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Criteria-referenced formative assessment in the arts

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of criteria-referenced formative assessment on achievement in the arts. Seventy-five schools in New York City were assigned to either the treatment or control condition. The treatment involved 3195 elementary, middle, or high school students instructed by 43 music, visual arts, theater, or dance teachers. The teachers were involved in a professional development program focused on formative assessment practices, particularly criteria-referenced peer and self-assessment. The control group consisted of 2445 students in classes instructed by 32 teachers who did not receive the professional development. Discipline-specific, performance-based pre- and post-measures were used to evaluate student learning. Fidelity of implementation was examined before the analysis of the treatment effect. Propensity score matching analysis was used to examine group differences in performance on the post-assessment. Results based on a sample of 611 matched pairs of students showed that, overall, criteria-referenced formative assessment had a statistically significant, positive effect (d = .26) on students’ arts achievement.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank several colleagues for their support: Metis Associates, particularly Dr. Susanne Harnett and Tara Mastrorilli, who generously allowed us to use their data and provided invaluable assistance; Drs. Jason Bryer and the late Robert Pruzek of the University at Albany for guidance regarding propensity score analysis; and Dr. Kara Hogan for rating implementation logs to examine fidelity of treatment. This project was funded by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation grant, an Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant, and a University at Albany Faculty Research Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N2198 UNC Hospitals, CB# 7010, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Fei Chen

  2. University at Albany, State University of New York, ED233, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY, 12222, USA

    Angela M. Lui, Heidi Andrade & Hirah Mir

  3. 3M Health Information Systems, 125 DeFreest Drive, Troy, NY, 12180, USA

    Christopher Valle

Authors
  1. Fei Chen
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  2. Angela M. Lui
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  3. Heidi Andrade
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  4. Christopher Valle
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  5. Hirah Mir
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fei Chen.

Appendices

Sample grade 5 dance performance task

figure a

Sample grade 8 music performance task

figure b

Sample grade 5 theater performance task

figure c

Sample grade 12 visual arts performance task

figure d

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Chen, F., Lui, A.M., Andrade, H. et al. Criteria-referenced formative assessment in the arts. Educ Asse Eval Acc 29, 297–314 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-017-9259-z

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