Assessment

Assessment is integral to learning and achieving in the arts. Effective assessment promotes students' learning, raises standards, and reduces disparity of achievement. Classroom practice and school-wide arts programmes should use assessment for these purposes rather than as a means of comparing or ranking students' achievement.

The achievement objectives describe learning that takes place in the strands of The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum and indicate the expected progression of skills, knowledge, and understanding for students. In any given learning experience or unit of work, students may be working towards achievement objectives from several strands. Teachers will use achievement objectives selectively to report on students' achievement and on their progress over time. They should not be viewed as a checklist for assessment.

Along with the needs and interests of individual students and groups, school assessment policies and practices relating to the arts should take account of local tikanga and community knowledge and resources.

Gathering, Analysing, and Using Assessment Information

Learning experiences in dance, drama, music, and the visual arts provide rich opportunities for gathering assessment information, which may be recorded on individual occasions or over a period of time. In deciding what information to gather and how to obtain it, teachers should consider the context and purpose of the assessment and determine the information that will best fulfil this purpose. They also need to select the most appropriate approaches for the particular arts discipline or disciplines in which the assessment is to take place.

Forms in which assessment information may be gathered include:

• observations of students involved in individual or group activities for which there will be no finished product;
• teachers' and students' notes on exhibitions and live performances;
• audio and video recordings of art works or performances;
• art works, such as paintings, original scripts, and musical compositions;
• photographs of completed works or works in progress;
• portfolios, practical workbooks, and visual diaries;
• students' journals containing ongoing reflections and self-assessments;
• written assignments and assessment activities.

Assessment information may be collected over time. It may be in diverse forms and relate to the progress of students working both as individuals and as group members. When analysing assessment information gathered in the arts, teachers should:

• actively involve students in reviewing and reflecting on assessment information that relates to them;
• distinguish between students' progress throughout a learning experience and their achievement at its conclusion;
• base conclusions on multiple or extended judgments rather than on single experiences;
• ensure that when specific tasks are used as the basis for making judgments, they are sufficiently "rich" to allow general inferences about students' achievement to be made;
• consider interclass or interschool moderation strategies to ensure that comparable judgments are made;
• take into account cultural differences in relation to learners and the learning context.

Assessment is gathered for many purposes but, at all times, teachers should have in mind the overall aim of using assessment to promote learning, raise standards, and reduce disparity of achievement. Specifically, assessment may be used to:

• provide focused feedback and guidance that assists students in the arts to identify the standards they are aiming for, assess their progress, and recognise their next learning steps and how to take them;
• identify special initiatives that will improve learning for individuals or groups of students underachieving in particular areas of the arts;
• assist teachers to review and adjust classroom arts programmes to better meet students' needs and interests;
• provide parents and whanau with feedback that helps them to recognise and value their children's learning and achievement in the arts disciplines and encourages them to celebrate successes in the arts;
• evaluate the effectiveness of school-wide arts programmes in meeting student and community needs;
• determine future directions for arts programmes in order to reduce disparity and raise achievement.