Assessing the Arts

Good assessment in arts education requires many of the same things that assessment in any content area requires. Good arts assessment needs time to be thoughtfully implemented, with professional development for teachers using and administering the assessments and alignment with district, state, or national standards in the arts. Good arts education assessment supports and develops teacher instruction and student learning. 

Richard Cowell, in his 2003 article, “The Status of Arts Assessment: Examples from Music,” reminds us that assessment serves many purposes, including motivating students and teachers by recognizing work well-done; providing information to teachers and leaders to improve instruction; informing us if our instructional goals have been met; and informing us what was and was not covered in the curriculum. 

There are some aspects of arts assessment that make it unique from assessment in other core content areas.

• “Doing” and “making” are critical components of arts education. Arts knowledge is assessable, and so is the process of making art as well as the artwork itself. Each of these components – knowledge, process, and production – is intertwined, and each needs to be represented and accounted for in the assessment system.
   
• Arts education assessment is authentic. In other words, it examines students’ work much like “real world” work is assessed. While pencil-and-paper testing may have a role, much of arts assessment is based on more complex and in-depth examinations of student work. Strategies that accomplish authentic assessment include portfolios, personal reflection, and critique.  

Colwell, R. (2003). The Status of Arts Assessment: Examples from Music. Arts Education Policy Review, 105, 11-18.