Part 2: Assessments in Action
Englebright, K., & Mahoney, M. R. (2012). Assessment in elementary dance education. Journal of Dance Education, 12(3), 87-92.
Overby, L. Y., Beach, H., Glassman, P., Haislip, Y. A., Luzier, J., Schotz, R., & Thomas, T. (2013). Formative and summative assessments for dance iInterarts/interdisciplinary projects. Journal of Dance Education, 13(1), 23-29. [Group B member: Present to Discussion Partner]
Pair Task: After reading both articles, summarize the article (as assigned to you above) and highlight the underlying values in the authors’ approaches to assessment. Then present to your partner in synchronous discussion. For the article you do not present, develop three questions or discussion points to respond to your partner’s presentation.
Beginning in 2003, the State of Washington designed dance performance assessments, shaped by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and spurred by the state’s belief that quality arts education is a fundamental human right. The two elementary dance specialists, who authored this case study, worked in the development process that technically began in 2004. The assessments as designed as a prompt allowing students to create and perform a solo choreography in response to a work of art or of poetry. The rubric scores have three distinct areas: choreography, performance, and analysis. Prompts show increased demands depending on grade level. Both of the educators were involved in developing the elementary assessments.
At every step of the way, students and teachers reflect on the work, their questions and discoveries, and using what doesn’t work to fuel the revision of both the work of the educator, as well as student understanding. One of the author’s Meg Mahoney, was transparent about her skepticism about the work being solo based, since much of her work, as well as fellow dance educators, is based around group work and dances. “Why ask students to work alone when dance is such a fabulous way to teach social and collaborative skills at the elementary level?” Her mind was changed when she saw what arose from a student whose classroom behavior up until that point had been uncooperative and unmanageable.
It seems Washington State found that as a team of educators, you can find many different solutions to a common debate; how to assess dance, since it is so process oriented. One of the many notable differences in this way of assessing, is it puts reflection at the center, and allows for individuals who often have group interaction challenges to flourish, because it all falls on their own shoulders. Though the teachers involved were certain the assessments needed to keep evolving, what I experienced through this case study had solid evidence that process based work can be a fair measurement of a student’s understanding.
Summarize your Pair Discussion task as described above and post directly into the Module Four Discussion Board as an attachment. Your posts can be either written or audio (simply record your discussion and post as an audio file)
Katie talked about the article by Overby, Beach, Hasslip, Luzier, Schotz, and Thomas. This article deals with arts integration versus dance for dance sake and looks at teaching artists involved in the work. One of those projects was from an organization called arts bridge.
Arts bridge 2 projects-what do you know want to know want to learn/kennedy center approach deconstruct and demonstrate
1 projects with dance and drama /transportation to life/leap for language (pre-k)
Both cases: summative and formative of project pre-and post test where the kids were and when they were done
Formative takes filling out rubrics and drawing to show learning
Observational methods
Work with an advising teacher/who helps with the logistics
When looking through rubrics page 25 talks about various/lots of learning is imitating at first
Students pique at different times, lisa at end of class 5 fingers
How is it feasible?
How is our district handling assessment?
What is my feeling on arts integration versus art for art sake?
Feeling