Arts AssessmentsArts Assessments in urban school districts?

Presented by Lisa WhittingtonUniversity of Georgia

Fall 2009

Is there a need for large-scale

What are the characteristics of urban schools?

Urban schools have a relatively high rate of low-income and poverty (as measured by Free and Reduced Lunch data) Urban schools have a relatively high proportion of hispanic and students of color Urban schools have a relatively high proportion of students who are Limited English Proficient Dropout rates in many urban high schools exceed 50 percent (Balfanz and Legters 2004). Nationally, of 35 percent of black and Hispanic students, the majority of whom attend urban public schools, drop out of school prior to graduation (Heckman and LaFontaine 2007).

• Disciplined Based Arts Education

Within DBAE evaluation is essential as a means to improve student learning and to monitor students progress toward the goal of a full understanding of art. The general goal is for all learners to gain a full lay understanding of the visual arts as they progress from kindergarten to grade 12.

Learning in the four domains (aesthetics, art criticsim, art history, art production) is related and integrated for a full understanding of art, and instruction is articulated from grade to grade.

The complexities of integration, sequence, and articulation of learning in the four domains for children of different ages and abilities require a written curriculum as a guide for teaching. This expanded scope for art education means that many different kinds of art learning activities will take place in classrooms. Children will continue to make their own art products and they will view, analyze, discuss, question, argue, read, write, and engage in other types of activities about art in the classroom and possibly in art studios, galleries, or museums. The processes and products of all these learning activities are candidates for evaluation in meaningful ways for the improvement of student learning.

All over America, in urban, suburban, rural, and private schools, the Getty Foundation and DBAE had an effect on arts education through:

After the Getty Foundation pulled its support, art education became vulnerable again.

No Child Left BehindSigned by President Bush on January 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) provides historic education reform for America's schools. According to the United States Department of Education, NCLB is intended to hold schools accountable for student achievement, return control of education to local authorities, and encourage instruction methods to be based upon research. NCLB is a new version of the 1965 law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

No Child Left Behind

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT?

The purpose and mission of the No Child Left Behind Act is to eliminate the achievement gap that exists between groups of students within our nation's schools.

A glaring disparity exists in the achievement of Black, Hispanic, and students living in poverty when compared to white and more affluent students in various subjects.

Art is a Core SubjectEducation and arts supporters gained footing in the nation's education work when Goals 2000 and NCLB was passed, listing the arts as one of the "core academic subjects" of public education.

The National Association for Educational Progress (NAEP) 2008 arts assessment measured the extent of what American students

• know...

• and can do...

...in the arts disciplines of music and visual arts. The assessment measured students' knowledge and skills in the arts by asking them to--

•Observe, Describe, Analyze, and Evaluate-- existing works of music and visual art and to create original works of visual art. The NAEP arts framework, serves as the blueprint for the assessment, describing the specific knowledge and skills that should be assessed in the arts disciplines.

The Nation’s Art Report

NAEP Average “Responding” Visual Arts

Grade 8Race/Ethnicity 2008

Average responding score on NAEP Visual

Arts Assessment was 0 to 300

White and Asian/Pacific Islander students had higher average responding scores in visual arts in 2008 than Black and Hispanic students.

Responding questions asked students to analyze and describe works of art and design, thereby demonstrating their knowledge of media and techniques, visual organization, the cultural contexts of artworks, how works of art convey meaning, and the relationship between form and function in design.

NAEP Average “Creating Task” ScoreGrade 8 Race/Ethnicity

Average responding score

on NAEP Visual Arts Assessment

was 0 to 300

Creating questions assessed students’ ability to communicate in works of art, think of different solutions to visual problems, and generate ideas for and then create works of art and design. These creating questions represented approximately one-half of the total assessment time in visual arts.

The average creating task scores of White and Asian/Pacific Islander students were higher than the scores of Black and Hispanic students, but there were no significant differences between the scores of White and Asian/Pacific Islander students or between the scores of Black and Hispanic students

NAEP Assessment Visual Arts Avg. Responding Score

Eligibility for free/reduced school lunch 2008

Average responding score on NAEP Visual Arts Assessment was 0 to 300

The average responding score of eighth-graders eligible for the National School Lunch Program was lower than the score of students who were not eligible. There is a 29-point score gap between the two groups.A student's eligibility for the National School Lunch Program, which offers free or reduced-price lunch to students from lower-income families, is used as an indicator of poverty.

