Along with the other California Subject Matter Projects, TCAP is responsible for carrying out the Vision at the core of AB 1734, the legislation that redefined the California Subject Matter Project network in 1998. Although not funded by this legislation, TCAP is one of three projects funded directly by the University of California that are held accountable to the same standards as the projects specifically mentioned in the legislation.

Since its beginnings in 1984 as the Fine Arts Curriculum Implementation Center, TCAP has developed a collegial, statewide network of teachers who are engaged in the improvement of arts instruction. Activities conducted by TCAP's statewide office and ten regional sites represent a systematic intersegmental effort to provide professional development in the visual and performing arts for elementary, middle, secondary, and postsecondary educators located in rural, urban, and suburban areas throughout California.

The California Arts Project is administered by the University of California. TCAP is guided by a statewide Advisory Board and a Faculty Advisors. Project administration is presently led by the Executive Director. Regional sites are administered by regional site directors.

• NCAP
• SNAP
• BayCAP
• East Bay CAP
• VSCAP
• CVCAP
• TMSCAP
• South CAP
• RIMSCAP

TCAP's central focus is... on teachers teaching teachers.

Programs offered by regional sites include:

Summer and Intersession Institutes and Follow-Up Activities

• Open
• Invitational
• Mini-institute for administrators at open institutes
• A variety of events for teachers and administrators

Academic Year Activities

• Follow-up for institute participants
• Regional and statewide forums
• Regional activities and alliances
• Curriculum and professional development services for schools, districts, county offices of education, and postsecondary institutions
• Leadership activities and events

Programs offered by the statewide office include:

Statewide Leadership Academy/Leadership Events -- offered on alternate years for TCAP teacher leaders

A variety of events, workshops, and seminars for teachers and administrators

Statewide network of teachers

TCAP's Mission is... to improve education in the visual and performing arts through:

• strengthening, at every teaching level, teachers' subject matter knowledge of dance, drama/theatre, music, and visual arts, for improved instruction in these discrete disciplines as well as in arts-integrated and arts-correlated instruction
• enhancing teachers' abilities to expand visual and performing arts education to include studies of artistic expression from many cultures, and the essential role the arts play in understanding issues of cultural diversity
• enhancing instructional strategies in the teaching of these disciplines and their intergration with other disciplines
• enhancing teachers' abilities to include technology in the arts as an integral part of arts education
• serving as resource to schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions in planning, developing, and implementing arts curriculum and professional development programs
• maintaining and strengthening networks among pre-kindergarten through higher education faculty throughout California
• providing assistance to enable teachers of students with special needs and those in underrepresented groups to include and expand arts education in their curricula
• developing a cadre of strong educational leaders who will strengthen arts education