Assessment in Schools – Creative Subjects

Assessment in fine arts education has been a challenging topic for educators. Traditionally arts educators have been uncomfortable with making an evaluative judgment by assigning a grade in subjects that are characterized by inherently creative processes and products. Considering this legitimate challenge, arts educators at all levels emphasize performance and authentic assessment strategies utilized frequently for formative as well as summative purposes. This article briefly discusses standardized testing of fine arts learning in order to acknowledge this context, but then focuses on classroom/individual student assessments in each fine arts discipline, because the most significant activity in arts assessment occurs at the classroom level.