Explanation of Pre- and Post-Assessment Instrument

The Poudre School District Growth Assessment for Elementary Art, scores student achievement
on a scale from 1 to 4. In this case, one represents low achievement and four represents high
performance. The four levels of achievement demarcated by this scale represent states of, being
in progress, being partially proficient, being proficient, and performing at an advanced level of
proficiency. According to the Poudre School district (PSD), the three naturally occurring criteria
in the art classroom, on which each student is graded are, planning and ideation, creation and
exploration, and reflection and connection. We utilized these criteria in order to assess the work
and proficiency of our kindergarten students achievement for the first lesson of this unit. During
this lesson, each student created an original design for the cover of his or her sketchbook, which
communicated something about the artist, such as a favorite activity, personal interest, or other
important personal characteristic. We assessed each students work according to this four-tier
system of evaluation. We utilized this same system of assessment at the conclusion of the final
art lesson of this unit, a ceramic clay exploration. We were then able to compare the performance
of these students in order to assess student development according to these three proficiencies,
and in turn, the effectiveness of our instruction.

Assessment Instruments

Sketchbooks
Student utilized sketchbooks in the artmaking process at several points during this unit of study.
In some cases, students used their sketchbooks to experiment and practice techniques when we
introduced them to a new art media. These explorations provided each student with an
opportunity to make observations and to develop an understanding of the new media.
Sketchbook explorations also allowed us, as teachers, to assess the effectiveness of our own
instruction and to determine if further instruction and/or demonstration was required before the
students began to work on their finished art project.
Blog
For each lesson in this unit, we created a blog post, which documented the lesson plan and
rationale. The artistic process and examples of student learning were recorded in each blog in the
form of classroom observations, written quotes of student statements, photographs, and video
interviews with the students. Video clips included in these posts document conversations, often
based on inquiry questions and/or lesson objectives, posed to students regarding individual
decision-making, observations, and the artmaking process. Photographic examples of student
work and work in progress are included in each lessons blog post. This assessment tool is
effective in that it provides a way to visually chronical student work as well as examples of
student engagement and understanding.
Formative Assessment
We utilized formative assessment strategies in order to gauge student comprehension and
proficiency in each of our lessons. The limited reading and writing proficiencies typical in most
kindergarten students necessitated that we conduct our formative assessment in the form or
individual and group discussion. For instance, following a sketchbook exploration of a new
media, we engaged students in a group dialogue about their discoveries. In this way, students
were able to share information and ideas with other students and their instructors and to reflect
on their own work and that of their peers. This proved to be an effective strategy of assessment
and a way to integrate reflective and analytic activities as well as 21st century proficiencies into
each lesson. During our final lesson, in which the students explored the K-5 student art
exhibition, students worked in pairs in order to apply their developing skill in the assessment of
art. Students assessed and selected examples of artwork to discuss with their peers and
instructors according to the criteria described in the student handout for this lesson. (see fig. 1)
Over the course of this unit, student proficiency and confidence in the communication of these
ideas and observations increased substantially and dramatically in many instances.

Fig. 1 Student handout for the assessment

of K-5 exhibited artwork scavenger hunt

Pre- and Post-Assessment Results

The graph in figure 2 demonstrates the outcome of the assessment of student work for the first
and for the last lesson of this unit. The first lesson of this unit represents a baseline assessment of
student achievement and a pre-assessment of student artmaking proficiency. Conversely, the
assessment of the final project represents the accumulated knowledge and proficiency of our
students during this unit of study.

The graph in figure 3 illustrates the relationship between student achievement and proficiency
according to the relative age of each student. Student age was determined only in terms of age,
i.e. 5 versus 6 years old. It does not take into account student age in terms of months within a
year and recent or soon to occur birthdates.

Fig. 2 Assessment of student proficiency according to the four levels of development according
to PSD assessment criteria
Fig. 3 Assessment of student proficiency according to the four levels of development according
to PSD assessment criteria grouped according to the age of students within the kindergarten class

