Assessing expressive learning : a practical guide for teacher-directed, authentic assessment in K-12 visual arts 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.

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

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