Art, by its nature, is subjective. Every human being has a different aesthetic and sense of beauty; we all have a unique perspective and experience here on Earth. How does one viably evaluate, mark or grade something as art that is subjective? The MN Department of Education along with the National Arts Education Association has established MN Visual Arts Standards to help arts educators and students better understand how to evaluate arts related content in a more objective manner to foster growth in knowledge and skill for all students.
Current syllabus information will be the same for every visual arts course at Maple Grove Senior High with the exception of course descriptions, curriculum, and lists of materials.
MN Visual Arts Standards
Visual Arts: Grades 9 – 12
MN Visual Arts Standards
Visual Arts: Grades 9 – 12
District 279 Visual Art Reporting Standards
District 279 Osseo Area School's Visual Arts Reporting Standards will be accessible in Schoology. Every summative assessment within the visual arts courses will be developed and filtered through these essential reporting standards. There are 5 reporting standards for our courses:
Foundations
Create
Present
Respond
Connect
District 279 Osseo Area School's Visual Arts Reporting Standards will be accessible in Schoology. Every summative assessment within the visual arts courses will be developed and filtered through these essential reporting standards. There are 5 reporting standards for our courses:
Foundations
Create
Present
Respond
Connect
Standards Based Grading and Reporting
Too often students are penalized for making mistakes on assignments that are designed to help them develop and refine their skills before an assessment. If I assign homework or in-class assignments with the goal of helping students to practice (also known as Formative assessments) that work should not receive a grade that goes into a grade book. Instead, the goal of that work should be to help the student learn the material. Mistakes during practice should be celebrated as part of the learning process. If I penalize students who make mistakes while practicing a skill, I create an environment where mistakes are scary. This negatively impacts student motivation and can cause students unnecessary anxiety (Ask Yourself, Why Am I Grading This? Tucker, Catlin; Feb. 14 2019).
End of Tri Mark Reporting
Grades are reported as final marks towards a student's GPA and transcripts in Synergy (Parent Vue / Student Vue) at the end of each trimester. Marks as reports will also be given at mid-trimester and at the 9 week point in the trimester as communication to families.
Daily / Weekly Academic Progress Marks & Grades
Daily assignments and marks associated with achievement towards standards as evaluation of assignments will be recorded, tallied and averaged in Schoology - the software our school district uses to communicate student achievement to families. Final grades for report cards will not be recorded and disseminated through Schoology.
Evaluative Scoring: Points & Rubrics: All reported Summative assessments in Schoology Gradebook will be given a mark of 0-4. The numbers are representative of achievement levels determined by rubric descriptors. The mark of 0-4 should not be considered "points". A student's learning is not an accumulation of points earned but a degree of understanding the concepts and contexts of the subject. Here is a simplified example of the criteria found on the project assessment rubrics:
Creativity & Originality
Quality & Craftsmanship
Application of Technique
Knowledge of Design
Process & Planning
Function & Presentation
4 - Mastery / Excellent - Showing exceptional growth or evidence of learning beyond the standard or beyond teacher expectation
3 - Competent / Proficient - Showing acceptable or adequate growth or evidence of learning to meet the standard.
2 - Basic / Almost - Showing vague or developing growth or evidence of partial learning to meet the standard.
Student work is evaluated holistically. Although a student may be developing in one area, he or she could exceed in another. We try to target the area that needs improvement. More than one mark may be entered as a definition in the Gradebook, however. Feedback will be provided in the comments section in Schoology. At times, there may be half scores given for assessments such as 2.5 or 3.5 for example.
Evaluations & Critiques: Students will participate in critique sessions and will self assess their own work. Students will evaluate their work against the rubric criteria before submitting their final product. Essentially, they will be grading themselves before teacher evaluations are given. Due to the subjectivity of evaluating artwork, there may be instances of evaluation marks between descriptor levels.
Formative Assessments (10% of Final Grade Calculation): Practice activities and assignments. These are daily assignments, in class or outside of school, that may or may not be documented in the grade book with feedback only, and in which case are meant for practice and skill building. Formative assessments will never be given an evaluative score. Formative assessments are assessments for learning. Because formative assessments are considered practice, it is the expectation of the teacher that students participate in them and complete them as instructed. It is the expectation that students and teacher communicate about learning; therefore, the teacher will provide feedback to students about his or her work before the summative assessment for evaluation is given.
Formative Work Rubric
Grading for the formative, practice work is only considered 20% of your overall final grade. Practice is meant to be practice. Below are descriptions of what will be looked for when submitting formative work:
4 = Work exemplifies effort that goes beyond teacher given prompts. Work is masterful or exemplary in nature. Student makes personal, cultural, historical or society connections to concepts or topics being discussed / learned. Work goes beyond the written form and includes sketches, drawings, diagrams, photos, images, audio recordings, videos, etc. when appropriate or helpful in showing understanding towards a concept of learning.
3 = Work exemplifies effort that is adequate towards the expected growth towards a concept of learning. Work is proficient or good. Student answers the teacher given prompts in written form or adequately completes the assignment as instructed.
2 = Work is missing parts of the assignment or is completed with low effort or evidence towards learning of concept being taught.
Summative Assessments (90% of Final Grade Calculation): Summative assessments are the major projects associated with the end of a unit. These are to "test" the knowledge, skills in technique, and growth in ability each student has gained. Summative assessments will hold 80% of the student's final grade. Summative assessments strictly reflect student achievement towards MN Visual Arts Reporting Standards.
Specific Project Rubrics will be provided for each unit / project for self and teacher evaluation.
Submission & Acceptance of Summative Assessment Tasks: Due dates for every assignment will be given with the project rubric. Work should be completed by the due date; however, art is subjective in nature and may require further attention beyond the due date depending on circumstances and effort towards the project. Quality work is desired over rushed work. All artwork will be accepted beyond the due date, but no later than the week before mid-tri and end-of-tri grade reporting. All work that is not turned in past the due date will have a report of "missing" or "work in progress" in the gradebook until the work has been viewed and evaluated.
Teacher Professional Judgment: The reality of grading and reporting, for all instructors in our district, is tied to a software, web-based, program known as Synergy Gradebook, or as parents and students know it as Parent or Student Vue. Scores entered in Gradebook are naturally averaged. This means that scores on assessments entered over the course of a trimester will be averaged in an output of a final grade that may or may not fully represent actual student achievement. During Mark Reporting (entering in grades for report cards) the instructor will make a professional judgment on each student's final grade that best represents that student's achievement throughout the trimester. The data entered for formative and summative scores will be utilized to make the best educated decision on a student's final grade. Additionally, over the course of a trimester, the latest summative score within a standard may be taken for a final grade submission while previous scores may be negated.
Re-assessment Policy / Multiple Opportunities to Show Learning
If a student is dissatisfied with their performance on an assessment, formative or summative, they are encouraged to submit the work within two weeks past the due date in order to receive timely feedback on their work. However, all work will be fully accepted for evaluation up until the last week before mark reporting of the trimester. In order to redo the assessment they must demonstrate comparable skills achieved for the formative work towards the benchmark of the taught standards. Students will not be punished academically for retaking or incompletion of the formative material.
Failure Policy
Students who fail, who do not receive a grade, or let expire more than half of the summative assessments will not receive a passing grade.
Finals Week
For all of Mr. Manders' art classes, each trimester's finals week will require students to complete and show their knowledge and ability for creating an online, digital, portfolio that will showcase their work throughout the trimester. There are typically 3 summative scores associated with this art final: The overall Digital Portfolio grade, the Artist Reflection Statement (which accompanies the digital portfolio), and the final Studio Health and Safety assessment. For Ceramics and Jewelry courses, there may be a final content knowledge and vocabulary multiple choice test as well.
ALL WORK FOR THE TRIMESTER MUST BE SUBMITTED TO SCHOOLOGY BY 11:59 PM ON THAT LAST THURSDAY OF THE TRIMESTER BEFORE MARK REPORTING FRIDAY. NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THAT TIME AND DATE.
End of Tri Mark Reporting
Grades are reported as final marks towards a student's GPA and transcripts in Synergy (Parent Vue / Student Vue) at the end of each trimester. Marks as reports will also be given at mid-trimester and at the 9 week point in the trimester as communication to families.
Daily / Weekly Academic Progress Marks & Grades
Daily assignments and marks associated with achievement towards standards as evaluation of assignments will be recorded, tallied and averaged in Schoology - the software our school district uses to communicate student achievement to families. Final grades for report cards will not be recorded and disseminated through Schoology.
Evaluative Scoring: Points & Rubrics: All reported Summative assessments in Schoology Gradebook will be given a mark of 0-4. The numbers are representative of achievement levels determined by rubric descriptors. The mark of 0-4 should not be considered "points". A student's learning is not an accumulation of points earned but a degree of understanding the concepts and contexts of the subject. Here is a simplified example of the criteria found on the project assessment rubrics:
Creativity & Originality
Quality & Craftsmanship
Application of Technique
Knowledge of Design
Process & Planning
Function & Presentation
4 - Mastery / Excellent - Showing exceptional growth or evidence of learning beyond the standard or beyond teacher expectation
3 - Competent / Proficient - Showing acceptable or adequate growth or evidence of learning to meet the standard.
2 - Basic / Almost - Showing vague or developing growth or evidence of partial learning to meet the standard.
Student work is evaluated holistically. Although a student may be developing in one area, he or she could exceed in another. We try to target the area that needs improvement. More than one mark may be entered as a definition in the Gradebook, however. Feedback will be provided in the comments section in Schoology. At times, there may be half scores given for assessments such as 2.5 or 3.5 for example.
Evaluations & Critiques: Students will participate in critique sessions and will self assess their own work. Students will evaluate their work against the rubric criteria before submitting their final product. Essentially, they will be grading themselves before teacher evaluations are given. Due to the subjectivity of evaluating artwork, there may be instances of evaluation marks between descriptor levels.
Formative Assessments (10% of Final Grade Calculation): Practice activities and assignments. These are daily assignments, in class or outside of school, that may or may not be documented in the grade book with feedback only, and in which case are meant for practice and skill building. Formative assessments will never be given an evaluative score. Formative assessments are assessments for learning. Because formative assessments are considered practice, it is the expectation of the teacher that students participate in them and complete them as instructed. It is the expectation that students and teacher communicate about learning; therefore, the teacher will provide feedback to students about his or her work before the summative assessment for evaluation is given.
Formative Work Rubric
Grading for the formative, practice work is only considered 20% of your overall final grade. Practice is meant to be practice. Below are descriptions of what will be looked for when submitting formative work:
4 = Work exemplifies effort that goes beyond teacher given prompts. Work is masterful or exemplary in nature. Student makes personal, cultural, historical or society connections to concepts or topics being discussed / learned. Work goes beyond the written form and includes sketches, drawings, diagrams, photos, images, audio recordings, videos, etc. when appropriate or helpful in showing understanding towards a concept of learning.
3 = Work exemplifies effort that is adequate towards the expected growth towards a concept of learning. Work is proficient or good. Student answers the teacher given prompts in written form or adequately completes the assignment as instructed.
2 = Work is missing parts of the assignment or is completed with low effort or evidence towards learning of concept being taught.
Summative Assessments (90% of Final Grade Calculation): Summative assessments are the major projects associated with the end of a unit. These are to "test" the knowledge, skills in technique, and growth in ability each student has gained. Summative assessments will hold 80% of the student's final grade. Summative assessments strictly reflect student achievement towards MN Visual Arts Reporting Standards.
Specific Project Rubrics will be provided for each unit / project for self and teacher evaluation.
Submission & Acceptance of Summative Assessment Tasks: Due dates for every assignment will be given with the project rubric. Work should be completed by the due date; however, art is subjective in nature and may require further attention beyond the due date depending on circumstances and effort towards the project. Quality work is desired over rushed work. All artwork will be accepted beyond the due date, but no later than the week before mid-tri and end-of-tri grade reporting. All work that is not turned in past the due date will have a report of "missing" or "work in progress" in the gradebook until the work has been viewed and evaluated.
Teacher Professional Judgment: The reality of grading and reporting, for all instructors in our district, is tied to a software, web-based, program known as Synergy Gradebook, or as parents and students know it as Parent or Student Vue. Scores entered in Gradebook are naturally averaged. This means that scores on assessments entered over the course of a trimester will be averaged in an output of a final grade that may or may not fully represent actual student achievement. During Mark Reporting (entering in grades for report cards) the instructor will make a professional judgment on each student's final grade that best represents that student's achievement throughout the trimester. The data entered for formative and summative scores will be utilized to make the best educated decision on a student's final grade. Additionally, over the course of a trimester, the latest summative score within a standard may be taken for a final grade submission while previous scores may be negated.
Re-assessment Policy / Multiple Opportunities to Show Learning
If a student is dissatisfied with their performance on an assessment, formative or summative, they are encouraged to submit the work within two weeks past the due date in order to receive timely feedback on their work. However, all work will be fully accepted for evaluation up until the last week before mark reporting of the trimester. In order to redo the assessment they must demonstrate comparable skills achieved for the formative work towards the benchmark of the taught standards. Students will not be punished academically for retaking or incompletion of the formative material.
Failure Policy
Students who fail, who do not receive a grade, or let expire more than half of the summative assessments will not receive a passing grade.
Finals Week
For all of Mr. Manders' art classes, each trimester's finals week will require students to complete and show their knowledge and ability for creating an online, digital, portfolio that will showcase their work throughout the trimester. There are typically 3 summative scores associated with this art final: The overall Digital Portfolio grade, the Artist Reflection Statement (which accompanies the digital portfolio), and the final Studio Health and Safety assessment. For Ceramics and Jewelry courses, there may be a final content knowledge and vocabulary multiple choice test as well.
ALL WORK FOR THE TRIMESTER MUST BE SUBMITTED TO SCHOOLOGY BY 11:59 PM ON THAT LAST THURSDAY OF THE TRIMESTER BEFORE MARK REPORTING FRIDAY. NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THAT TIME AND DATE.
