Assessment In the Visual Arts Classroom

by Lisa Doslu

Pre-Assessment: should be done prior to lesson planning to determine students skill

level.

Formative Assessment: is for learning and should be non-graded and done frequently
throughout the lesson. Formative assessment is helpful to both students and educators because it allows students to determine their progress, and provides key information to educators about where student learning is currently to determine whether or not modifications to lesson plans should be made.

Summative Assessment: is of learning and should be the culmination of the formative

assessment previously conducted. (Note: if formative assessment is done correctly, educators should be able to accurately predict summative assessment outcomes.) As displayed in the model below, formative assessment is done until students acquire learning: Pre-Assess Students to Determine Current Skill Set Develop Lesson
Based on: Desired Summative Assessment Outcomes Common Core State Standards SIOP Model

Teach Lesson

Conduct Formative Assessment

Modify Lesson Plans as Needed Re-Teach Lesson

Summative Assessment Assessment is:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Assessing Material Taught Fair and accurate Directly tied to skills & concepts from standards A combination of questioning techniques Is tied to scoring rubric given to students prior to lesson

The following is an example of how formative and summative assessment can be conducted in a visual arts classroom:

Formative Assessment (partial example)

(addressing the skill ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRINCIPLES) Please answer both parts of the question below, using full sentences to describe your answer. Which of the main principles of design - balance, gradation, repetition, contrast, harmony, dominance, & unity is represented below? Explain what is being done to achieve that principle. Extra credit will be given if you can give an example of this design principle in your own work.

a. b.

design principle: ______________________ what is being done to achieve this principle: ________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Summative Assessment (partial example)

(assessing skill ACHIEVE) Using the words below, (note: there are more words than spaces) fill in the word that best describes the sentience. When I sketched my _______________, I was able to see how my draft would look on paper. I used ___________ and __________ to create my neutral colors. To give an object a sharp edge, I would use a contour ___________. When creating the illusion that objects are fading into each other, I would use _________________ colors. warm colors, blue, analogous, blend, design, cool colors, complimentary, line, peaceful, red, yellow, and emotional (assessing skill DESCRIBE)

1. Describe how your work was created. For example, what materials did you use and what types of technique
did you use to achieve your desired results (such as I used cross-hatching to indicate shadows)?

What I want people to notice the most about my work is: