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But how do we know? Assessing the arts and other subjective areas

Session 2
Aliza Greenberg, Otoniel Lopez — Metropolitan Opera Guild, Metis Associates

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?

Conversational Practice

In this conversation we will start by doing an activity to explore the complexities of assessment. Then we will actually engage in a sampling of an arts assessment that is used to measure student ability in the arts. These experiences with assessing the difficult to assess will lead to a conversation about methods for investigating student learning in these areas. We will explore questions like, “What worked?” “What didn't work?” “What works for you?” “Why does it work?” and, most importantly, “Now what?” Join in here: https://sites.google.com/site/cobaltstandards/home/discussion

Conversation Links

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Presenter Profiles

Aliza Greenberg
Aliza Greenberg
Metropolitan Opera Guild

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