Assessment for Learning in the Arts

1. Assessment for Learning in the Arts Ben Bolden & TiinaKukkonen

2. Welcoming activity: Sentence starters Welcome! We are Ben and Tiina Please find a spot to sit and complete the ‘sentence starters’ handout

3. Ben (music) &Tiina (visual arts) • Artists, arts education researchers, B.Ed instructors, and • Classroom teachers • We have collected current thinking re: arts assessment • You are the experts who will determine how to apply it to your own teaching contexts… Presenter introductions

4. session overview • 5 Presenter introductions & session overview • 5 Participant introductions • 5 Discuss sentence starters • 20 Changing perceptions of assessment in the arts • 5 Assessment for learning—Ontario Ministry of Education • 10 Responses: Applying AfL to your arts classroom contexts • 15 Music/dance exemplar • 5 Applying the model to your arts classroom contexts

5. Where do you teach? What grades? What arts subjects do you teach? One of your favourite arts teaching moments. Participant introductions Please share with your neighbours…

6. Discuss sentence starters • Please share and discuss your responses with the others at your table: • One of my favourite arts assignments/activities is… • Thinking about assessing arts in my classroom makes me… • Arts assessment is different from assessment in other subjects because… • In terms of arts assessment, I wish I knew more about……because….. • Here is a good assessment technique that I have used with my students: • My students have learned a lot from assessment when… • In terms of informal arts assessment, I… • Success criteria in arts assessment are…

7. Changing Perceptions of Assessment in the Arts Consider these statements: Success in the arts is too subjective to assess. In the arts, the end product is the only thing that can be assessed effectively. Assessment is contradictory to the artistic process. Do you agree/disagree? Agree in certain situations? Why/why not?

8. Teachers naturally hold certain perceptions of norms in the arts,hence the need for AFL strategies • The art maker (a.k.a. student) should be the most important person in the evaluation of his/her art • Teachers can guide students toward making a plan and assessing their success as they go along • Finding a balance between art education for “creative expression” and “discipline-based learning” Expert Opinions on… Success in the arts is too subjective to assess.

9. What might this look like in practice? Student self-assessment and peer-assessment Examples: Journals Discussion groups Online forums “Self-marketing” Timelines (planning, creation, end product)

10. Assessing based on artistic behavior or studio habits, which include the ability to: • Stretch and explore beyond one’s capacity and embrace mistakes. • Engage and persist when faced with problems and remain focused. • Express ideas and feelings. • Envision a goal and the steps required to attain that goal. • Reflect on one’s own work and the works of others. • Observe closely and see things that may not be seen otherwise. • Develop craft through the use and care of tools, materials, and artistic conventions. • Understand the arts community by interacting with other artists in a variety of contexts (e.g., classrooms, museums, community spaces). Expert Opinions on… In the arts, the end product is the only thing that can be assessed effectively. *Taken from Studio Thinking, Hetland, Winner, et al., Teacher’s College Press, 2007

11. What might this look like in practice? Creating goals based on these habits using student- friendly language and “I can” statements Examples: I can explore materials and ideas and challenge myself. I can picture what I want my art to look like. *As suggested by Zalmstra (2015), Assessing in a Choice-Based Classroom

12. Assessment is intuitive and inherent to the artistic process. Expert Opinions on… Assessment is contradictory to the artistic process. “The first draft reveals the art, revision reveals the artist.” –Michael Lee

13. What might this look like in practice? Tracking progress, learning from mistakes, and embracing “happy accidents” Example: Creating an “Oops!” board for visual arts *From Andrade, Hefferen, & Palma (2014), Formative Assessment in the Visual Arts

14. Teachers need to… • plan assessment concurrently & integrate it seamlessly with instruction • share learning goals & success criteria with students at outset of learning • use a variety of assessment strategies and tools before, during, & after instruction • use assessment to inform instruction, guide next steps, and help students monitor their own progress 
 Assessment for Learning—Ontario Ministry of Education from Growing Success

