Preparation Manual

Section 3: Overview and Exam Framework
Dance 6–12 (279)

Exam Overview

Table outlining the test format, number of questions, time, and passing score.

Exam Name	Dance 6–12
Exam Code	279
Time	5 hours
Number of Questions	100 selected-response questions
Format	Computer-administered test (CAT)

The TExES Dance 6–12 (279) exam is designed to assess whether an examinee has the requisite knowledge and skills that an entry-level educator in this field in Texas public schools must possess. The 100 selected-response questions are based on the Dance 6–12 exam framework and cover grades 6–12. The exam may contain questions that do not count toward the score. Your final scaled score will be based only on scored questions.

The Standards

Domains and Competencies

Table outlining test content subject weighting by domain.

Domain	Domain Title	Approx. Percentage of Exam	Standards Assessed
I	Dance Elements and Skills	41%	Dance 6–12 I–II
II	Dance Creation and Production	18%	Dance 6–12 III, V
III	Dance Culture, History and Analysis	18%	Dance 6–12 IV–V
IV	Dance Education	23%	Dance 6–12 I–VI

The content covered by this exam is organized into broad areas of content called domains. Each domain covers one or more of the educator standards for this field. Within each domain, the content is further defined by a set of competencies. Each competency is composed of two major parts:

• The competency statement, which broadly defines what an entry-level educator in this field in Texas public schools should know and be able to do.
• The descriptive statements, which describe in greater detail the knowledge and skills eligible for testing.

Domain I—Dance Elements and Skills

Competency 001—The teacher demonstrates knowledge of movement concepts and movement analysis.

The beginning teacher:

1. Recognizes and describes concepts of basic anatomy, physiology and biomechanics as they relate to dance movement.
2. Identifies and analyzes movement qualities and dynamics.
3. Recognizes and describes concepts of movement quality or effort, including time (e.g., quick, sustained), space (e.g., direct, indirect), weight (e.g., strong, light) and flow (e.g., free, bound).
4. Recognizes and describes concepts of space, including kinesphere or reach space, level (e.g., high, middle, low), direction (e.g., forward, right, up) and planes of motion (e.g., vertical, sagittal, horizontal).
5. Recognizes and describes concepts of shapes and shape making (e.g., spatial tensions, expanding and contracting, spatial paths).
6. Recognizes and describes concepts of rhythm (e.g., pulse, pattern, accent, syncopation, polyrhythms) and musical organization (e.g., note value, meter).
7. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to use imagery to enhance dance technique and movement potential.
8. Compares and contrasts different dance techniques using general concepts of movement analysis (e.g., space, time, energy, intention).

Competency 002—The teacher understands the fundamental skills and concepts of ballet.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates familiarity with basic vocabulary and techniques associated with ballet.
2. Recognizes and describes characteristics of different styles of ballet technique.
3. Recognizes and describes patterns and combinations in ballet.

Competency 003—The teacher understands the fundamental skills and concepts of modern dance.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates familiarity with basic vocabulary and techniques associated with modern dance.
2. Recognizes and describes characteristics of different styles of modern dance technique.
3. Recognizes and describes patterns and combinations in modern dance.

Competency 004—The teacher understands the fundamental skills and concepts of jazz and tap dance.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates familiarity with basic vocabulary and techniques associated with jazz and tap dance.
2. Recognizes and describes characteristics of different styles of jazz and tap techniques.
3. Recognizes and describes patterns and combinations in jazz and tap dance.

Competency 005—The teacher understands the fundamental skills and concepts of world and social dance.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates familiarity with basic vocabulary and techniques associated with world (e.g., folk, folklórico, flamenco, bharata natyam, African dance) and social dance.
2. Recognizes and describes characteristics of different forms of world and social dance.
3. Recognizes and describes patterns and combinations in world and social dance.

Competency 006—The teacher understands the elements and principles of kinesiology and somatics as they relate to dance.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates familiarity with terminology and concepts related to kinesiology, conditioning and somatics.
2. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to apply kinesiology, conditioning and somatics to dance movements.
3. Recognizes and describes basic elements and principles of anatomy and kinesiology/biomechanics.
4. Demonstrates knowledge of appropriate alignment and body-part articulation (e.g., use of the joints, range of motion).
5. Demonstrates knowledge of somatic practices (e.g., yoga, Pilates, Bartenieff Fundamentals, ideokinesis) and principles as they relate to dance.
6. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to use imagery to promote appropriate alignment and kinesthetic awareness.

