Current Tests

Current SCAAP tests for implementation include music and visual arts assessments for 4th grade students. These two assessments have been field tested twice and implemented as part of the evaluation for the South Carolina Distinguished Arts Program grant since 2003. Dance and theatre assessments are currently in development.

• Music Assessments
  

  The SCAAP music assessment comprises two sections: multiple-choice items and performance tasks. Multiple-choice items require students to select a correct answer from four options. The multiple-choice items require students to demonstrate knowledge of and skills in (a) music vocabulary, (b) notation, (c) listening music, (d) evaluation of performance problems, and (e) performance of music skills.

  The music assessment also consists of two music performance tasks. Music performance Task 1 requires students to individually perform a familiar song on a neutral syllable ("du"). Music Performance Task 2 requires students to individually perform a rhythm improvisation using rhythm syllables. The task directions are recorded on a compact disc (CD). Each student is required to listen to the instructions on the CD and perform the task when prompted. Following the task direction, test administrators record individual student performances using the computer and later upload each performance to the SCAAP website for web-based rating. Analytic rubrics developed by the Arts Advisory Committee are used to rate the music performances.

• Visual Arts Assessments
  

  The SCAAP visual arts assessment also comprises two sections: multiple-choice items and performance tasks. Multiple-choice items require students to select a correct answer from four options. The multiple-choice items require students to demonstrate knowledge of and skills in (a) visual arts vocabulary, (b) types of art media, (c) evaluation of performance problems, and (d) performance of visual arts skills.

  Visual Arts Performance Task 1 requires students to use a set of art terms presented in a word bank to compare two paintings. Visual Arts Performance Task 2 has two separate sections that require each student to draw a figure (Task 2a) and to evaluate his or her own drawing by answering three guiding questions using art terms presented in a word bank (Task 2b). Both tasks are administered in a pencil-and-paper format. All papers are digitized and uploaded to the SCAAP website for web-based rating.

• Dance and Theatre Assessments
  

  The SCAAP dance and theatre assessments are designed for entry-level middle-school or high school students. These assessments will also include both multiple-choice items and performance tasks sections. Only the multiple-choice portion has been field tested in 2005. All test items will undergo rigorous review based on the item statistics. The development of performance tasks is currently underway and future field testing is in the planning.

A web-based rating system within the SCAAP website is used to score individual student responses. Raters are experienced arts teachers in the state who have arts assessments courses. All raters have to attend a one day training session. During the training session, benchmark performances are presented and discussed. All raters are then required to pass qualifying tests for each task prior to scoring student’s performances. Seed responses are incorporated within the system to ensure rating consistency. Expert raters also resolve scores that received non-adjacent scores from rater pairs.

The SCAAP 4th grade music and visual arts multiple-choice test forms achieved classical reliability indices between 0.78 and 0.83. The inter-rater reliability indices for the performance tasks are between 0.72 and 0.92. These assessments are currently adequate for medium-stake decisions at the school-level, but not at the individual student level. The test results are not employed for making judgments regarding school arts achievement based on individual standards. School administrators are provided access to individual school results using unique usernames and passwords. A manual for the school administrators to access and interpret the scores is also provided.