Arts Assessment Project

Arts|Learning is pleased to announce the start of a new initiative for Massachusetts and New England arts educators, administrators, and higher education faculty and students!  This is the opportunity to participate in developing and administrating common arts assessments for K-12 students.  This project is co-sponsored by the MA Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (ESE) in partnership with the CT State Department of Education (CTDOE), the Boston Public Schools, and the MA Cultural Council (MCC). It is funded by a generous arts education advocacy grant from the Hunt Alternatives Fund.

Three all-day trainings were held on December 5, 2011 (Northampton, MA), December 6 (Malden, MA) and January 31, 2012 (Boston, MA) featuring Scott Shuler, Richard Wells, Gail Edmonds, and Rosemary Cellini.  These workshops have enabled participants to learn about implementing the Connecticut Common Arts Assessment project in local districts and schools.  So far tasks have been developed for visual art and music in grades 2, 5, and 8 (see below for expanded development opportunities!)

View our webinars on two of the Visual Arts Assessment Tasks:

 

Carving a Narrative in Pottery--Arts Assessment Unit, Grade 5 from Arts|Learning on Vimeo.

    Arts|Learning on Vimeo.

     

  • Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM--Digital Media Task (grade 8).  


Digital Media Arts Assessment Webinar, Grade 8 from Arts|Learning on Vimeo.

For those of you who have already attended our arts assessment conferences on December 5 and 6 and January 31, you will wish to access the following documents:

Scott Shuler's Powerpoint:  Overview of the CT Common Arts Assessments:

  • CT Common Arts Assessment Powerpoint [PDF] [PPT] (Large file, loads slowly)
  • Click here for an overview of CT Common Arts Assessments.

All Music Tasks, with samples of student work:  CTcurriculum Website

Visual Arts Tasks: 

Visual Arts Power Point Presentations:

New Assessment Piloting and Task Development:  In addition to the above trainings for the already existing CT Arts Assessments, the Connecticut State Department of Education is piloting other assessments, and they are beginning to develop new assessments in other grade levels.  If you are interested in participation in piloting or developing new assessments, this is an extraordinary opportunity for a unique and comprehensive professional development experience and for teachers to contribute their expertise.  There are two letters from Scott Shuler, Arts Consultant for the CT DOE, inviting art and music teachers to participate in these opportunities.

  • Click here if you are interested in developing new art tasks.
  • Click here if you are interested in developing new music tasks.

Dance and Drama educators, and all arts educators on the high school level--we know that this current work does not address your needs at this time.  We are currently trying to locate validated assessments in these areas to share with Massachusetts educators.  If you know of any such arts assessments, kindly contact Arts|Learning at 508-650-5044 or via email at info@artslearning.org. Thank you!

Why is arts assessment important? 

  • First, these assessments will help educators know how well their students are learning both the content and skills necessary for advancement in the domains of music and art. 
  • Secondly, all teachers in Massachusetts will have to document that their students are making adequate yearly progress in mastering subject content and skills as part of the newly revised teacher evaluation regulations.  As 83% of Massachusetts teachers are teaching subjects or grade levels not covered by MCAS testing, everyone will have to find valid assessment instruments by 2014 in order to meet this aspect of the new evaluation regulations across the Commonwealth.  Arts|Learning's partnership with ESE and other agencies will help to fill this pressing need. 
  • Finally, the implementation of these assessments will bring parity between the various arts domains and other currently tested subjects.  CT teachers who have implemented these assessments over the past 3 years report that this has leveraged more teaching time or increased resources for their programs from their school administrations.

Acknowledgements and Thanks!

Our deep appreciation for the generous funding from Hunt Alternatives for this program, as well as in-kind support from the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, The Boston Public Schools, and the MA Cultural Council.  A huge thank you also to Scott Shuler and his common arts assessment team from the CT State Department of Education for their willingness to share this important work with other states.

The Masschusetts Cultural Counci The National Endowment for the Arts The Kenedy Center for the Arts