m the Visual Arts - Art 407art407.weebly.com/.../5926741/formative_assessment_in_the_visual_arts.pdf · nature.Tbecarmust usea sustainable energy source such as biodiesel, solar,

The Artful LearningCommunities project

is designed to helpteachers assess student

learning in art, includingmotivating students to

self- and peer-assess.

Detail from Figure 3.

Fpimative Assessmentm the Visual ArtsH E I D I A N D R A D E , J O A N N A H E F F E R E N , a n d M A R I A P A L M A

lassroom assessment is a hot topic in K-12 education because of compellingevidence that assessment in the form of feedback is a powerful teaching andlearning tool (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Although formal evaluation has beenanathema to many art specialists and teachers (Colwell, 2004), informal assessmentin the form of feedback is not. As educators in other subjects have discovered, thereare myriad ways in which assessment can not only measure and document studentlearning but also—and more importantly—actually promote learning (Andrade &Cizek, 2010). This article shares examples and briefly documents the work of artspecialists in Brooklyn, New York, who have experimented with the latest assess-ment techniques in order to increase student engagement and learning.

The Artful Learning Communities projectdescribed in this article was supported by a grantfrom the U.S. Department of Education. The goalsofthe project were to (1) strengthen the capacityof elementary and middle school arts specialiststo assess standards-based learning in the Arts;(2) promote increased student achievement inthe Arts through ongoing classroom assessment;and (3) develop the ability of specialists to define,systematize, and communicate their assessmentstrategies and tools to local and national audi-ences. We worked with 96 visual art, music, dance,and theater specialists and their 48,000 studentsin grades 3-8 at high-poverty schools in SouthBrooklyn, New York. The teachers engaged inaction research focused on collaborative inquiryinto student achievement in the Arts in profes-sional learning communities that brought themtogether across schools. This article will focus onthe visual arts work.

Our first challenge was to convince ourcollaborators, the arts specialists, ofthe valueof assessment in arts education. Early on, wewere politely told that art cannot be assessed, andfurthermore, we should not assess children's artbecause so doing could threaten their self-esteemand diminish their motivation to engage inartmaking. Recognizing in this argument the lackof distinction between assessment and evaluation,we presented theory and research on the distinc-tions between summative and formative assess-ment, or assessment o/learning versus assessmentfor learning (Stiggins, 2006), and stressed theways in which ongoing, informal feedback fromthe teacher and from the students themselves candeepen students' understanding of importantconcepts and skills. We presented evidence thatstudents benefit from three simple things: ( 1 ) Anunderstanding of the targets or goals for theirlearning; (2) knowledge ofthe gap between thosegoals and their current state; and (3) knowing howto close the gap through relearning and revision(Sadler, 1989; Black & Wiliam, 1998).

34 ART EDUCATION /January 2014

Reconceptualizing assessment as a momentof learning (Zessoules & Gardner, 1991) allowedthe teachers to see it in terms of authentic artisticprocesses such as setting goals, assessing one'sown work, and revising—processes that areinherent in any creative endeavor that involvesrehearsal and redoing. The teachers turned theirattentions to clearly articulating their expecta-tions for their students in order to help themunderstand the goals for their learning (drawingon the NYC Blueprints for Teaching and Learningin Visual Arts), guiding students in self- and peer-assessment in order to permit them to recognizeany gaps in their learning, and encouraging andsupporting revision and redoing in order to closethe gaps. The results have been inspiring. As theteachers saw improvements in student engage-ment and the quality of artmaking, they embracedformative assessment. The remainder of thisarticle will introduce two approaches to assess-ment in visual art classes that reveal the innova-tive ways in which the teachers implementedformative assessment techniques in their classes.

Jason Rondinelii and Emily Maddy:7th-Grade Gradation Lesson

Jason Rondinelii and Emily Maddy teach art inIS 223-K, a middle school in Borough Park. Theyassigned the project described in Table 1.' Thelearning goals for the project included;

• awareness of light, value, and contrast;

• observation of detail;

• use of monochromatic color gradation; and

• understanding of form follows functionrelationships.

As students worked on tfieir drawings, theteachers noted that many of tfiem needed addi-tional instruction in gradation. After reviewingthe concept of gradation and fiow it can be used intfie project, tfie teachers showed students a purelyvisual gradation rubric (Figure 1) that tfiey createdfrom otfier, anonymous students' work, and askedtfiem to use it to write a narrative gradation rubric.In groups, students defined one level of tfie rubric(4, 3, 2, or 1) by comparing their assigned rubriclevel to tfie level above or below it, describing thepositive and negative uses of gradation in eacfi ofthe examples, and listing five or more descriptionsabout their rubric level. Students were asked todiscuss gradation only, not other aspects ofthe carsuch as shape, color, design, or use of detail.

Goals: You will begin the year by drawing a toy car. By completing this projectyou will strengthen your observational drawing skills, contour line drawing skills,and your understanding of gradation value studies.

Requirements:The design will be biomorphic, or inspired by shapes found innature.Tbecarmust usea sustainable energy source such as biodiesel, solar, orhydrogen power.

Process:

1. After drawing a toy car, you will design your own car.

2. Write a one-paragraph description of your car and the green technology ituses.

3. Write a slogan which states the best quality of your car.

4. Turn to your neighbor and sell him or her your car. Be sure to read your sloganand discuss tbe strengths of your car design.

5. Answer these questions: Based on your partners'car design and slogan, whattype of person would be interested in buying this car? Would you buy this car?Explain your answer.

Table 1.

Gradation Rubric

Figure 1.

The results have been inspiring.

January 2014/ART EDUCATION 35

There are myriad waysin which assessmentcan not only measureand document studentlearning but also—and more importantly—actually promote learning.

Figure 2.

4 Yes 3 Yes and... 2 No, but... 1 No

It has a cast shadow.

It has gradation on thebottonn.

It has a light source.

It goes from light to dark veryclearly.

Light colors blend in with dark.

The way the artist colored thecar showed where the lightsource was coming from.

It has an outline.

Cast shadow is too dark.Doesn't go from light todark. Doesn't have enoughgradation.

Outlined some body parts.

Cast shadow is really straight.

It has shine marks.

Artist shows good use of darkand light values.

The picture shows gradualshades in the car.

He used light values whichhelped the car the way heused the shadows.

Needs more gradual value.

Give wheels lighter gradationor darker shade.

The direction of the light isnot perfectly directed.

The artists basically outlinedthe car.

He had more dark value thanlight values.

The wheels were too light.

There is gradation onthe bottom of the door.

The car is outlined.

There is no shadow.

It's not shaded fromlight to dark.

There are no details.

The windows have noshine marks.

The wheels do not look3-D.

-I-

The rims are shaded darkly.

The car looks 3-D.

The gradation starts wrong.

The wheels are too little.

Some spots are not wellshaded.

The shadow is not shadedcorrectly.

Table 2. Narrative Gradation Rubric.

36 ART EDUCATION /January 2014

Once the students defined and describedtheir group's level, they combined their ideasinto the rubric in Table 2. The teachers thenasked them to engage in thoughtful self-assessment of the use of gradation in theirdrawings of cars by writing their answersto the following questions: (1) Based on thegradation rubric, what is the rubric level ofyour first car? What will you do to improvethe gradation of your car? (2) What rubriclevel is your second car? What will you do toimprove the gradation of this car? After care-fully thinking about the quality of their workand ways in which it could be improved, thestudents revised their drawings using high-quality soft pencils. Finally, after working ontheir drawings, they did some reflection bywriting their responses to these questions:(1) Did you reach your goals? (2) Did youimprove the gradation in both cars? Have youreached a higher rubric level?

Noting the success of the processes ofco-creating the rubric and of self-assessing,Ms. Maddy and Mr Rondinelli decided toextend it to peer-assessment of another project.

While working on self-portraits, studentsgave each other feedback on fheir value scalesusing the template in Figure 2 and words froma word bank: value, warm and cool colors,neutrals, saturation. After receiving feedback,each artist then reflected on the degree towhich he or she agreed with the feedback,planned next steps, and continued to work onthe self-portraits. Figures 3 and 4 are examplesof how students' mastery of gradation (amongother things) improved.

Mr. Rondinelli and Ms. Maddy report thattheir students were articulate in their discus-sions and writing, used many words from theword bank, and addressed specific areas oftheportraits during the peer-assessment process.Many students improved their work aftergetting feedback, although of course somechose not to follow the advice given to themby their peers. This decision to disregard someor all of their peers' suggestions was a naturalpart of the process of artmaking: Feedbackis not a mandate, and each artist must makedecisions about his or her own work.

Figures 3 (left), and 4 (above).

January 2014/ART EDUCATION 37

I

Figure 5.

When students becometheir own teachers, theyexhibit attributes that aremost desirable for learners,including self-monitoring,self-assessment, andself-teaching.

Kareen Makowsky: Second-GradePrintmaking Project

Kareen Makowsky teaches art in PS 135, anelementary school. The learning goals for her print-making project included:

• creating a print that demonstrates basic print-making techniques such as stamping, rubbing,and coUagraphing;

• creating a print that demonstrates textures,colors, and shapes;

• honing observation skills;

• developing the ability to discuss works of art;

• developing visual arts vocabulary;

• developing the ability to reflect on the process ofmaking art;

• recognizing the societal, cultural, and historicalsignificance of art; and

• accessing local resources to extend learningbeyond the classroom.

38 ART EDUCATION / January 2014

Afler seeing and discussing architecturalicons, prints, and stamps that exemplifj? howarchitects' choices impact the balance, texture,and shapes of buildings and houses, studentscompiled a journal with a collection of archi-tectural icons and features they observed intheir own neighborhoods. They then choseshapes to design buildings, beginning withrooflines and walls, with the understandingthat they would use their designs to make astamp.