Parent Education of Avg. Responding Scale Score NAEP Visual Arts Assessment

Grade 8

Average responding score on NAEP Visual Arts Assessment was 0 to 300

Students who reported at least one parent graduated from college or had some education after high school had higher responding scores in visual arts than students who reported lower levels of parental education.

In the era of accountability...

• Arts education in schools with high rates of poverty and/or lower (math, reading) test scores are subservient. (Mishook & Kornhaber 2006)

• The arts are used to try to raise scores in tested subjects.

• Students that did not exceed on tests are pulled out during arts classes for tutoring in other core subjects and are not getting quality arts instruction.

• Arts teachers are asked to cover tested areas of curriculum during arts classes.

• Arts teachers are asked to teach tested subjects (math, reading, science, social studies) and not teach art for several periods a day, for weeks, or months. even if they are not certified in that subject and are uncomfortable teaching it.

• Arts are not given prime time in scheduling, and the amount of time for arts classes are reduced in favor of other tested subjects.

• Arts educators do not receive the same or adequate resources for their classes, or resources intended for art classes are diverted to other tested subjects.

◦“Approximately 62 percent of school districts increased the amount of time spent in elementary schools on English language arts, and or math, while 44 percent of districts cut time on science, social studies, art and music, physical education, lunch, or recess.”◦For school districts with at least one school identified for NCLB improvement, the average number of minutes per week devoted to art and music is fewest out of all subject areas studied, with 97 minutes for arts compared to 568 for reading.◦Furthermore, 30 percent of districts with at least one identified school—those with students most responsive to the benefits of the arts—have decreased instructional time for art and music.

Arts Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era finds that..

The state of large-scale arts assessments

Nancy Pistone wrote in her 2002 report “Envisioning Arts Assessment” that 17 states were in the process of developing arts assessments, but in Jan. 2002 after NCLB was signed, that number declined.

Large-Scale Assessments

1998: Illinois administered statewide arts assessments in grades 4 and 7 as part of social studies.

✤ Stand alone test in grades 9 and 10✤ aligned its assessments with state standards in 2001✤ abandoned statewide assessments in 2004 because of budget cuts.

1999: Oklahoma administered Arts Criterion Referenced Tests to all students in grades 5, 8,11

•2003 eliminated statewide arts tests•required school districts to develop arts and music assessments

2002: Missouri initiated a statewide arts assessment but then suspended them in 2004 due to budget cuts

2008: Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York delayed or suspended efforts to implement statewide arts assessments.

State of Arts

Assessments

Kentucky is the only state with a functioning model of state mandated large-scale arts assessments. These assessments are

traditional (not performance based.)

State of Arts

Assessments

Washington is second with large-scale art assessment.• Classroom based performance (CPBA) system•Includes an arts component mandated in Washington in the 2008-09 school year.

State of Arts

Assessments

Rhode Island is third noteworthy

•Beginning with graduating class of 2008, RI high schools Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements diploma system require students demonstrate proficiency in 6 core areas including the arts.

State of Arts

Assessments

Two states large-scale arts assessments systems are not

mandatory but ambitious:•South Carolina developed a web-based system that combines multiple choice and performance assessments aligned with state standards in visual and performing arts.•Minnesota in process of adapting a school based arts assessment and accountability system developed in Queensland, Australia.

Arts Assessments

can-•Help curriculum designers and program administrators articulate goals and standards.•Identify program strengths and weaknesses.•Identify professional development for arts teachers.•Indicate key targets for allocation of resources.•Provide students and parents with feedback to refine and redirect efforts.•Provide feedback for teachers question “Are my students learning what I set out to teach?”

“As educators we need to ask ourselves what we are doing well and how can we do better. In pursuit of these important concerns we need to reflect on our actions and engage others in thoughtful, equitable, and honest assessment of our practices.-- Enid Zimmerman, Art Education, 1999, A Cautionary Tale for Those Involved in Large-Scale Assessments