President Committee on the Arts and Humanities Releases New Arts Education Report
During the Arts Education Partnership meeting in early May, the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities introduced its landmark report, “Re-Investing in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future” (http://www.pcah.gov/news/pcah-releases-landmark-arts-education-study). The value of arts education is often phrased in enrichment terms -- helping kids find their voice, rounding out their education and tapping into their undiscovered talents. This is true, but, as the committee witnessed in schools across the country, it is also an effective tool in school-wide reform and in fixing some of the nation’s biggest educational challenges. To realize the true potential of arts education, the report argues for a marriage of arts education strategies with overall educational goals. To accomplish this requires dynamic collaboration between classroom teachers, arts specialists, and teaching artists to develop creative environments and using all the tools available to reach and engage students in learning.
Item Writing Workshop
June 30, 9:00-3:30 (61/2 hours of professional development hours awarded)
New Hampshire Dept. of Education
Presenters: Marcia McCaffrey and Phil Martin
Attendees: Music and Visual Art Teachers; Curriculum and Instruction Leaders; teachers of other content areas outside the arts
No charge for the workshop
Lunch is included
To register contact Marcia McCaffrey (email: mmccaffrey@ed.state.nh.us; phone: 603-271-3193)
Registration closes June 24, 2011
Item—1. A single article or unit in a collection, enumeration, or series.
Assessments are designed to measure what students know and are able to do. Assessments vary in design and administration and include such iterations as performance-based assessment, high stakes assessment, summative and formative assessment, and on-demand assessment. For assessment purposes, an item is a test “question,” be it for a multiple choice test or a long-range performance-based prompt that defines a learning activity or project. This workshop will walk you through the basics of item writing including the good, the bad, and everything in-between. Once you participate in this training, you will never look at a test in the same way as you did before. A really good resource: Test Better, Teach Better by James Popham.
Are the students learning what you are teaching? How do you know? Assessment comes in many forms, and matching purpose to form is key to improving learning in your classroom. This 1 day training will guide you through the ins and outs of writing questions for measuring what students know from multiple choice, short-answer, and extended response or long term project assignments. You will learn how to determine what is the most appropriate setting for which type of assessment, and what kind of item writing best matches setting and purpose—all foundational skills in assessment literacy. Not sure the arts are part of this kind of student assessment? Come to the workshop and find out for yourself. You may be surprised.
Sincerely,
Marcia McCaffrey
Marcia McCaffrey
Arts Consultant & School Improvement
New Hampshire Department of Education
101 Pleasant Street
Concord , NH 03229
603-271-3193 (phone)
603-271-7381 (fax)
http://www.education.nh.gov/
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