Giving Compass' Take:

• More educators are using art in assessments to individualize work for students and help them understand a topic in a creative way. 

• How can education donors contribute to a learning environment that prioritizes art practices and arts education? 

• Here is how art programs can improve student academic and social development. 


In her English classroom, Hawaii middle school teacher Jill Fletcher uses a form of assessment called a one-pager, in which students can show what they’ve learned about a specific subject in a creative way, she wrote in Edutopia.

Using a piece of printer paper, Fletcher's students are asked to combine a mix of writing and drawing to explain their understanding of a concept or main idea. It's up to students to decide how their one-pagers look and how they answer the prompt, Fletcher writes.

Assessments are part of the educational process that teachers and administrators cannot avoid. However, there's been an increasing shift away from the traditional multiple choice exams and toward more flexible options to evaluate a student's degree of mastery of a certain subject – or, in some cases, their proficiency in soft skills – without having to bubble in letters on a rigid form.

In several cases, educators are turning to art to help students explain more abstract elements of a subject area in a more creative, individualized way.

 

“Asking students to draw, write, and talk about their experience learning acknowledges students as stakeholders in education who have a deep seated knowledge and interest in the conditions of school and aspirations for their own educational progress.”

Read the full article about using art in assessments by Lauren Barack at Education Dive