Assessing Expressive Learning : A Practical Guide for Teacher-Directed Authentic Assessment in K-12 Visual Arts Education

by Dorn, Charles M.; Madeja, Stanley S.; Sabol, F. Robert; Sabol, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780805845242
• ISBN10: 0805845240
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-01
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

Assessing Expressive Learningis 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.

Table of Contents

Preface	1	(4)
Introduction	4	(1)
The Project	4	(1)
The Florida Project	5	(1)
The Illinois Project	5	(1)
The Indiana Project	6	(1)
Project's Rationale	7	(1)
Organization of the Book	8	(3)
The Assessment Context
The National Assessment Context	11	(1)
Impact of the Standards Movement on Assessment	11	(1)
Enter the National Assessment of Educational Progress	11	(1)
The Role of the Art Teacher in the Assessment Context	12	(1)
Large-Scale Studies of Assessment in the Art Classroom	13	(1)
Why Do Art teachers Assess?	13	(1)
What Types of Assessments Do Art Teachers Use?	14	(2)
What Assessment Training Have Art Teachers Had?	16	(1)
What Attitudes Do Art Teachers Hold About Assessment?	17	(1)
Attitudes about Purposes of Assessment?	18	(1)
Attitudes about Implementing Assessments	18	(1)
Attitudes about Assessment Training	19	(1)
General Attitudes about Assessment in Art Education	20	(1)
Negative and Positive Effects of Assessment in Art Education	21	(1)
The Art Classroom Assessment Context	22	(1)
Selecting Criteria for Evaluating Works of Art	23	(1)
What Factors Contribute to Such Changes and Why?	23	(1)
Examining Criteria Used to Evaluate Works of Art	24	(1)
A Study of Art Teachers in the ATI Project and Assessment	24	(1)
How Art Teachers Select Evaluation Criteria for Studio Work	24	(1)
Criteria Art Teachers Use to Evaluate Students' Artwork	25	(1)
Criteria Art Teachers Use to Evaluate Students' Performance	26	(1)
How Criteria Used to Evaluate Student Artwork Changed Over Time	26	(2)
Asking Students About Assessment in Art Education	28	(1)
Criteria Students Use to Evaluate Artwork at School	28	(1)
Students' Art Making at Home	29	(1)
Criteria Students Use to Evaluate Artwork Made at Home	30	(1)
Looking at Artists and Assessment	30	(1)
Criteria Artists Use to Evaluate Their Work	31	(1)
Criteria Artists Use to Evaluate Other Artists' Work	32	(1)
Comparing Criteria Used by Art Teachers, Art Students, and Artists to Evaluate Works of Art	32	(1)
Considering the Nature of Evaluation Criteria Identified in Sets	33	(1)
Identifying Similarities and Differences Among Evaluation Criteria Sets	34	(3)
Reflections about Assessing Studio Production in Art Education	37	(3)
Study Questions	40	(1)
References	40	(3)
Alternative Assessment Strategies for Schools
The Politics of the Assessment Process	43	(1)
The Competition to Perform	44	(1)
Relationship Between Evaluation, Assessment, and the Curriculum	45	(2)
Does Assessment Drive the Curriculum?	47	(1)
State-Wide Testing Programs and Their Effects on the Curriculum	47	(2)
The Negative and Positive Effects of the Top-Down Evaluation Model	49	(1)
The Need for Alternate Models for School-Based Assessment	49	(1)
Alternative Models for Assessment of Expressive Learning in the Visual Arts	50	(1)
Quantifying Art Products in the Art Classroom	50	(1)
The Portfolio as an Alternative Assessment Instrument	51	(1)
Journal Portfolio	52	(1)
A teacher's Portfolio or Log	53	(1)
Controlled Task Portfolio	53	(1)
International Baccalaureate Schools Portfolio	53	(1)
The Advanced Placement Portfolio in the Visual Arts	53	(1)
Electronic Portfolio Assessment Design	54	(1)
Assumptions About the Process of Visual Modeling	55	(1)
The Process of Visual Modeling of Information	55	(2)
The Acquisition of Knowledge Stream	57	(1)
Reaction Stream	58	(1)
Interpretation and Analysis Zone	59	(1)
Visual Modeling	59	(1)
Sample Electronic Portfolio Based on the MVMIS	59	(14)
Study Questions	73	(1)
References	73	(2)
The Character of Expressive Learning and its Assessment
The Pressures for Reform	75	(1)
