SBR for Art: Explained

SBR in the Art Studio: Explained

At Blake Middle School, the Art department has been examining the way we are assessing student work in order to give meaningful feedback to all of our students. As part of a building-wide initiative, we have closely examined the curriculum, aligned it with the National Standards, and designed a grading template to run as a pilot for Standards Based Reporting (SBR). 
It is our hope that SBR in the visual arts classroom will help students to better understand their strengths and areas of potential growth. Art is mostly an individual pursuit and giving purposeful feedback to students will help to foster conversations and engagement so that our students can have ownership of their learning. 

Students are now assessed in the criteria of Creating, Presenting and Responding, and Connecting on their report cards. Each of these criteria are explained in detail below:

Creating:

• Student shows an understanding of art materials through development of technical skill. 
• Envisioning and planning is effective.  

In the Creating standard, the student's ability to plan, sketch, set goals, and implement their ideas is assessed. This also includes technical ability with methods and materials, as well as using the elements and principles of design effectively. A student's ability to persist and work through problem solving is also measured under this standard. 

Presenting and Responding:

• Student is able to identify, understand, and interpret artistic work. 

In this standard, students demonstrate an awareness of how to prepare their finished work for exhibit. It also measures a student's understanding of formal analysis of an artwork and ability to interpret the meaning of particular masterworks. Participation in the critique process is also assessed under this standard. 

Connecting: 

• Student is able to relate knowledge to personal, cultural, and historical context. 

This is the standard where students can show their creative ability. They make choices- both large and small to create a work that is original and their own. Students show that they can connect what they are doing in the Art room to other curriculum areas. They also demonstrate that they understand that Art is not a stand-alone content area and is related to other areas of learning.