Discussion of Pre- and Post-Assessment Results

Student assessment represented in figure 2, demonstrates an increase in student comprehension

and proficiency during this unit in terms planning and ideation, creation and exploration, and
reflection and connection as defined by the PSD system of assessment. Increases in each of these
proficiencies varied among individual students. However, every student within this group
demonstrated growth and increased comprehension during this unit. The second graph (see fig.
3) represents an average score for students grouped according to their age group, i.e. 5 or 6 year
olds, for the pre-assessment sketchbook lesson and for the post-assessment ceramic clay project.
The information represented in the first graph is consistent with our observations in the
classroom. Though many of the students in this class have likely attended pre-school or similar
pre-kindergarten institutions, this class is likely the first formal art class in which many students
have participated. Consequently, the series of lessons within this unit was likely the first formal
exposure to some of the media, techniques, and processes that the students utilized to create art.
Our observations and formative assessments indicated significant increases in comprehension
and proficiency among the students on multiple occasions in most cases.
An example of this growth is evident in the pre-assessment of two students in particular. These
students scored low in terms of planning, ideation, creation, and exploration at the conclusion of
our first lesson. We observed that it was difficult for these students to engage in the process and
to formulate a means by which to express their idea through their art. Consequently, the work of
these students was unfinished and/or did not demonstrate significant exploration of the materials
or the development of craft. Over the course of several lessons and the length of this unit, these
same students began to demonstrate significant growth in these and other examples of the eight
studio habits of mind or studio thinking. They began to complete their work during each lesson,
to push themselves to through exploration, ideation, engagement, and reflection.
This pattern or growth was again evident in the way all of our students used and mixed color in
work throughout this unit. We addressed color mixing in the second lesson of this unit, including
the introductory/pre-assessment sketchbook lesson. In this lesson, we instructed and
demonstrated how to mix a variety of paint colors using the primary colors. During this lesson,
our students were able to produce secondary colors, but required significant support in doing so.
In our final lesson of this unit, our student artists again used acrylic paint. This time, they used
paint to add color, detail, and interest to ceramic clay slab art that they created during two
previous lessons. We observed that our students mixed secondary and intermediate colors
confidently, they shared ideas and information freely with their peers and instructors, and that
they demonstrated an advanced level of skill in associated painting technique.
The example of student growth that was most clearly evident and exciting for the students was in
the depiction of figures and objects within their art. During the first lessons of this unit, we
observed that many of our students lacked the basic drawing skills required to produce relatively
accurate drawings of animals, people, and objects. We also observed that this lack of proficiency
seemed to be affecting the confidence of some of our students, which manifested itself in a
reluctance to produce artwork and to share artwork in reflective activities. We created a series of
lessons, which integrated instructions and demonstrations of how to identify basic geometric
shapes within these complex shapes that students wanted to produced. Then we showed the
students how to use those shapes and the relationships between them to draw complex shapes
such as that of people and animals. In each class during the rest of the unit, we observed both an
increasing proficiency in drawing among many students challenged by figural representation in
our early lessons, but also an increased level of confidence and excitement in the work these
students produced.
The second graph (fig. 3) illustrates an interesting trend in our assessment of student
achievement in this kindergarten class. We grouped the assessment scores for the first and for the
final lesson for each student in the class according to each students age, five or six, at the time
of our final class. We then averaged the scores of each age group in order to determine an
average level of proficiency at the beginning of the unit and at the end of the unit. These
averages indicate that the five-year-old students in the class demonstrated a more significant
level of growth during this unit. In retrospect, this pattern is logical. It seems reasonable to
postulate that the younger students in this class may have had less opportunity to learn and to
practice art skills prior to beginning kindergarten. If this is in fact the case, it might well explain
a decreased level of artistic proficiency during our first lesson. As these younger students
acquired new information and skills related to artmaking, their point of departure would
exaggerate their apparent rate and level of improvement. There are of course, many variables,
which might also account for this trend in our assessment of the students. Regardless, it is an
interesting outcome and something to consider when working with kindergarten students.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Assessment and Instruction Plans

I have many reasons to believe this assessment does reflect a significant and universal growth in
artistic proficiency for the students in this kindergarten class during this unit. The formative
assessment and observation conducted during each lesson alone sufficiently illustrates this
growth. However, there are shortcomings in this assessment strategy to consider. This
standardized method of assessment only includes data points from two lessons. If we assessed
more lessons in this way, there is little doubt that the growth would not be linear. Each of these
two lessons included the use of distinctly different media. Our own methods of demonstration,
instruction, and classroom management evolved significantly during this unit; student
achievement might be associated with the effectiveness of the instruction in some cases. Students
in this class were arguably still dealing with anxieties and uncertainties associated with
beginning school and becoming a member of the classroom community when we conducted our
first lesson. This situation alone could account for a lower than average performance from
students sensitive to these conditions. I do not doubt, however, that this assessment does in fact
reflect significant growth in proficiency and knowledge for the students in this class. If we were
teaching this unit again, the use of specific criteria designed to account for growth might be
utilized in order to create a clearer understanding of student growth and achievement.