With the current emphases on standards and evidence-based learning, it's time to revisit the question of whether standards liberate or stifle excellence in arts education. Assessment in Arts Education examines the pressing issues that educators everywhere and at all levels face as they make determinations about progress and achievement in the arts. Assessment in Arts Education critiques the application of standards in arts education and the extent to which benchmarks and attainment levels are practically and educationally sensible. It opens up an interdisciplinary discussion on arts-education assessment and provides helpful advice for thinking about assessment and evaluation. Leaders in drama, music, dance, and the visual arts detail how they've navigated the issues around assessment and tackled tough questions such as: How do assessment models shape teaching in the arts? How much guidance should standards provide for arts educators? Who benefits from national and local assessment standards in the arts? What contributions have standards made to the teaching of the creative arts? Meet standards and assessment head on. Read Assessment in Arts Education and find evidence not only of how your students think and learn, but of how the entire community of arts educators has considered and acted on the demands of these educational times.

This book takes a detailed look at current knowledge as basis for assessment policy; describes arts education assessment currently being developed or implemented; and proposes policy directions. The book is organized in 7 chapters: (1) "What Standards and Assessment Can Do for Arts Education" brings together statements advocating standards and assessments as a means of making the arts equal to other disciplines in the K-12 curriculum. (2) "The Assessment Needs of Dance, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts Education, and Community-based Arts Education Organizations" demonstrates how the general argument made in the preceding chapter applies to specific art disciplnes. (3) "Exemplary Assessment Programs" mentions programs such as the Ohio Partership, the Florida Institute for Art Education and its Comprehensive and Holistic Assessment Task, and an assessment in music based on Arts PROPEL. (4) "National and State Assessment Designs" discusses proposed assessment efforts. (5) "Cautions: The Magnitude of the Task Ahead" surveys the components of the educational system which must change to support the implementation of arts standards and assessments. (6) "What are We Going To Do about It?" presents an action agenda for groups and organizations concerned with arts education assessments. (7) "Summary: Present Knowledge, Future Policy" summarizes what is known about arts education assessment and outlines a policy for assessment. Appendices include the 1992 Symposium information, programs and related documents. (FB)

Teacher as Curator provides a roadmap for using creative strategies to engage both educators and students in the learning process. Focusing on key qualities of culturally and linguistically responsive arts learning, chapters specifically demonstrate how arts integration strategies and formative assessment can be a catalyst for change in the classroom. Readers will be inspired by teachers and practitioners who have donned the role of curator to achieve significant results. Kindergarten–college educators will find research-based protocols and practices that they can translate into any educational setting. In digestible chapters, this resource provides a theoretical base for building artistic literacy into the curriculum and for developing multimodal opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding of content. Book Features Explores the role of curation in the classroom.Highlights processes for innovation and multimodal learning.Showcases the work of teachers from different subjects and grade levels.Provides examples of integrated learning through lesson planning, curatorial maps, and learning stories.Highlights strategies that can deepen artistic literacy and engage students through formative assessment. “As those of us at the policy level work to realize a vision for innovation and creativity to transform our current education system, I am so grateful to Lisa Donovan and Sarah Anderberg for valuing the expertise of the educators whose partnerships are critical to our success.” —Beth Lambert, director of innovative teaching and learning, Maine Department of Education

Assessing Expressive Learning is the only book in the art education field to date to propose and support a research-supported teacher-directed authentic assessment model for evaluating K-12 studio art, and to offer practical information on how to implement the model. This practical text for developing visual arts assessment for grades 1-12 is based on and supported by the results of a year-long research effort primarily sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, involving 70 art teachers and 1,500 students in 12 school districts in Florida, Indiana, and Illinois. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that creative artwork by K-12 students can be empirically assessed using quantitative measures that are consistent with the philosophical assumptions of authentic learning and with the means and ends of art, and that these measures can reliably assess student art growth. A further goal was to provide a rationale for the assessment of student art as an essential part of the K-12 instructional program and to encourage art teachers to take responsibility for and assume a leadership role in the assessment of art learning in the school and the school district. Assessing Expressive Learning: *reports on current assessment methods but also stresses a time-tested portfolio assessment process that can be used or adapted for use in any K-12 art classroom; *includes the assessment instruments used in the study and several case studies of art teachers using electronic portfolios of student work, a bibliography of major art assessment efforts, and a critical review of current methods; *is designed to be teacher- and system-friendly, unlike many other art assessment publications that provide only a review of information on assessment; and *both documents an experiment where artistic values and aesthetic issues were considered paramount in the education of K-12 students in the visual arts, and also serves as a guide for the conduct of similar experiments by art teachers in the nation's schools--the research methodology and results are reported in an appendix in a format that will enable educational researchers to duplicate the study. This volume is ideal as a text for upper-division undergraduate and graduate classes in visual arts education assessment, and highly relevant for college art education professors, researchers, and school district personnel involved in the education and supervision of art teachers, and researchers interested in performance measurement.

Part of The New Art and Science of Teaching series Shift to a new paradigm of classroom assessment that is more accurate, meaningful, and authentic. The New Art and Science of Classroom Assessment explores the inadequacies of traditional assessment methods and details how to use classroom assessment to its full potential. Step by step, the authors outline a clear path for transitioning to more holistic assessment methods that truly reflect course curriculum and student progress. Learn how you can develop authentic assessment for learning in the classroom: Explore a new perspective on effective assessment for learning, including classroom, interim, and year-end assessments (from formative assessment to summative assessment). Learn how to create a curriculum that provides clear guidance as to what should be assessed. Acquire strategies for assessing four general types of skills: (1) cognitive skills, (2) knowledge-application skills, (3) metacognitive skills, and (4) general behavior skills. Develop expertise with classroom assessment tools, such as the types of declarative content, selected response items, and short constructed response questions. Download free reproducible tables and checklists to assist in implementing new methods of assessment design. A joint publication of ASCD and Solution Tree Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: The Assessment-Friendly Curriculum Chapter 2: Proficiency Scales Chapter 3: Parallel Assessments Chapter 4: The Measurement Process and Different Types of Assessment Chapter 5: Summative Scores Chapter 6: Non-Subject-Specific Skills Chapter 7: Record Keeping and Reporting Epilogue Appendix A: Types of Declarative Content Appendix B: Types of Test Response Items References and Resources Books in The New Art and Science of Teaching series: The New Art and Science of Teaching The Handbook for the New Art and Science of Teaching The New Art and Science of Teaching Reading The New Art and Science of Teaching Writing The New Art and Science of Classroom Assessment