The Art Teacher's Role in Reform	75	(1)
What We Need to Assess	76	(1)
Art Learning as Part of the Total Curriculum	76	(1)
Combining Critical and Creative Modes of Thought	77	(1)
Creative Thinking and Creative Performing	78	(1)
Discovering Alternative Modes of Thought	79	(1)
The Quantification of Qualitative Learning	80	(1)
Art Learning	81	(1)
Art Learning Standards	82	(1)
Art Practice	82	(1)
Students Needing to Know That and How to Do That	83	(1)
Students Learning to Know What	84	(1)
Students Learning to Know How	84	(1)
Assessing Expressive Learning	85	(1)
Setting Assessment Objectives	86	(1)
Knowing What Performances to Assess	86	(1)
Assessing Expressive Performances	87	(1)
Assessing Program Knowledge and Skills	87	(1)
Assessing Conceptual Development	87	(1)
Making Assessment Manageable	88	(1)
The Development of Test Instruments	88	(1)
The Art Teacher's Involvement in Assessment	89	(1)
Assessing What Art Teachers Teach	89	(1)
The Art Learning Environment	89	(1)
Learning Through Doing	90	(1)
Summary	91	(1)
Study Questions	91	(1)
References	92	(1)
Teacher Training and Student Portfolio Assessment
Aims of the Project	93	(1)
The Study Design and Methodology	93	(1)
Procedure	94	(1)
Teacher Training	94	(1)
Project Assessment Goals and Standards	94	(3)
State art content standards	96	(1)
The Local School District Art Context Standards	97	(1)
The Construction of the Assessment Instruments	97	(1)
Converting Art Content and Achievement Standards to Assessment Practice	98	(1)
Authentic Assessment	98	(2)
Developing Authentic Performance Tasks	100	(1)
Specifying Performances	100	(1)
Using Rubrics in Assessment	101	(2)
The Design of the Scoring Rubrics	103	(11)
Teacher Training in the Use of Rubrics	114	(3)
Deciding What Would Be Judged	117	(1)
The Gestalt Method	117	(1)
Score Spread	117	(1)
Portfolio Assessment Plan	117	(1)
Insuring score spread	118	(1)
Interjudge Reliability	118	(1)
Discrepancies	119	(1)
Field Tests of the Project Instruments	119	(1)
Method	119	(1)
Results of the Field Test	120	(1)
Conclusions of the Field Test	120	(2)
Project Portfolio Goals	122	(4)
Workshop Organization	126	(6)
Curriculum Development	132	(6)
Critiques	138	(1)
Summary	139	(1)
Study Questions	140	(1)
References	141	(3)
Electronic Portfolio Studies
Elementary School Case Studies in Electronic Formats for Portfolio Design	144	(1)
Case Study #1: Spring Brook Elementary Model	144	(1)
Objectives for Student Learning	145	(1)
Benefits of Electronic Portfolios in the Art Education Classroom	145	(1)
Description of the District 204 Project	145	(1)
Assessment Component	146	(1)
Self-Assessment	147	(1)
Standards and Goals	148	(1)
Case Study #2: Forest Road Elementary Model	149	(1)
Getting Started	150	(1)
The Benefits of the Electronic Portfolio as an Assessment Tool	150	(1)
The Importance of Visual Presentations and Electronic Formats	151	(1)
Promoting the Art Program	151	(1)
The Future, Next Steps	151	(1)
Hardware and Environment Needs for Project	152	(4)
High School Case Studies in Electronic Formats for Portfolio Design	156	(1)
Case Study #3: The Mundelein High School Model	156	(6)
University Case Studies in Electronic Formats for Portfolio Design	162	(1)
Case Study #4: The Northern Illinois University Model	162	(5)
Application of the Electronic Portfolio to Evaluation of Expressive Learning	167	(1)
Study Questions	167	(3)
Conclusions and Recommendations
Results of the Student Portfolio Assessment	170	(1)
The Study of Student, Teacher, and Artist Behavior	171	(3)
The Electronic Portfolio Alternative	174	(1)
Electronic Portfolio Conclusions	174	(3)
Recommendation for Further Study	177	(1)
References	178	(1)
Appendix A: Art Teachers' Studio Product Evaluation Criteria	179	(1)
Appendix B: Student Performance Criteria	180	(1)
Appendix C: At-School-Students' Studio Product Evaluation Criteria	181	(1)
Appendix D: At-Home-Students' Studio Product Evaluation Criteria	182	(1)
Appendix E: Artists' Studio Product Evaluation Criteria	183	(1)
Appendix F: Summary of Student Portfolio Findings (Tables F.1-F.6)	183	(8)
Author Index	191	(2)
Subject Index	193