Standards, Assessment and Understanding by Design: Exploring the Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs)

National Art Education Association Purdue University Dr. Robert Sabol Past President, National Art Education Association Purdue University bobsabol@purdue.edu Lynn Tuttle National Association for Music Education LynnT@nafme.org

An Overview of the Standards

The standards are based on the work of Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in Understanding by Design (2005).

The standards were designed to reflect the principles and ideas detailed in the NCCAS document, Philosophical Foundations and Lifelong Goals for Artistic Literacy. The standards include common Anchor Standards for Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts.

The standards have been published in a web-based environment. Clickable Searchable Showcasing evidence of student work Examples of student work Model Cornerstone Assessments Creation of your “own account” to build your personalized view of the standards

Available at: http://www.nationalartsstandards.org

Artistic Processes included in the New Standards Creating new artistic work. Presenting/Performing/Producing an existing work. Responding to artistic works and performances as audience/consumer. Connecting artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and contextual knowledge .

The National Core Arts Standards Model Philosophical Foundations and Core Arts Standards Artistic Processes: Creating, Presenting, Responding, and Connecting Enduring Understandings Essential Questions Common Anchor Standards Performance Standards or Tasks Model Cornerstone Assessments

Questions?

Model Cornerstone Assessments

MCAs were modeled after “Cornerstone Tasks” developed by Wiggins and McTighe. Based on the Understanding by Design Framework

Introducing the Model Cornerstone Assessments Model Cornerstone Assessments accompanying the new standards are samples or models teachers can use as examples when they create their own cornerstone assessments or they may be used as intact assessments.

Introducing the Model Cornerstone Assessments (continued) Model Cornerstone Assessments are designed to reflect Artistic Processes (Creating, Presenting/Performing/ Producing, Responding, and Connecting)

Introducing the Model Cornerstone Assessments (continued) Model Cornerstone Assessments may address all of the Artistic Processes (Creating, Presenting/Performing/Producing, Responding, and Connecting) or they may address one or more of the Artistic Processes.

Introducing the Model Cornerstone Assessments (continued) Model Cornerstone Assessment have been created for grades bands 2, 5, 8 and for the three performance levels of Proficient, Accomplished, and Advanced at the secondary school level.

Introducing the Model Cornerstone Assessments (continued) Model Cornerstone Assessments were written by teams consisting of members of the standards writing teams and other arts educators.

Model Cornerstone Assessment Characteristics Model Cornerstone Assessments: 1. Are grounded in the standards. 2. Are performance tasks that are completed over time rather than on demand. 3. Are curriculum embedded, as opposed to externally imposed. 4. Recur across the grades, becoming increasingly sophisticated over time. 5. May be used both as rich learning activities and assessment instruments.

Model Cornerstone Assessment Model Title and Short Description of the Assessment Strategies for Embedding in Instruction Detailed Assessment Procedures Key Vocabulary, Knowledge, and Skills Strategies for Inclusion Differentiation Strategies Resources, Scoring Devices

Available at: http://www.nationalartsstandards.org

The Model Cornerstone Assessment Template

Knowledge and Skills [other than Key Vocabulary] Strategies for Inclusion (Specially designed instruction and support for students with disabilities to provide equitable learning opportunities. This may be filled in by individual teachers based on their own students’ needs.) Resource:   Differentiation Strategies (Instructional approaches that respond to individual student needs and strengths to maximize student learning and success.) Resources (download April 26, 2014): http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/100216/chapters/Understanding-Differentiated-Instruction@-Building-a-Foundation-for-Leadership.aspx http://hepg.org/her-home/issues/harvard-educational-review-volume-83-number-1/herarticle/_1229  Detailed Assessment Procedures [clear outline of procedures necessary to obtain comparable work from multiple teachers - i.e., coding and file format for preservation of student work (mp3, PDF), etc.]   Knowledge, Skills and Vocabulary [focusing on concepts required to successfully complete the task] Key Vocabulary Knowledge and Skills [other than Key Vocabulary] Students will: Scoring Devices [rubrics, checklists, rating scales, etc. based on the Standards and Traits]   Task Specific Rubrics

Build as many rows as needed for this task. Assessment Focus Note: The first column will vary depending on discipline specific approach to work. Build as many rows as needed for this task. Assessment Focus Artistic Process or Process Components Enduring Understandings Essential Questions Anchor Standards Key Traits Performance Standards (Advanced) Insert Artistic Process if applicable (using process components)   Creating Presenting/  Performing/ Producing Responding Connecting

All existing Model Cornerstone Assessments are posted on the NCCAS website.

NCCAS received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to conduct benchmarking of the Model Cornerstone Assessments. Work on the grant began in the fall of 2014 and continued through the summer of 2016. Benchmarks for all MCAs will be published on the NCCAS website this winter.

MCA’s – Discussion with the discipline leaders How did your discipline design and develop MCA’s? What has your discipline learned through the piloting process? What are next steps in terms of MCA development – and design?

Questions?

Thank You!