EduCon 2.5

We will have a conversation about assessment in the arts but in the context of a broader conversation about how we can learn about our students’ learning in subject areas that may be more difficult to assess, areas often described as subjective. The arts engage students in deep, inquiry driven, project-based learning experiences. But it is often hard to capture and hard to assess what students know and are able to do in the arts, and it is even harder to articulate. If the trend is, “What is measurable is what matters,” how do we make our case for the arts and other difficult to measure subject areas? How do we know and articulate what our students are learning in the arts? How do we move beyond, “It was good,” and assess what students know and are able to do in the arts and other subjective areas? What can we learn from arts assessments about assessment methods overall? How might arts assessments give way to other alternative ways of understanding student learning?