Assessment in Art Education

When teaching art, just as you can’t have a successful art making/learning environment if everyone makes the same cookie cutter projects, you can’t have just one assessment that is used all of the time, and for every student.  I think all art media areas should have both formative and summative assessments, however, these can mean different things when applied to different areas.  In a ceramics class, especially beginning students, this is something they haven’t done much of their lives like drawing for example, and so as teachers we need to be aware of the skills students come in and how to best evaluate their work from there.  While a “wet” (or 75% done critique) may be necessary for a ceramics project to ensure students will meet deadlines and communicate what they want in a timely manner, a not as serious just couple of reflective questions may suffice for a drawing project.  I think the best way to evaluate student learning is to set up a standard for learning early on and from there, their art work, journaling, artist statement, participation in critiques, and overall effort should be based on the standard.  I think that it is important for assessments to be based on individual student growth and learning and not as compared to other students.  Our students come from an array of backgrounds with different experiences that affect their art making abilities and so should be evaluated on their own work and what they are actually able to accomplish and not what others, whether more or less advanced have done.  I think students need feedback throughout working on making art as this will help in their learning about their processes and how to best communicate their ideas before it is too late (only summative assessments).  I also think it is essential to allow students a means of redoing projects throughout the semester if they want to improve upon their work.  Many times although we may succeed in providing a variety of formative assessments as well as fair summative assessments where we perhaps have one final critique of the student work, we just move on to the next project without allowing students to take the critiques of their work and improve on their art making skills. For this reason, I think a way of improving the work for those who want to, say by the end of the semester, as a way to truly “finish” a piece is essential not just to a certain lesson plan but as a core to instruction in art.  In creating a unit plan focused on a ceramics class, I would use gallery walks both during making and after, journals, a “wet” or in process critique, a final critique, a thoughtful, well explained rubric for grading purposes, possibly a one page portfolio for a longer project, and if possible an exhibition or public display of the student work.