SCASS Arts

1. SCASS Arts �Guidelines for Arts Assessment� Arts Assessment Training Series

2. SCASS Arts �Guidelines for Arts Assessment� State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS) Arts Education Assessment Consortium- A project of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Arts Assessment Training Series

3.  �Guidelines for Arts Assessment� is based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) steering committee guidelines, published in the 1997 Arts Education Assessment Framework (1994) as part of the Arts Education Consensus Project. Background Information- The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation�s Report Card, is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America�s students know and can do in various subjects. NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Department of Education. The Commissioner of Education Statistics is responsible, by law, for carrying out the NAEP project through competitive awards to qualified organizations. NAEP reports directly to the Commissioner, who is also responsible for providing continuing reviews, including validation studies and solicitation of public comment, on NAEP�s conduct and usefulness. Background Information- The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation�s Report Card, is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America�s students know and can do in various subjects. NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Department of Education. The Commissioner of Education Statistics is responsible, by law, for carrying out the NAEP project through competitive awards to qualified organizations. NAEP reports directly to the Commissioner, who is also responsible for providing continuing reviews, including validation studies and solicitation of public comment, on NAEP�s conduct and usefulness.

4. NAEP Arts Education Consensus Project and publication Approved by the National Assessment Governing Board Prepared by The Council of Chief State School Officers with The College Board and The Council for Basic Education Background Information- The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) was established under section 412 of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (Title IV of the Improving America�s Schools Act of 1994, P.L. 103-382). The Board was established to formulate policy guidelines for NAEP. The Board is responsible for selecting subject areas to be assessed, developing assessment objectives, identifying appropriate achievement goals for each grade level and subject tested, and establishing standards and procedures for interstate and national comparisons. In January 1992 NAGB issued a request for proposals to develop an assessment framework with specifications for a planned 1997 Arts Education Assessment. The contract was awarded to the Council of Chief State School Officers, with the College Board and the Council for Basic Education as subcontractors. The 18-month project began in September 1992 and concluded in March 1994. Background Information- The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) was established under section 412 of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (Title IV of the Improving America�s Schools Act of 1994, P.L. 103-382). The Board was established to formulate policy guidelines for NAEP. The Board is responsible for selecting subject areas to be assessed, developing assessment objectives, identifying appropriate achievement goals for each grade level and subject tested, and establishing standards and procedures for interstate and national comparisons. In January 1992 NAGB issued a request for proposals to develop an assessment framework with specifications for a planned 1997 Arts Education Assessment. The contract was awarded to the Council of Chief State School Officers, with the College Board and the Council for Basic Education as subcontractors. The 18-month project began in September 1992 and concluded in March 1994.

5. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 1. Standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment should work together to produce a mutually reinforcing system of unified expectations.

6. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 2. The assessment should assess students' knowledge, attitudes, and performance in the modalities and forms of expression characteristic of the discipline as well as verbal or written linguistic modes.

7. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 3. The assessment should honor the discrete disciplines, but should at the same time encourage students to see the learning experience as a unified whole that seeks and creates connections with other disciplines.

8. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 4. The assessment should affirm and articulate the content as a way of knowing and a form of knowledge with a unique capacity to integrate the intellect, the emotions, and physical skills in the construction of meaning.

9. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 5. Assessment systems should explore the appropriate use of: on-demand as well as curricular embedded and collections of student work (portfolios); performance tasks, open-ended, constructed responses as well as traditional forced choice formats.

10. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 6. The assessment should go beyond quantification to include a student's use of critical judgment. An effort should be made to ensure that reporting includes descriptive information on student performance as well as numerical data.

11. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 7. Assessments should connect with a students' life outside of school, so that students can use their personal knowledge of everyday experience and community resources.

12. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 8. Where possible, the assessment should examine and report on developing abilities, so that younger and older students exhibit stages in the development of the same capability.

13. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 9. Assessments should use a common list of back-ground variables or contextual information to recognize differences and inequities in school resources and conditions related to achievement, such as teacher qualifications, instructional time, school structure, cultural and social background of the school community, and incentives. This recognition must be evident in reporting the data. Results have meaning only in terms of the availability and continuity of meaningful instruction.

14. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 10. The assessment should address both processes and products, and expand the public�s information about the importance of each.

15. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 11. The assessment should be based on a comprehensive vision of education and should communicate that vision clearly. The assessment should focus on what ought to be rather than what is, but idealism should be tempered with reality. Hence, exercises should model multifaceted and thoughtful activities, without making unreasonable demands on time, materials, and human resources.

16. Guidelines for Arts Assessments 12. To stimulate understanding and support for education, the assessment should recognize needs and produce helpful information for a variety of audiences�students, parents, teachers, and administrators; local, state and national policymakers; and community members such as business persons,�and be disseminated in a variety of ways for the different audiences.

17. SCASS Arts �Guidelines for Arts Assessment� Adopted from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Assessment Framework and specifications for Arts Education, 1994. Arts Assessment Training Series