Performance Assessment Strategies

Portfolios

Best works portfolio Expanded portfolio Mini-portfolio Process portfolio

Because of their breadth, depth of content, and amenability to diverse reviewing and assessing techniques, portfolios reveal students in both maximum and typical performance postures and for this reason, serve both summative and formative assessment roles.

Journals, Diaries, Logs

Records of students’ ideas, reflections, experiences, notes, studies, etc; indicating the development of a work.

Criteria appropriate for guiding the development of journals, diaries and logs includes:

-content: written assignments, previous investigations, independent entries;

-development of ideas/research: journal entries should demonstrate a progression and evolution of thought and research;

-craftsmanship: although every sketch, idea, or written entry need not be exact or complete, journal entries should be readable, executed with care, presented in an orderly manner and dated.

Integrated Performances

Combine learning about a topic and being assessed on those outcomes all within a single performance task. In essence, the task has both a learning and assessing component;

Can be authentic, alternative and didactic assessment tasks and be as open-ended, innovative and unusual as the art educator’s imagination.

Dramatizations and role playing...

Dramatize a Senate hearing about an art issue;

Dramatize Serra public sculpture trial;

Act out a community meeting about a proposed public art work.

Extended written projects...

Write an exhibition catalog;

Create a dialogue (to be acted) between two artists (from different historical periods) seated next to each other at a dinner party or at an opening exhibition;

Create a resume for an artist;

Create an art newspaper for the avant garde reader.

Novel written projects...

Write original aesthetic puzzles;

Write several art reproduction postcards to a philosopher or art historian asking field-related questions or stating important ideas about aesthetic issues;

Write a campaign speech.

Individual student projects... Develop a collage

based on a circle showing “What’s In” and “What’s Out” with respect to one’s own definition of art;

Develop a pie chart showing the percentage of time throughout history of humankind for each art historical movement;

Create an art history tree showing an art movement’s roots, branches and leaves (students could also trace their own art making development);

Create a dance (performance) based on art historical movements and related media techniques (abstract expressionism and action painting);

Create a series of mathematical formulas , problems, rations, percentages, and the like to describe an art work mathematically;

Create an art book based on an original theme.

Group projects...

Conduct a survey about a controversial art-related issue or art work;

Restore an “ancient” art object addressing issues surrounding restoration;

Create a model art museum room (students could consider their own art work);

Create a collaborative art work, such as a performance piece or an installation.

Simulations and contrived situations...

Simulate a trial, meeting, panel discussion about a controversial work of art;

Simulate a “who done it” mystery about an artwork with clues for solving it.

Demonstrations...

Demonstrate how camera obscura works;

Demonstrate different painting, printmaking, sculpture, pottery... techniques;

Demonstrate steps of an art process through visual images or pantomime.

Experiments... Experiment with a pinhole camera and take a series of photographs;

Experiment with unique glazing techniques, creating a series of small exemplar tiles;

Experiment with new tools for drawing or painting.