Competency 007—The teacher understands practices that promote health, safety and injury prevention in dance.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates knowledge of safe movement practices and procedures for promoting dancers’ health and safety.
2. Demonstrates familiarity with causes, symptoms and treatments of common injuries and health issues associated with dance.
3. Demonstrates knowledge of principles of and approaches to dance conditioning and injury prevention, including types and benefits of warm-ups and cool-downs and procedures for enhancing strength, flexibility and endurance.
4. Recognizes and describes appropriate clothing and footwear for different types of dance and different studio and performance environments.
5. Demonstrates knowledge of basic health and nutritional practices for dancers and common challenges for dancers in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
6. Demonstrates knowledge of health and safety issues associated with classroom and performance environments (e.g., flooring, lighting, temperature, room capacity).

Domain II—Dance Creation and Production

Competency 008—The teacher understands choreographic principles and processes.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates knowledge of sources for generating choreographic ideas (e.g., music, literature, visual art and design, natural or constructed environments, gestures, emotions) and methods for developing an idea into a dance phrase, dance study or complete choreographic work.
2. Recognizes and describes factors affecting the selection and choreography of appropriate material for dance performances.
3. Demonstrates familiarity with research strategies for locating music literature and sources (e.g., live, recorded) for various styles of dance.
4. Demonstrates knowledge of ways in which basic improvisation skills and techniques are used in exploring movement, generating movement for choreography and creating original dances.
5. Analyzes and describes how choreographers manipulate and develop basic movement content in dance.
6. Demonstrates knowledge of ways in which dance creates and communicates meaning.

Competency 009—The teacher understands choreographic devices and structures.

The beginning teacher:

1. Recognizes and describes the basic compositional elements of space, time, energy (e.g., movement qualities, effort), pattern, dynamics, phrasing, musicality, expression, intention and context in choreography.
2. Demonstrates familiarity with compositional forms and structures in dance (e.g., theme and variations, AB, ABA, rondo, round, canon) and their relationships to musical forms.
3. Analyzes the relationship between dance and different types of accompaniment (e.g., sound, music, spoken text).
4. Recognizes and describes basic elements of music (e.g., meter signatures, terminology related to tempo and dynamics) and common rhythmic and metric patterns.
5. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to use choreographic principles, processes and structures to create coherent, aesthetically unified dances in a variety of styles.

Competency 010—The teacher understands the basic principles of dance production.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates knowledge of elements of and basic skills for dance production (e.g., lighting, costuming, set design, makeup), including proper use of technology, equipment, and facilities.
2. Recognizes and describes roles and responsibilities of various participants in dance productions and performances (e.g., dancer, choreographer, costumer, lighting designer, stage manager, house manager, audience).
3. Demonstrates knowledge of factors affecting the quality of individual dance performance (e.g., adequate rehearsal, appropriate technical skill, energy, focus, expression).
4. Demonstrates knowledge of factors affecting the quality of a dance production (e.g., length and variety of program, lighting, staging, aesthetics, natural or constructed environments).
5. Demonstrates familiarity with the use of technology (e.g., video, computer, sound and lighting equipment) in the creation, performance, production, and documentation of dance through various means, including the development of choreographic studies and dance portfolios.
6. Demonstrates knowledge of safety principles and procedures related to dance production.
7. Analyzes how various factors (e.g., performance space, props, lighting, costumes, makeup, sets) affect choreography and performance.

Domain III—Dance Culture, History and Analysis

Competency 011—The teacher understands the relationship between dance and culture.

The beginning teacher:

1. Analyzes, compares and contrasts techniques, styles, characteristic movements and traditions in dances from various cultures and historical periods.
2. Analyzes ways in which dance has been used to express ideas and emotions in different cultures and historical periods.
3. Identifies and analyzes historical and cultural elements that have influenced the development of different types of dance.

Competency 012—The teacher demonstrates knowledge of the history of dance.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates knowledge of significant events and developments in the history of dance throughout the world.
2. Analyzes the historical development of dance forms (e.g., social, cultural, political influences).
3. Demonstrates knowledge of the history of dance genres, including ballet, modern, tap, jazz, world and social dance.
4. Demonstrates familiarity with significant individuals in the history of dance and their contributions to the development of dance.
5. Recognizes and describes historical and contemporary trends and movements in dance.

Competency 013—The teacher understands basic principles of dance analysis and evaluation.

The beginning teacher:

1. Recognizes and describes characteristics and qualities of different types of dance and different dance compositions.
2. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to research, analyze, interpret and evaluate dance, including dance from various eras and cultures, incorporating the appropriate use of technology.
3. Demonstrates knowledge of criteria used to evaluate and critique choreography (e.g., originality, visual and emotional impact, use of music, variety and contrast).
4. Demonstrates knowledge of criteria used to evaluate and critique dance performance and production (e.g., skill of performers, production elements).
5. Demonstrates knowledge of appropriate vocabulary for and approaches to discussing dance.
6. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to research and analyze dance compositions within their historical context, incorporating the appropriate use of technology.
7. Recognizes ways in which an individual's perspective (e.g., as critic, performer, choreographer, audience member) may affect his or her response to dance.
8. Demonstrates the ability to analyze and discuss dance from a variety of perspectives (e.g., critic, performer, choreographer, audience member).

