Why Did We Develop these Messages?
Since 2006, the state’s department of education (DESE) has not held school districts accountable for accreditation purposes for what is known as the “Resource Standards”. These standards outline the minimum instructional time for subjects, class-size, professional staff ( librarians and counselors), administrative staff (superintendents, principals), and teacher certification and planning time.
School districts have not been held accountable for the “Process Standards” either. These standards address requirements for instructional design, differentiated instruction, supplemental programs and school services.
So what have school districts needed to do to become accredited? They have had to meet the “Performance Standards”. These standards refer to performance on measurements such as student achievement on the MAP, graduation and attendance rates, and ACT scores. This is the main reason we are asking to have a fine arts test in the MAP.
If this has been happening since 2006, what has changed?
The next cycle of the school accreditation process (MSIP 5) will only address the Performance Standards and not just by DESE’s choice, but by legislative action. Specifically, Mo Revised Statute 161.209, signed into law in August 2010, legally mandates that school districts are not “penalized” for not meeting the Resource and Process Standards if the state is unable to provide adequate funding to school districts.
Since this was legislation enacted by the Missouri General Assembly, advocacy efforts toward reinstating requirements for fine arts instructional time need to include your state representative and state senator.
Now that the Performance Standards are the exclusive measure for district accreditation, it is the opinion of the organizations behind this Unified Statement that visual and performing arts should become part of the Performance Standards as the Fine Arts MAP and included in the Best Practices document that will replace the Standards and Indicators Manual.
If the arts are part of the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) the State Board of Education may allow districts to use Fine Arts MAP scores as part of the accreditation process. There are many reasons why we need to include our test in the Performances Standards. Read on...
Why Do We Need the Fine Arts MAP?
1. Since Performance Standards are the only standards school districts must meet in order to be accredited, it makes sense to advocate for the arts as part of that system. To become a part of the Performance Standards the arts must be assessed as part of the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP).
2. Missouri already has a Fine Arts MAP that assesses music, art, theatre, and dance in grade 5 that was implemented in 2001.
People ask why assess all four arts areas when only music and visual art are taught in elementary schools. The answer is twofold: a comprehensive fine arts test includes ALL of the arts, not just music and visual art, and music teachers traditionally teach theatre and dance in their elementary classrooms.
One reason students could answer the theatre and dance questions is that a document called the "Assessment Annotations" let teachers know what theatre and dance content (as well as music and visual art) were "assessable." The Assessment Annotations were often referred to as the "what's fair to test" document. Everything on the Fine Arts MAP is outlined in that document. If the Fine Arts MAP is included in MSIP 5, the Assessment Annotations will be available to teachers.
One thing you might not know is that in 2001, students answered the theatre and dance questions correctly more often than some of the music and art questions. The reason for that is that the test-item writers understood that theatre and dance were not stand-alone classes in most schools so the questions were of a general nature--that's why students could answer the questions so easily.
4. The test can be included in the Missouri Assessment Program at little cost.
The Fine Arts MAP cost Missouri taxpayers two million dollars to develop and it is sitting at DESE collecting dust. The Missouri Alliance for Arts Education is piloting a web-based version of the Fine Arts MAP in four school districts at a very reasonable cost. Although technology has changed, the content is still relevant to students and the test is aligned to the Fine Arts Grade-Level Expectations.
5. If school districts are held accountable for student achievement in the arts through the Fine Arts MAP, we should see more time devoted to arts instruction in elementary schools instead of less. School districts will be less likely to cut music and visual art positions as budget-cutting options when student performance is a part of the accreditation process.
It is most likely that the test would allow schools to earn "bonus points" for school accreditation, a system that is already in place. Bonus points help a school by adding to their points if, for example, they do not have enough students scoring at the proficient and advanced levels on the Communication Arts MAP, then the school can add to their points with higher scores on the fine arts assessment.
6. The State Board of Education has directed DESE to research what is happening in other states in fine arts assessment.
Why look at other states when we have a test that goes beyond the notion of a traditional paper-pencil test? Technology exists to allow students to submit answers online
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7. A concern that some people have is that they think it is difficult to assess the arts; however the arts are measurable.
During a presentation to the State Board of Education in January, a board member asked Dr. Douglas Reeves, professional development provider for the SBOE at a work session, about assessing the arts and put forth the view that "when you are trying to standardize the measurement, you are hurting creativity." Dr. Reeves answered by saying "There are still fundamentals that visual artists and musicians need to have...We should insist upon assessing the arts."
We believe that when people understand how testing in the arts works, they will be more likely to support assessing the arts.
The Format of the Currently Available Fine Arts Assessment (Fine Arts MAP)
During the first two years of implementation, schools received a video tape and students viewed the test on a television screen. Today, the test can be delivered via a secured website and students will view the test on a computer monitor or SmartBoard.
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There are several reasons the test is engaging to students:
- students do not feel like they are taking a test, they are watching dancers and actors, listening to music (and often they see the musicians play the instruments), and viewing artwork on a screen
- each question is read to the students; this ensures that all students, even those whose reading skills may be limited, have an equal opportunity to answer the questions
- each question is repeated; the narrator introduces the question then shows the audior or video prompt (the artwork, the music, the dancers, the actors) and repeats the question two times
- questions are designed to invoke higher-level thinking skills, there are no confusing questions about composers and dates or artists and historical periods
- the questions are a combination of multiple choice and written answers; there are 40 multiple choice and 5 constructed (written) response items
- the assessment measures students' knowledge of principles and elements of the four arts disciplines, the kind of knowledge that is basic in elementary school fine arts curriculum
- this test leaves assessing student performance in the arts--playing or singing music, creating artwork, perfoming dances and acting in productions--to the local school
- the purpose of the test is not to determine how well students can create and perform, but how well they can identify the principles and elements needed to create and perform (there is no need for students to be nervous and anxious about this test!)
We hope that by understanding more about the test, teachers will understand why implementing the Fine Arts MAP as part of MSIP 5 is one of the best ways to keep the arts in our schools.