A Logic for the Assessment of Student Work in ART 12

Mr. P. Syme, 2/7/00

A note on assessment in the arts:

Quantifying performance in studio production is a daunting task. Assessment in the arts includes an attempt by an instructor to determine how each individual is performing towards their own potential while maintaining some consistency in the evaluation of the individual when compared with their peers. Though never absolute, the instructor must at some point determine grades based on his or her own best professional judgement. The impossibility of pure objectivity in arts education assessment was resolved at post secondary institutions such as NSCAD through a pass/fail system. This is likely the most objective model for art education assessment.

In that public schools rely on the quantification of student performance, teachers in the arts are left with an alchemists task, to quantify that which is inherently subjective and relative -- to quantify that which is unquantifiable. Below is a description of the criteria I used in an attempt to quantify student performance in Art12.

Papers/ research art history:

Does the student demonstrate:

• an understanding of the creative process of five artists' work?
• an understanding of the conditions which contribute each artists work. Such conditions may include cultural context, economics, personality, influences, family life, etc.?

Art work:

The following items are assessed within each students' work;

• Though time spent and number of works completed are considered during marking, it is a professional judgment of how well the individual worked towards their own growth and development in the arts.
• Ability to focus on a particular path of creative inquiry (regarding the aesthetic, conceptual, practical, spiritual, etc.) and the final product depicting evidence of such exploration
• Is the student growing in areas such as skill development, conceptual understanding, dealing with composition, discipline, etc. within the learning curve? This varies individually, based on assessments of where growth is needed.
• Process. What is the relationship between final product and initial idea or inspiration? Is there sufficient evidence that the sketchbook, or some equivalent system of creative inquiry, is used in the creative process towards ensuring maximum resolve in final works? To summarize, the investment in process from idea exploration and inquiry in a sketching stage will be evident in the final larger product.

Sketchbook:

• This is largely volume based, with implications for the success of larger compositions. Sketching provides an arena where artists can practice and develop skills, explore with materials, quickly record and explore ideas, test and experiment with compositions, and make studies for larger more resolved, thus successful works. The sketchbook helps one answer the small questions so that when working on larger and more involved aesthetic productions, one need only be concerned with the larger issues such as specific colour choices, rendering, and pure process. Therefore, it is believed that if the student makes productive and extensive use of the sketchbook, the growth and overall reward of this process should be evident in larger works.

Class Mark and Presentation:

This mark is determined through an assessment of the individual's preparation for each presentation and/or use of studio time.