Author looked at the position and role of the visual arts and the artist as they reflect and contribute to the creation of a culture's concept of reality or world view and what this means to art educators. (Author/RK)

Reviews past studies of children's drawings and their relationship to academic ability. Discusses the use of Clark's Drawing Abilities Test with gifted and talented secondary students. Finds that the test can be used successfully to identify various ability levels among students. (CFR)

Examines the way first-year public high school students drew the human figure from life, photographs, and copies of master drawings. Finds that the three referents were not significantly different in supplying information to learn specified art elements. Maintains that drawing from life needs to be reexamined. (KM)

Investigates the role of women in U.S. art education by focusing on the art education contributions of Eugenia Eckford Rhoads. Presents a biographical sketch and describes her published works. Questions the role of sexism in how art educators judge the success or failure of a professional career. (KM)

Asserts that there is little research about preservice art specialist education. Reviews literature and questionnaire results and offers suggestions about research and practices for preservice art education programs. Recommends a carefully constructed research agenda on art teachers' knowledge about subject matter content. (CFR)

Explores the problems of teaching art to preadolescents by taking into account the experiences and reflections of the teachers, students, and the researcher. Uses cross-site analysis and categorizes the problems into three groups: (1) contradictions in student behaviors; (2) instructional demands; and (3) institutional contingencies. Includes…

Reports on a study of instructional strategies and classroom techniques used by art teachers for children with disabilities. Finds that in both segregated and integrated art education settings, a balanced, comprehensive art education program is possible with all students. (CFR)

Reports on a three-year ethnographic study of the visual arts curriculum in three elementary schools. Finds three distinct orientations: (1) the rote, teacher-centered orientation; (2) the open-ended, student-centered orientation; and (3) the higher order, cognitive orientation. (CFR)

Presents gender issues in the context of a broad definition of art education. Reports on a study of the ability of 115 eighth- and 11th-grade students to assess critically gender stereotypes. Provides five recommendations for dealing with gender issues in the art education curriculum. (CFR)

Reports on a study of the higher-order thinking and subject matter understanding of 18 preservice art teachers. Finds that only some exhibited the higher-order thinking or in-depth understanding expected of specialists in visual art. Discusses implications for teacher preparation. (CFR)