Question:
Do you have any general information on NAEP Arts?
Response:
In 1997:
- Music
was assessed using a national sample of 2,275 students. As with theatre and the visual arts, all students were administered a set of paper-and-pencil items in a classroom setting to assess their knowledge and skills in responding to music. To measure their knowledge and skills in creating and performing, students were assessed individually and their responses were recorded for later scoring.
Students who scored in the upper 25 percent of the responding scale scored better in the creating and performing tasks than other students, with scores of 52 percent in the creating tasks and 56 percent in the performing tasks. Students who scored in the middle 50 percent of the responding scale also scored better than did students in the lowest group.
- Theatre
was assessed using a targeted sample of 1,386 students who took theatre courses in schools that offered them. Many of the responding tasks used videotapes of film scenes and audiotapes of play readings to engage students in the assessment activities. The creating/performing student activities were videotaped for scoring at a later time. Most of the creating/performing student responses were scored on a number of factors; each student received a separate score for each factor according to his or her performance.
Students who did well on the paper-and-pencil responding portion of the assessment also scored relatively well on the creating/performing tasks, with the upper level mean scores at 60 percent.
- The visual arts assessment was given to a national sample of 2,999 students, using a rich assortment of artwork from a broad range of artists. The students were asked to use different arts media and tools to draw, construct collages, and model clay in completing their responses. Students were also asked to create solutions for real-world design problems. The completed student work was either photographed or collected by the assessment facilitator for later scoring.
Students who did well on the paper-and-pencil responding activities also did well on the creating tasks.
The latest NAEP arts assessment was administered to students at grade 8 in 2008. The assessment measures skills in music and visual arts. Results will be reported in 2009.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (1999). The NAEP 1997 Arts Report Card: Eighth Grade Findings From the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NCES 1999-486).
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