“It’s not our job as art teachers to assess student artwork. That sounds shocking, I know, but if you reflect on it for a moment, you’ll see that this statement quite obviously true. It is our job as art teachers to assess student learning.” Olivia Gude
Art Standards and Assessments
In the words of Olivia Gude, member of the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, said “It’s not our job as art teachers to assess student artwork. That sounds shocking, I know, but if you reflect on it for a moment, you’ll see that this statement quite obviously true. It is our job as art teachers to assess student learning.” January 2014
Visual art education is about ideas, creative solutions, inventive expressions, and encouraging others to see the world’s possibilities. How do you assess that?
This quote lead me to look at my assessments very differently. I started building the learning assessment into the structure of the assignment by having students document the process of their work with design walls or digital presentations. Asking myself, what does it look like when an art student is successful? The answers are…They can make meaningful connections between a work of art and the life of the artist. They research or seek out in other ways, more information. They try out new ways of working and reflect on those experiences. They are open to other’s ideas. I believe that the answer to whether this has occurred is in the process and in the reflection.
I also use peer assessment to gauge craftsmanship, composition, creativity, and context of all the other pieces in the class, then reflect on their own piece. Based on what they saw of other’s work and what they read in the peer assessment, write about what they would do differently in the planning or construction phase that would have improved either the aesthetics or the meaning of their piece.
Visual art education is about ideas, creative solutions, inventive expressions, and encouraging others to see the world’s possibilities. How do you assess that?
This quote lead me to look at my assessments very differently. I started building the learning assessment into the structure of the assignment by having students document the process of their work with design walls or digital presentations. Asking myself, what does it look like when an art student is successful? The answers are…They can make meaningful connections between a work of art and the life of the artist. They research or seek out in other ways, more information. They try out new ways of working and reflect on those experiences. They are open to other’s ideas. I believe that the answer to whether this has occurred is in the process and in the reflection.
I also use peer assessment to gauge craftsmanship, composition, creativity, and context of all the other pieces in the class, then reflect on their own piece. Based on what they saw of other’s work and what they read in the peer assessment, write about what they would do differently in the planning or construction phase that would have improved either the aesthetics or the meaning of their piece.