me arts ed

Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NH, August 3-5

Rob Westerberg, York High School Music Educator

I stated in a blog post dated August 3rd and called New England Arts Assessment Institute that music educator Rob Westerberg and art educator Catherine Ring and I would be attending the assessment institute. Rob returned and wrote this overview below. This is the second post in a series to keep you updated on where we are with arts assessment and where we are headed. Read how Rob’s learning is transforming and reaffirming his commitment to excellence in education!

Attending the New England Arts Assessment Institute from August 3rd through the 5th was a revelation for me. Authentic, valid, comprehensive assessment in the arts has long seemed to me to be an oxymoron with regard to content and measurement. Even without this hurdle, the mere practical logistics of doing so, especially in the large group ensemble or the elementary classroom that sees hundreds of students incredibly infrequently have seemed to make this an impossibility.

My eyes were opened!

The assessment strategies and goals we discussed at Plymouth State have transforming qualities for the students, teachers and arts programs of Maine. Standards based assessment CAN become a valued and essential component of Arts Education. The Arts ARE worthy of it, and I am convinced that it’s time to take seriously our calling to be “core”. The Institute shed light for all of us on how to make that happen.

The linchpins for me are the work that has been done at Campbell High School in New Hampshire via Phil Martin (a long time hero of mine in Music Ed) and the Common Arts Assessments Initiative implemented in 64 public schools in Connecticut through the efforts of Richard Wells and Scott Schuler, our current MENC national President. At Campbell, the entire school was created about 10 years ago with the purpose of implementing competency (standards) based assessment and reporting. Phil’s approach to this has been an extraordinary example of applying a common sense goal in an efficient and meaningful way. Iím looking forward to diving into more of the work he has done there. As for the Connecticut work, I am finally now able to see how dozens of standards may be assessed in any music class, especially the large ensemble setting. Connecticut has created a treasure trove of resources for us to begin examining and implementing.

If we are truly to be considered as “core” as the other disciplines in our public schools, we need to demonstrate not only why, but how. We’ve had the “why” part down for decades and garnering more reasons all the time. The “how”, in a measurable way that parallels those in the other disciplines, has been the holy grail for us in arts education and the time is clearly at hand to implement this work in Maine. This is not a new initiative, but rather a logical (and monumental) next step in establishing best practices for Maine’s teachers and students. Ironically, the greatest impact of this work may be the peripheral benefit of advocacy in a way that resonates with the voting public like never before. I think this is going to be an exciting time for us as we move forward!

The Arts ARE worthy of it! It’s time to take seriously our calling to be “core”, and it’s time to start finding out how.

I invite you to comment on this post and to continue reading about assessment in arts education!