This study identifies, explains, and develops a practical model of teaching art criticism within a traditional secondary art curriculum. The approach to teaching art criticism uses the discipline-based art education format described in the Getty publication of 1985, a composite art critical format including B. Bloom, E. Feldman, K. Hamblen, and E. Kaelin, is accomplished through a process model curriculum developed by L. Stenhouse, and uses K. Gentle's curriculum design as the basis of the Curriculum Model Diagram. The project provides lessons that are intended to help junior high school, and senior high school art students develop the necessary skills to make informed judgements about art in the production, historic, aesthetic, and critical areas of the existing art curriculum. The methodology is presented in a lesson plan design, includes a Biographical Sketch, and a Six-Part Questioning Strategy. Three experienced artist/teachers were asked to review the curriculum and, using the Artist/Educator Questionnaire, evaluate it. Feedback from the three reviewers suggested several ways the curriculum could be tailored to individual teacher and program needs.

The unique characteristics and needs of artistically talented students were explored. World history students at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts were used as a test group for the utilization of a variety of art forms in teaching world history. Lesson plans using art media for each unit of study in world history were constructed. Students responded to each lesson by completing an attitude survey. The conclusion was that the use of a variety of art in world history increased student interest and motivation. The increased student motivation resulted in a failure rate of approximately 5%, significantly lower than the previous failure rate of 12%.