of Visual Arts Supervisors/Administrators in PreK-12 Education [Adopted March 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2018]
- Physical Safety in the Art Classroom [Adopted April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2017; Reviewed and Revised March 2022]
- Positive School Culture and Climate [Adopted March 2016; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Pre-service Education and its Relationship to Higher Education [Adopted March 2011; Reviewed and Revised April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Professional Development [Adopted March 2011; Reviewed and Revised April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Reaching Learners who have Experienced Trauma [Adopted April 2020]
- Teacher Evaluation [Adopted March 2013; Reviewed and Revised March 2016; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
- Visual Art and Its Relationship to CTE [Adopted March 2013; Reviewed and Revised November 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
Category: Relationships
NAEA Position Statements in this Category:
- Community Collaborations including those with Cultural Organizations [Adopted March 2011; Reviewed and Revised April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Deaccessioning Objects in Art Museum Collections [Adopted March 2013; Reviewed March 2016; Reviewed and Revised in February 2021]
- Diversity and Inclusion in Visual Arts Education [Adopted April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2017; Reviewed and Revised March 2022]
- Freedom of Speech Through Visual Expression [Adopted July 2011; Update of 1991 Statement on Censorship and the Arts Reviewed and Revised April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Importance of State or Province Level Agency Directors of Arts Education [Adopted March 2018; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
- Regarding the Use of American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian Mascots in Educational Settings [Adopted April 2010; Reviewed March 2013 and March 2016]
- Relationship of Visual Art Educators to Decision-makers [Adopted March 2012; Reviewed and Revised March 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2020]
- Student Art Contests and Competitions [Adopted March 2016; Reviewed and Revised March 2019; Consolidation and Update of these two statements: NAEA Policy Statement on Involvement in Art Contests and Competitions for Students at the Secondary Level Adopted April 1998 and NAEA Policy on Contests And Competitions Adopted March 2001]
- Supporting, Sustaining and Retaining Art Education Programs in Colleges and Universities [Adopted March 2017; Reviewed and Revised March 2020; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
- Value of Collaborative Research [Adopted March 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2018]
Category: Curriculum
NAEA Position Statements in this Category:
- 4C’s (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity)[Adopted March 2022]
- Arts Integration [Adopted March 2013; Reviewed and Revised March 2016;Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
- Media Arts [Adopted March 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2018; Revised August 2018; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- STEAM Education [Adopted March 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2017; Reviewed and Revised March 2022]
- Use of Imagery, Cultural Appropriation and Socially Just Practices [Adopted March 2017; Reviewed with recommendations March 2020; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
- Utilizing Quality Resources to Build Meaningful Curriculum [Adopted April 2020]
- Visual Arts as Part of a Well-Rounded Education [Adopted March 2011; Reviewed and Revised April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Visual Arts Education and Social Justice [Adopted March 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2018]
- Visual Literacy [Adopted April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2017; Reviewed and Revised March 2022]
Category: Instruction
NAEA Position Statements in this Category:
- Benefits of Art Museum Learning in Education [Adopted March 2012; Reviewed and Revised March 2015; Reviewed and Revised March 2020]
- Connections Between Instruction and Assessment [Adopted March 2015; Reviewed and Revised, March 2018]
- Digital Citizenship [Adopted March 2018; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
- Distance Learning in Art Education [Adopted March 2013; Reviewed and Revised March 2016; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
- Ethical use of Copyrighted Imagery and Primary Sources [Adopted April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2017; Reviewed and Revised March 2022]
- Field Trips/Field-Based Learning/Equity [Adopted March 2016; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- PreK-12 Educator Evaluation in the Visual Arts [Adopted March 2011; Reviewed and Revised April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Scheduling, Time, Funding and/or Resources for Visual Arts Education [Adopted March 2011; Reviewed and Revised April 2014; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
Category: Assessment
NAEA Position Statements in this Category:
- Impact of High Stakes and Standardized Testing on Visual Arts Education [Adopted March 2016; Reviewed and Revised March 2019]
- Instruction, Assessment and Student Learning in the Visual Arts [Adopted March 2015]
- Assessment in the Visual Arts Classroom [Adopted March 2013; Reviewed March 2016; Reviewed and Revised February 2021]
Archived Position Statements
NAEA Position Statements Adopted Prior to 2008
- The Professional Code for Art Educators
- The Professional Code for Art Education Associations of States and Provinces
- What We Believe/NAEA Goals For Quality Arts Education
- Accreditation Standards: Purposes, Principles, and Standards for School Art Program
- Involvement in Art Contests and Competitions for Students at the Secondary Level
- NAEA Policy on Contests And Competitions Adopted March 2001
- Coloring Books
- Essentials Statement of the National Council of Teachers of English (NAEA cosigner)
- The Philadelphia Resolution
- Definition of Fine Arts for High School Graduation Requirements
- Censorship and the Arts
- National Arts Education Accord
- Joint Resolution on Terminal Degrees, Appointment, and Advancement
- North American Art Education Accord
Schedule of Reviews of NAEA Position Statements April 2019
Process for the Development, Adoption, and Review of Position Statements - July 2016
Process for the Review of NAEA Adopted Position Statements - July 2016
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