Oh, No! Yet Another Arts Assessment
Oh, no! Dana Goldstein visited Memphis, where she found that arts teachers are using portfolio assessments.
I suppose that is a step up from online standardized tests and the old-fashioned machine-scored computerized tests, but it is still a very bad idea.
The whole premise of testing is that teachers cannot be trusted to reach responsible judgments about student work.
And the purpose of the assessment is not to help students but to devise a numerical rating so teachers of the arts may be evaluated and held “accountable” for student progress. If the student is drawing better pictures, the teacher must be a better teacher. If the student work does not get better, the teacher is a bad teacher. He or she will be rated ineffective and may lose tenure or compensation and may be fired.
If we cared about teacher professionalism, we would let teachers teach without tying their work to test scores or
I suppose that is a step up from online standardized tests and the old-fashioned machine-scored computerized tests, but it is still a very bad idea.
The whole premise of testing is that teachers cannot be trusted to reach responsible judgments about student work.
And the purpose of the assessment is not to help students but to devise a numerical rating so teachers of the arts may be evaluated and held “accountable” for student progress. If the student is drawing better pictures, the teacher must be a better teacher. If the student work does not get better, the teacher is a bad teacher. He or she will be rated ineffective and may lose tenure or compensation and may be fired.
If we cared about teacher professionalism, we would let teachers teach without tying their work to test scores or
