ArtsEdNet Mail for October 1998: National Standards and Assessment

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National Standards and Assessment

[ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]meropi (meropi)
Sat, 31 Oct 1998 02:51:40 -0500

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Reatha and all interested parties,

I'm so glad that you brought up this topic. I've been debating this =
very issue. The very idea of getting the government involved in our =
classrooms is a serious concern. Are you ready to let others determine =
what works for you and your students? Is standardization really what we =
want in our art room? On the whole, I have found art teachers to be =
extremely dedicated, thoughtful, well educated, and very enthusiastic =
about the subject they teach. By it's very nature teaching art, making =
art, stands outside of the cognitive learning styles used in other =
subjects. It's not that we couldn't teach art in the manner conducive =
to evaluation, break down it's content areas so that we can prescribe =
what is valuable in art, but isn't it conforming to rules that should be =
questioned in the first place. Since most of us feel marginalized =
within our schools, with little support from administrators, parents, =
teachers and even from our students, do we accept the fact that in order =
to be taken seriously we must resort to standardization and assessment? =
And even with all of this put into practice, will we really become a =
valuable and accepted part of the school curriculum? For the little =
that we might gain, is it worth what we will loose? I do not look =
forward to teaching for a test, and that is not long in coming. Art =
advocacy groups are hard at work formulating prototypes for assessing =
art on a national level. Will we break down the components of art to =
such a degree that the sheer joy of creation must be put aside because =
we have more important things to teach?? Personally, I'd rather turn to =
a forum like this to gather insightful information from, than have the =
government telling me what to teach. Lots of questions, any answers?

Sydni in New York =20

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Reatha and all interested parties,

I'm so glad that you brought up this topic. = I've been=20 debating this very issue. The very idea of getting the government = involved=20 in our classrooms is a serious concern. Are you ready to let = others=20 determine what works for you and your students? Is standardization = really=20 what we want in our art room? On the whole, I have found art = teachers to=20 be extremely dedicated, thoughtful, well educated, and very enthusiastic = about=20 the subject they teach. By it's very nature teaching art, making art, = stands=20 outside of the cognitive learning styles used in other subjects. = It's not=20 that we couldn't teach art in the manner conducive to evaluation, break = down=20 it's content areas so that we can prescribe what is valuable in art, but = isn't=20 it conforming to rules that should be questioned in the first = place. Since=20 most of us feel marginalized within our schools, with little support = from=20 administrators, parents, teachers and even from our students, do we = accept the=20 fact that in order to be taken seriously we must resort to = standardization and=20 assessment? And even with all of this put into practice, will we = really=20 become a valuable and accepted part of the school curriculum? For = the=20 little that we might gain, is it worth what we will loose? I do = not look=20 forward to teaching for a test, and that is not long in coming. = Art advocacy groups are hard at work formulating = prototypes for=20 assessing art on a national level. Will we break down the components of = art to=20 such a degree that the sheer joy of creation must be put aside because = we have=20 more important things to teach?? Personally, I'd rather turn to a = forum=20 like this to gather insightful information from, than have the = government=20 telling me what to teach. Lots of questions, any = answers?