IPP: Week 12 - Development of Authentic Assessment Models

Create a Formative Assessment Strategy that relates to your discussion board posts.

1. Objective:

      - The student will be able to articulate his or her thoughts about the assigned readings, posing and inviting questions to challenge or re-enforce his/her own and fellow classmates thinking about the topic(s). Posting these reflections on a digital discussion board, the student will encourage, invite, and participate in on-line dialogue.

      - The student will create visual representations in response to the readings in order to synthesize thoughts and reflect upon his/her position on presented topics.

     - Overall, the student will monitor and record his/her own thinking, growth and development in the area of art assessment.

2. Question:

      What have you learned about assessment in art that you did not previously know?

3. Feedback Strategy: 

      "Note-card" Reflection with these questions: 

      What question(s) do you still have about assessment in art?

      How did your feelings about assessment in art change during the time in this class?

4. Introduction of Strategy:

Reading back through my discussion posts to inform my thinking, I will reflect on any growth or change in disposition highlighted and discussed holistically. Looking at where I started compared to where I am, I will have the opportunity to reflect on my own thinking and see what impact has been made by the thinking prompted by fellow classmates and the authors. It will be interesting to see what change or growth has occurred.

5. Applying the Strategy:

• What question(s) do you still have about assessment in art? 

How do we convince administrators, parents, and ourselves that assessment may look different in different types of classes, but is not necessarily more or less valid? How do we stop jumping through hoops and think of assessment as a valuable instructional tool and worthy of our time?  

• How did your feelings about assessment in art change during the time in this class?  

I have been a proponent of using assessment in art since I began teaching. Although, I have changed my idea of what a formal assessment can look like, and what types of assessment are most valuable in art, my feelings about assessments in art, in general, have stayed the same during this class. What I do have now, is a better understanding of standardized assessments and how they do not really fit with what we are trying to get students to learn in a creative environment. There will have to be some major change in the construction and development of these tests in order to really evaluate the type of learning that goes on in an art room; and still it will only be able to capture a fraction of what is really learned. ( I just reread my answer above and am thinking, "But I kind of already knew that." Standardized testing just does NOT fit with what we are attempting to teach our students. It is not a 21st century method for assessing our students.)

6. Interpreting the Feedback:

     The longer I teach, the more important I am finding it to ask students to share their thoughts. Too often we jump to conclusions about what it is we think students are learning, or gaining in skill, and if we just asked we would see / hear a whole different story. 

     In reading my posts, I think I sound a little preachy, but I hope not. I can't help but think through the lens of my experience and interactions I have had with colleagues both as peers, as well as as an assessment leader in the district. I think some of my frustrations and annoyances came out, both at the system and those not willing to work to make things better. 

7. Responding to the Results: