NAEP and Policy: Chasing the Tail of the Assessment Tiger.

NATIONAL Assessment of Educational Progress (Project); NATIONAL educational surveys; REPORT cards; ARTS education; EDUCATIONAL change; LEARNING; CRITICAL theory; CURRICULUM

This paper grabs hold of the 'assessment tiger' by considering the history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Arts Report Cards for the visual arts, which were constructed and have been administered four times within thirty-five years. Two purposes of the NAEP have persisted since its founding: (1) measuring learning and (2) developing expectations for change and reform in education from a national platform. These purposes provided the basis for a functional analysis derived from Efland (1976) that looked closely at the NAEP's collaborative context, consensus building, and block content. Hamblen's 1995 critical theory analysis exemplar also serves as a means for reviewing the politics of assessment, influences on policy directions, and curricular emphases within a subject area. Using Persky's 2004 critical evaluation of the 1997 NAEP Arts Assessment, this article considers recommendations she derived from the 1997 NAEP Arts Report Card that guided the 2008 NAEP construction and administration. The 2008 NAEP Arts Report Card, released in June 2009, informs a number of initial interpretations, recommendations, implications, and applications for those who want to 'own' the tiger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arts Education Policy Review is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)