Appendix B:
Assessment Development
Classroom, school, and district assessment in the arts should be linked directly to the Standards in this Framework that describe what students should know and be able to do. Consistent use of the Standards helps teachers, students, and parents understand the school’s expectations. In addition, teachers can ask students to summarize the criteria for excellent work in their own words to help them internalize the Standards. When curriculum, instruction, and assessment are closely aligned, a review of student work can help teachers modify their instruction and identify gaps in the curriculum.
Forms of Assessment
Observation and Oral Critique
Oral critique based on observation has traditionally been part of artistic decision-making, and has the practical advantage of providing instantaneous feedback to students.
Written Assessments: Multiple-Choice and Short Answer Questions
These are an efficient way of finding out whether students have gained basic knowledge such as arts terminology or can do some tasks in the arts that by nature involve writing such as recording music notation, or analyzing a speech from a play.
Performance Assessments: Tasks and Portfolios
Performance assessments require students to show what they can do in ways distinct to the art form they are studying. Tasks, such as the one on the following page, focus on how students solve a particular open-ended artistic problem. Designed around Standards, their purpose is to measure student achievement using a scoring guide, or rubric, that defines levels of performance. Performance tasks can be designed for individual classes or used for large-scale standardized assessment across schools and districts. Educators designing assessments should include adaptations for students with disabilities. Portfolios are purposeful collections of student work used by students and teachers to reveal progress in achieving the Learning Standards over time. Frequently used in elementary and writing classes as well as in arts classes, a key element of the portfolio approach is the written or recorded documentation of students’ emerging ideas and skills. Unlike a professional artist’s presentation portfolio, which contains examples of “best” work and final performances, the student portfolio includes recordings of rehearsals, early sketches and drafts, and journal entries. Periodically students review portfolios with their teachers and parents and reflect on their work.4
Large-Scale Assessments
Large-scale assessments are those that assess the performance of selected groups or grades of students in a district or state (as in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, or MCAS) or a sample of students at a grade level (as in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP). The 1997 NAEP for dance, music, theatre, and visual arts included performance assessments, multiple-choice, and short answer questions. Descriptions of these assessments and reports of student performance at grade 8 are available from the National Center for Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov.