Teacher Tips
Assessment Tip for the Art Room
By Jennifer West
John Adams Middle School
Santa Monica, California
Involving students in the assessment process benefits both teachers and students by offering each valuable insight into the mind of an artist. Assessment in the art room is an ongoing process and works hand-in-hand with reflection.
Before any work begins, provide students with the goals and parameters of the project and include a rubric. Have students make predictions about the outcome of their work and brainstorm creative and technical solutions around the given parameters. Ask students to complete surveys that ask what they know about the topic, culture, materials, and tools they will be working with. Encourage the use of key vocabulary terms and the proper identification of tools, techniques, and processes.
Periodically pause class work and encourage students to move around the room to view each others' projects. Facilitate impromptu mini-critiques that can offer students new directions to meet the goals of the project.
When the project is completed, give students the opportunity to reflect on their work by answering questions about what they have learned, enjoyed, felt proud about, were frustrated by, and would change if they could. Include the project rubric on the reflection sheet and ask students to grade themselves in each category. Take all of this into account as you determine the final grades and feedback. When you give students a voice and creative choice, they will often surprise and humble you with their reflections.
Performance Assessment in the Elementary Music Classroom
By Cathy Buchholz
Vocal Music Teacher Grades 1-12
Holgate Local School
Holgate, Ohio
Performance assessment can be a great teaching tool in your elementary music classroom. Giving students ownership of the process can clearly identify what they should know and be capable of. Students feel empowered by this process and are generally excited to share.
Here is how it might work in your classroom. After teaching a lesson on a performance-related topic, have the entire class create a list of three or four criteria identifying a good performance. Allowing the students to create this list reinforces the objectives of the lesson. Without knowing it, your elementary students will have created the criteria for a performance assessment. The criteria can be partnered with a 4-point assessment rubric. I refer to these four levels as: 4-yes, 3-yes but, 2-no but, and 1-no. Using small group performances, the remaining students in the classroom assess each performance based on the established criteria. You guide the discussion, asking the students to explain why they would assign a certain number to the performance while being able to site the specific criteria. If a student sites something that is not listed in the criteria, this gives you the opportunity to remind everyone what the original criteria was, guiding them in the understanding that, although they may have a valid point, they are only assessing the criteria listed at the beginning of the process. The students who perform should have the opportunity to self-assess using the same process. In my teaching experience, those students who self-assess are generally much more critical of their own performance than any of their peers.
Sample Rubric
| 4 | Yes! |
| 3 | Yes, but |
| 2 | No, but |
| 1 | No |