15. What effective assessment looks like: • clear criteria for specific learning goals are visible around the classroom
 • exemplars of student work are posted • students collaboratively assess their work with peers and/or the teacher Assessment for Learning—Ontario Ministry of Education from ETFO Voice

16. What effective assessment sounds like: • Ongoing feedback from the teacher & other students 
 • Students use the student-friendly language of clear goals and criteria when assessing their own work and progress 
 Assessment for Learning—Ontario Ministry of Education from ETFO Voice

17. Applying AfL to your arts classroom contexts What do or might these AfLprinciples look like in the context of your classroom arts activities? Do they make sense in the context of your classroom arts activities? Does any of this evoke dissonance with your beliefs/experiences of arts education? (please refer to your handout for the AfL principles)

18. choose curriculum expectations • design performance task • re-articulate expectations as learning goals • identify success criteria • break down learning goals into chunks, teach through classroom mini-lessons, & consolidate in guided practice opportunities • design assessment tools (e.g. rubric, checklist) with students & refine as you go • design assessment strategies (i.e. ways to use the rubric) Music/dance exemplar designing AfLin an arts context

19. Curriculum Expectations • Grade Six Music: C2.2 identify the elements of music in the repertoire they perform, listen to, and create, and describe how they are used (e.g., describe the way in which dotted rhythms, the sound quality of brass instruments, higher pitches, loud dynamics, and accented articulation combine to suggest music that introduces royalty) • Grade Six Dance: A1 apply the creative process (see pages 19–22) to the composition of short dance pieces, using the elements of dance to communicate feelings and ideas; • Exploring/Experimenting – exploring elements, techniques, conventions, and/or principles in response to the challenge, stimulus, or inspiration • Producing Preliminary Work –  making artistic choices • Revising/Refining –  developing and modifiying initial ideas; adapting and shaping

20. Performance Task Students will create a dance/movement piece that communicates how rhythms, instrument sounds, low and high sounds, and louds and softs are used in a particular piece of music (to be chosen by the students with advice from the teacher).

21. Learning Goals • Grade Six Music: C2.2 identify the elements of music in the repertoire they perform, listen to, and create, and describe how they are used • Be able to hear and describe how rhythms, instrument sounds, low and high sounds, and louds and softs are used in a piece of music. • Grade Six Dance: A1 apply the creative process (see pages 19–22) to the composition of short dance pieces, using the elements of dance to communicate feelings and ideas • Use the creative processes of exploring, making artistic decisions, and refining to create a dance that communicates ideas.

22. Success Criteria • I can hear and describe how and where… • different rhythms are used • different instrument sounds are used • louds and softs are used • My creative process included… • exploring and experimenting • making artistic choices to create a first draft • adapting and shaping the piece

23. Classroom Mini-Lessons • Demonstrate how to listen for and describe… • rhythms • different instruments • louds and softs • Demonstrate how to… • communicate ideas through movement • explore and experiment • make artistic decisions • refine a piece

24. Assessment Tools

25. Assessment Strategies Ways teacher and students will use the rubric • teacher & students create an exemplar performance together, referring to rubric to ensure all success criteria are met (AaL) • students watch a video of the class exemplar and assess it with rubric (AaL) • teacher & students refine rubric together (AaL) • student groups video record draft performances & self-assess with rubric (AaL) • student groups pair up & use rubric to peer assess each other’s pieces (AaL) • teacher circulates as students work to ask questions & offer guidance & suggestions (AfL) • teacher uses rubric to assess creative processes throughout creation process (AfL, AoL) • teacher conferences with group members, referring to rubric, to learn about & guide their processes & intentions (AfL) • teacher uses rubric to assess a final, recorded performance (AfL, AoL), as do students (AaL)

26. Could this structure work with some of your arts activities? • Questions? Comments? Applying the model to your arts classroom contexts

27. Thank you!ben.bolden@queensu.catiina@kukkonen.ca