Who's Afraid of Assessment?

Testing in Visual Arts seems like a strange notion. After all, the Visual Arts classroom is a hands-on learning environment that allows students to show what they know through the manipulation of materials over time. Through my investigation of various assessment techniques as a part of the Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment program, I have found that assessment in Visual Arts can come from using a variety of methods - in fact, it is when you bundle these various assessments together that you get a deeper understanding of what students know, what they do not know, and how you can use that information to help drive instruction and foster student learning and growth. The following materials were developed as a result of the research conducted for the MAEIA program as well as the 2013 Summer Professional Development workshop for the Michigan Art Education Association. Online tools I use to assess students and document growth in the Visual Arts include Google Forms, Schoology, and Artsonia.