1997 Arts Assessment Strategies ReportExercise Three From the Interior Space Task

While NAEP, as an assessment, cannot replicate the brainstorming that might take place in an arts classroom, as much as possible, exercises can be used to encourage students to think before creating. Students, over a series of written exercises, think about parts of a work, the whole work, and then, as in the question shown below, how parts relate to the whole composition. Thinking about the different strategies Lawrence and Hopper used prepares students for creating an interior space of their own.

View painting 1 and painting 2

Scoring Guide

4 - EXTENSIVE The student identifies a feature and specifically and accurately describes how the composition of the painting helps to focus attention on the image/symbol chosen. Students will often specifically refer to several aspects of composition. [Sample Response]

3 - ESSENTIAL The student identifies a feature and describes in accurate but general terms how the composition of the painting helps to focus attention on the image/symbol chosen. [Sample Response]

2 - PARTIAL The student identifies a feature and offers a sparse or at least partly inaccurate explanation of how the composition of the painting helps to focus attention on the feature. [Sample Response]

1 - UNACCEPTABLE The student may identify a feature, but fails to describe how the composition of the painting helps to focus attention on the image/symbol chosen.

NEXT: Exercise Four From the Interior Space Task