Developing a Bundled Visual Arts Assessment Model

Abstract

Abstract As art educators, we should be past the point of being afraid of or threatened by assessment. As a discipline we need it, but two persistent questions remain: What should assessment look like, and how do we go about creditably assessing it? This paper addresses these questions with a focused inquiry of visual art assessment literature. The results strengthen the conceptual foundation for the "bundled" assessment model, confirm that authentic and performance-based visual arts assessment is greatly needed, and make clear that new tests should measure cognitive contributions found specifically in visual arts learning. The results also lead to the development and construction of sample items that can be "bundled" together by their type and kind, featuring a degree of item selection flexibility, using varied separate and aggregated scoring options, and employing a number of contemporary and folk art exemplars. This paper and the sample test items will significantly contribute to the body of knowledge about visual art assessment and give us a glimpse into what students learn specifically when they make, respond to, and think about visual art.