Domain IV—Dance Education

Competency 014—The teacher understands the relationships between dance and other art forms and between dance and other disciplines.

The beginning teacher:

1. Analyzes and describes the relationships between dance and other art forms.
2. Compares and contrasts the use of form and expression in dance with their use in other fine arts.
3. Analyzes and describes the relationships between dance and other disciplines (e.g., mathematics, science, social studies, English language arts).
4. Recognizes dance-related skills, such as creative problem solving, critical thinking, cooperation, collaboration and self-discipline and how these skills can be used in other disciplines.
5. Demonstrates knowledge of methods for providing instruction that integrates dance with other art forms and with other disciplines.
6. Demonstrates familiarity with opportunities in dance as a profession and ways in which skills developed through dance are applicable to a variety of careers.

Competency 015—The teacher understands the development and use of curricula and instructional strategies for dance education.

The beginning teacher:

1. Recognizes and describes stages of students' intellectual, social, emotional and physical development and their significance for dance education.
2. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to develop, implement and evaluate curriculum and instruction in dance based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
3. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage the development of students' knowledge, skills and creativity in dance.
4. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to develop and use instructional strategies that are responsive to the strengths and needs of all students, including students with special needs.
5. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to design lessons and activities, including the development of choreographic studies and dance portfolios, that promote students' development of the skills of observation, reflection and evaluation of their own and others' dance performances through historical, critical, reflective, kinesthetic, collaborative and imaginative analysis of dances and dance experiences.
6. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to design lessons and activities that teach students to apply dance-related skills, such as creative problem solving, critical thinking, cooperation and self-discipline in various dance contexts.
7. Demonstrates knowledge of procedures for promoting safety and for effectively managing and organizing time, instructional resources and physical space for dance classes and performances.
8. Demonstrates familiarity with appropriate instructional materials and recognizes strategies for developing students' dance knowledge and skills, motivating student achievement and developing appreciation of the arts.
9. Demonstrates familiarity with the effective use of relevant instructional technologies to enhance teaching and learning in dance.
10. Recognizes effective methods for teaching students appropriate behavior and protocol for dance events as participants and as audience members.
11. Recognizes effective methods for developing and utilizing community resources and support.

Competency 016—The teacher understands instructional strategies that develop the technical and creative skills students need to create and perform dance works.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates knowledge of dance techniques, kinesiology/biomechanics, somatics and movement analysis to guide and develop students' exploration of movement, enhance kinesthetic and spatial awareness and promote improvement in skills and technique.
2. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to implement lessons that integrate movement elements and skills that are appropriate for students with varied skill levels and that reflect the specific motor-skill development needs of individual students.
3. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to organize, sequence and implement lessons that promote safe and effective student learning, reflect an understanding of how the human body moves, promote students' ability to move efficiently and effectively and develop students' ability to perform progressively more complex movement patterns and sequences with rhythmic accuracy and a broad dynamic range.
4. Demonstrates knowledge of learning opportunities that promote students' development and application of knowledge and skills related to improvisation, choreography and performance.
5. Demonstrates knowledge of instructional strategies that provide students with opportunities to perform with projection, confidence, expressiveness and a refined sense of rhythm and musicality.
6. Demonstrates knowledge of instructional strategies that provide students with opportunities to explore and learn dance techniques from a variety of genres, cultures and time periods.
7. Demonstrates knowledge of instructional strategies that provide students with opportunities to use the creative process for self-expression both individually and in groups, and for responding to both natural and constructed environments.
8. Demonstrates knowledge of instructional strategies that foster students' creativity and critical-thinking skills by offering them opportunities, such as the creation of choreographic studies and dance portfolios, to explore the elements of dance, create dances and analyze their own and others' dance performances.
9. Demonstrates knowledge of instructional strategies that promote students' use of appropriate and effective imagery to enhance alignment, kinesthetic awareness, technique and performance.
10. Demonstrates knowledge of instructional strategies that encourage students to make healthy lifestyle choices and that assist students in developing and implementing appropriate and effective individual conditioning programs.

Competency 017—The teacher understands the basic principles of and approaches to assessment in dance education.

The beginning teacher:

1. Demonstrates knowledge of various methods of and purposes for assessment in dance.
2. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to use multiple forms of assessment (e.g., auditions, performances, portfolios) to plan instruction and to monitor and evaluate students' progress.
3. Recognizes and describes effective strategies and criteria for ongoing assessment of students' dance knowledge and skills.
4. Demonstrates familiarity with methods for developing and applying appropriate evaluation criteria based on knowledge of students' abilities and experience.
5. Recognizes effective methods for identifying performance problems and providing constructive feedback for improving dance performance.
6. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to evaluate solutions to a given movement problem.
7. Demonstrates knowledge of ways to help students use self-evaluation and correction to refine technique.

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