Before gluing their pieces, studentsexamined stamps and noted how they sepa-rated inside shapes and details. They werethen asked to turn to a neighbor and inquire,"Do you have any suggestions for how I couldshow my building's inside shapes? How couldI make it more interesting? Can you tell whicharchitectural influences my building had?"The students then made revisions and glued.

After printing a few prints, students sharedthe problems they had experienced and theways in which they solved them in discus-sions with their peers. To emphasize the factthat artists often stop to think and write note.sabout what didn't work in order to avoidrepeating mistakes and to enable them to usea "happy accident," Ms. Makowsky encour-aged students to share their prints on anOops! bulletin board (on the right in Figure5), stacking new prints on old prints to showtheir progress. Students eagerly wrote in themargins of their "mistake" prints about whyit was an Oops! and how they planned toimprove it, then pulled and posted succes-sive prints. Figure 6 is a detail of Figure 5. Itshows two students' successive prints andtheir reflections, including "I used too muchink" and "I learned it was too wet and cloggedthe lines."

Ms. Makowsky reports that she has neverbefore experienced 2nd graders writing somuch and so well. They seemed to like usingthe Oops! board, and began to make revisionsindependently. As a result, the Oops! boarddepicted the improvement in students' printsand their ability to reflect on their work. Inaddition, students' discussions with theirpeers led to modifications to their discussionsheets, on which they identified architecturalinfluences in their print designs, revealingtheir increased awareness and understandingof these influences. Stopping the designprocess to turn and talk allowed the studentsto realize how their stamp was seen by othersand to make changes to better communicate

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their ideas before they glued down. Stoppingto turn and talk about printing problemsimproved the quality ofthe prints by focusingtheir attention on what makes better qualityprints and allowed students to see how otherssolved problems. Ms. Makowsky noticed thatstudents' use of lesson-specific vocabularyincreased as well. During the printing processstudents were more likely to offer advice suchas, "Be careful! Too much ink will clog yourstamp's lines!" or "Hurry! Ink is drying!"

January 2014/ART EDUCATION 39

ConclusionIn a recent meta-analysis of research on

learning, Hattie (2009) concluded tfiat tfie

biggest effects on student learning occur

when teacfiers become learners of their own

teaching, and when students become tfieir

own teachers; When students become tfieir

own teacfiers, they exhibit attributes tfiat

are most desirable for learners, including

self-monitoring, self-assessing, and self-

teaching. One success ofthe Artful Learning

Communities project is that it helped

students see fiow to learn from themselves

and each other via self- and peer-assessment,

thereby increasing their engagement in and

learning about making art. Anotfier success

of tfie project is tfiat it fielped teachers learn

about tfie role of assessment in their own

teaching. Tfiey made seismic shifts in tfieir

assessment practices, moving from end-of-

unit critiques tfiat mirrored tfieir experi-

ences witfi studio practice, to ensuring tfiat

assessment is informative and ongoing by

fiaving students review and talk about their

works-in-progress. Finally, an unintended

but welcome consequence of this work is

that the teachers have found themselves

in new roles in their schools: They have

been identified as leaders in instructional

practices because of their expertise in

assessment and collaborative inquiry.

Heidi Andrade is Associate Professor at

University at Albany, Albany, New York.

E-mail: [email protected]

Joanna Hefferen is Director of Professional

Development at ArtsConnection, New

York, New York. E-mail: Hefferenj®

artsconnection.org

Maria Palma is Director of Arts Education

Accountability & Support at New York

City Department of Education, New York,

New York. E-mail: [email protected].

gov

1 ^ 1

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tidco^co^o^\m ^ e Support Art Education!

Contact Nasco for FREElesson Plans and tbe NEW 2014 Catalog!

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REFERENCES

Andrade, H., & Cizek, G. (Eds.) (2010). Handbook

of formative assessment. New York, NY: Routledge.

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box:Raising standards through classroom assessment.

Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139-148.

Colwell, R. (2004). Evaluation in the arts is sheermadness. ARTSPRAXIS, 1, 1-12. Retrieved from

http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/artspraxis

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible thinking: A synthesis of over800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New

York, NY Routledge.

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power offeedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1),

81-112.

Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and thedesign of instructional systems. Instructional

Science, 18(2), 119-144.

Stiggins, R. J. (2006). Assessment FOR learning: Akey to student motivation and achievement. Fhi

Delta Kappan EDGE, 2(2), 3-19.

Zessoules, R., & Gardner, H. (1991). Authenticassessment: Beyond the buzzword and into theclassroom. In V. Perrone (Ed.), Expanding studentassessment, 47-71. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

AUTHOR NOTE

The contents of this article were developed under agrant from the Department of Education. However,those contents do not necessarily represent thepolicy ofthe Department of Education, and youshould not assume endorsement by the FederalGovernment.

The Artful Learning Communities project is a part-nership between the New York City Department ofEducation (NYCDOE) and ArtsConnection, a U.S.Department of Education-recognized model artseducation organization.

ENDNOTE

^ The presentation ofthe project to studentsincluded illustrative graphics not included here,but are available at http://voicethread.com/share/897970.

40 ART EDUCATION/January 2014

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