California County Superintendents Arts Initiative CCESSA Statewide initiative launched in 2006 The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation “CCSESA urges every school to weave the arts into the fabric of the curriculum providing all students with a comprehensive education, kindergarten through high school.”

8 CORE PRINCIPLES FOR ARTS LEARNING Rich and affirming learning environments Create safe, enriched, and affirming environment for all to learn Empowering pedagogy Use teaching strategies that develop student voice and provide opportunities for all students to become leaders Challenging and relevant curriculum Develop curriculum that builds language, literacy and other content area skills, including whenever possible bilingualism. biliteracy and multiculturalism.

High Quality Instructional Resources Provide all students with equal access to core curriculum and academic language in the classroom, school and community Valid and comprehensive assessment Build assessment to promote reflective practice and data driven planning to improve academic, linguistic and socio-cultural outcomes for all. High quality professional preparation and support Provide complete and ongoing professional development designed to create PLCs able to implement an excellent arts education

Powerful family/community engagement Build strong family and community connections to draw upon community funds of knowledge to enhance VAPA teaching and learning Advocacy-oriented administrative/leadership systems Provide good leaders to structure, organize, coordinate and integrate the visual and performing arts programs to all students.

An Unfinished Canvas. Arts Education in California: Taking Stock of Policies and Practices (Hewlett Foundation/Ford Foundation) 89%of CA K-12 schools fail to offer a standards-based course of study in all four disciplines 61% do not have even one full-time arts specialist (secondary more likely to have one than elementary) Most instruction left to classroom teachers Standards alignment, assessment and accountability often not present

Barriers to meeting the State’s Arts Education Goals Inadequate state funding for education, must rely on outside funding sources Pressure to improve test scores in other content areas Lack of instructional time, arts expertise and materials (elementary)

Recommendations (policy makers) Increase funding (ha!) Strengthen accountability, develop standards aligned assessments Rethink instructional time allotment for meeting ELA and Math proficiency while providing greater access to the arts Improve professional development

Recommendations (districts) Develop long range plans Dedicate resources and staff Provide professional development Establish assessment and accountability systems.

Recommendations (parents) Inquire into student learning and progress Advocate at state and local levels for a comprehensive arts education program

Arts Assessment The Four “Myths” 1.Success in the arts is subjective has content employs technique encourages intellectual behavior

2.It’s all about the end product Process is as valuable as result in arts education effort problem solving improvement/growth classroom behavior self-motivation

3. Assessment can be tacked on to instruction teachers are not comfortable assessing visual and performing arts worry about hurting self esteem

4. Assessment is contradictory to the artistic process the artistic process includes embedded assessment. self-assessment external assessment (critique)

Assessing the Arts Arts knowledge, arts process and arts products are all assessable. Assessment includes Portfolios Personal reflection critique

Art education assessment is AUTHENTIC! It’s the REAL WORLD!!!

What does quality arts education assessment look like? insistence on excellence judgment importance of self-assessment multiple forms of assessment ongoing assessment

Formative Assessment Used in process to chart progress and guide development observation checklist, rubrics personal reflection prompts

Summative Assessment “Did the student learn or were they able to do what I set out to teach them?” Assessment should be Meaningful and challenging Require students to create, perform and respond Give students good examples of high quality work Include critique, revision and student self-assessment

Authentic Assessment Mirrors work done by real people in the real world! Assessment should be Like one found in a real world setting Requires judgment and innovation Ask student to “do” the subject Use skills and knowledge to complete complex tasks Allow students to practice, get feedback and revise performances and products

Now, the fun stuff!