Research Proposal Part II Creating a NAEP Teacher Questionnaire

1. Research Proposal Part II Creating a NAEP Teacher Questionnaire Ashley Singer ARE 6905-001 March 26, 2013

2. Purpose • Teachers demand for creating applications from results • Add more value and clarity to existing NAEP testing by addressing the lack of teacher questionnaire in the visual arts assessment that is present in nearly all other NAEP subjects.

3. Why it's important... • Exists as a result of lack of lucidity that accompanies NAEP visual arts assessment data • Nothing offers possible explanations for results • Teachers are left to interpret the numbers without guidance • Add some context to the data • Be able to see what is current or trending in the classroom • What could be lacking in their curriculum • What is proving successful in their practice • Universities and schools could use to see what educator training programs have been successful in equipping teachers for their fields • What teachers may be lacking in their classrooms and how to give it to them

4. Research Questions • How can NAEP clarify the results of the visual arts assessment by adding a teacher questionnaire with common practice and teacher background similar to existing teacher questionnaires of other subjects? • How can the demographic and background information be applied to understanding knowledge and experience as well as hiring trends? • Do the findings suggest certain training and specialties lead to classroom achievement? • What areas of art education are being concentrated on and what areas are being neglected? • How could we take the results to further develop a NAEP curriculum and understand best practices?

5. Review of Literature Introduction to the Symposium on the "NAEP 1997 Arts Report Card." (Lehman, 1999) • Reinforces the inclusion of visual arts within the basic disciplines of curriculum • Demonstrates that art is not too subjective to actually test • Demonstrates that there are specific measurable skills and knowledge that can be taught and learned • “Finally, the arts assessment reminds us once again that arts education is for all students, not just for the talented. No one has suggested that math or science should be taught only to students with talent in those disciplines. The arts, similarly, provide long-term benefits that are important for every student. Experience has demonstrated to arts educators that all children can learn basic arts skills and knowledge, provided that they begin instruction early enough.”

6. Review of Literature Questionnaires for Students, Teachers, and Schools (NAEP, 2012) • According to the NAEP website “most NAEP assessments” are collected with a series of four questionnaires • Include ones for students, teachers, schools, and students with disabilities and English language learners • One of the subjects without a teacher questionnaire is visual arts

7. Review of Literature The National Assessment in the Visual Arts (Eisner, 1999) • Originally meant to be a low-stakes, “temperature taking exercise” • little use if we cannot read the symptoms or diagnose the causes • Test scores need interpreting • the ability of deciphering that information depends “not only the sophistication in the methodology of testing, statistics, and in the test's content, it requires an understanding of why something has educational and not merely statistical significance” • the common education practitioner often has difficulty gleaning consequence and meaning from the scores

8. Review of Literature (Eisner continued) • If we presume that teachers comprehend all of the abundant knowledge in order for their students to succeed, we must ask what we know about the teachers we are talking about in the first place • If we want to make serious improvements in student achievement, then we need to use test scores beyond understanding how a student performed on the assessment and resources • also examine school culture and structure • “Test performance, like paintings, needs to be ‘read,’ not only seen. Information needed to give test scores a deep reading is very limited” • again addresses the basis for this research.

9. Review of Literature The Unevenness of Arts Education Policies (Hatfield, 2007) • Despite the recent NAEP testing, little is known not only about if students are truly reaching standards • doesn't tell us whether the subjects could better curricula and instruction • No way to tell if state standards or NAEP standards are being taught in the classrooms • Need to have quality teachers in the visual arts education setting • recent study - “revealed that untrained people do not simply walk into classrooms and become successful” prepared and certified teachers are more successful than the untrained ones • more effective in their classrooms If all these results are true, it would seem essential to discover the connections between that information and NAEP data.

10. Review of Literature NAEP and policy: Chasing the tail of the assessment tiger (Diket & Brewer, 2011) • While we can openly review NAEP results, “the formal reports do not define problems or formulate approaches for improvement in the subject” • Information in the student questionnaire includes "aptitude and attitudes in visual art, specifics of in-school media availability, pedagogical delivery, and student perceptions of teacher attributes” • students are asked about their teachers, but nothing is asked of the teachers • test results only leave readers with “value without clarity” Correlations could be developed, trends viewed, and applications established that give more value and more clarity

11. Methodology Population • Similar to NAEP sample selection • Need to be directly related to the test results • teacher questionnaires must match up with NAEP participants’ classrooms, schools, districts, etc. • NAEP participation is entirely voluntary • teacher survey would also be voluntary • no way to accurately forecast who will be undergoing the research and how they represent the actual population of the United States visual arts classroom • NAEP visual arts exam only covers eighth grade students • only be administered to corresponding eighth grade teachers of the visual arts program

12. Methodology Procedures • Similarly follow NAEP testing to adhere to procedural protocol • Teachers will be given a general background questionnaire and a subject-area specific questionnaire • consists of a series of select-response questions • Teachers will mark their answers in their booklet or record answers online as accurately as possible • Once the survey is finished the online answers will be saved or the booklet can be given to the NAEP school coordinator • Methodology - Descriptive/Quantitative • used to look for trends and graph opinions, facts and demographic data • used to make recommendations for classroom application • could prove to be effective information for correlation tests

13. References Diket, R. M., & Brewer, T. M. (2011). NAEP and policy: Chasing the tail of the assessment tiger. Arts Education Policy Review, 112(1), 35-47. Retrieved from  http://www.informaworld.com.ezproxy.lib.ucf.edu/openurl?genre=article&id=doi:10.1080/10632913.2011.518126 Eisner, E. W. (1999). The national assessment in the visual arts. Arts Education Policy Review, 100(6), 16-20. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ624037&site=ehost-live Hatfield, T. A. (2007). The unevenness of arts education policies. Arts Education Policy Review, 108(5), 9-13. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ771257&site=ehost-live;http://heldref.metapress.com.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.3200/AEPR.108.5.9-14 Lehman, P. R. (1999). Introduction to the symposium on the "NAEP 1997 arts report card.". Arts Education Policy Review, 100(6), 12-15. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ624036&site=ehost-live National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP). (2012). Questionnaires for Students, Teachers, and Schools. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/bgquest.asp