Formative Assessment in Arts EducationIn that location are places in every content area where formative assessment occurs naturally and most oftentimes implicitly. Sports and the arts are two examples where we move from do to terminal functioning and all the adjustments that occur in-betwixt. Science (experiments) and linguistic communication arts are ii more where we see experiments adjusted based on the results and writing drafted and revised. Having been both a ring director and a woods shop teacher in some other life, I accept a bit of feel with this topic. Recently I read three articles about the explicit and focused use of formative assessment in arts education – art, theater and dance – with some amazing (and not unexpected) results.

This summertime I've been fortunate to run into two folks involved with the arts and incorporating formative classroom assessment. They've shared some fascinating and inspiring stories about transforming students (and teachers) through the use of self and peer assessment and feedback. Heidi Andrade often speaks to the ability of self and peer assessment. She poses questions like How do we practically utilise strategies? How practice nosotros get pupil buy-in for these procedure and strategies?

Oft we brand assumptions that students (and teachers) tin readily self assess. And while we all may do it every time nosotros walk by a mirror, it isn't e'er translated well into the classroom. First, let's not misfile self and peer cess with having students grade their own or others' work. Self and peer assessment is nigh having students:

  • Reflect on the quality of their work
  • Judge the caste to which they reflect
  • And identify strengths and weaknesses

When we provide students criteria – success criteria – and processes to use, they tin can generate criteria-referenced feedback for oneself from oneself peer, too equally effective, criteria-referenced feedback from students for other students. (Andrade 2015).

For example, in Formative Assessment for the Visual Arts, Andrade et al relate the experiences of three teachers. The results of incorporating cocky and peer cess along with rubrics generated "improvements in educatee engagements and the quality of art-making" and "students' apply of lesson specific vocabulary increased" (Andrade et al, (2014) Formative Assessment in the Visual Arts, Fine art Education P. 35). Who wouldn't desire those results?

In the article Formative Cess in Theatre Education: An Application to Practice, we discover teachers who used protocols to help their students larn virtually the criteria, reflect (self and peer appraise) and offer feedback, the processes necessary for all participants to be successful with this type of classroom determinative cess.

In Formative Assessment in Dance Education, we acquire more than about teachers focusing on establishing and getting clear on success criteria and then students can generate that criteria-referenced feedback that is necessary for revision. This article also leads into the stride that follows getting and using the feedback, which is setting goals, based on the feedback. Moving students forward is the existent purpose of feedback, whether from themselves, their peers or from us.

When you read near these arts teachers implementing determinative classroom assessment practices, what you lot are seeing is mini-action research occurring. Nosotros know teachers need support (just similar our students) when making changes to their practice. Updating our theories, re-negotiating what nosotros exercise in our daily instructional practice, cocky assessing and generating feedback are enhanced when we interact with our peers. This collaboration, when established on an on-going basis, allows teachers to try something, reverberate/cocky assess, get feedback and make "revisions." The time to brand revisions is central for students generating feedback via self and peer assessments.

Andrade'south mantra is clear and concise: clear criteria, constructive process of critique (feedback), opportunity to revise. If yous are willing to incorporate self and peer cess into your instructional practice, just similar these arts teachers discovered, students will learn more, perform better, become better grades and go more cocky regulated in their learning.

Where are you lot in moving toward student-centered assessment peer and cocky assessment? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page or send us a bulletin via Twitter (@NWEA).