An Accurate Picture

The result of using TEAM's Assessment Models is a more accurate picture of student learning. For example, a more accurate picture of student learning might include a student who does not just know Shakespeare, but knows how King Lear ends and has an opinion about an alternative ending for that play based on what he or she learned in class. A more accurate picture might include students or audience members who are now able to explain the play they have seen or the theatre class they have taken. Students or audience members might be able to interpret, apply or take a perspective, in order to empathize with a character or to speak more knowingly about the knowledge they have gained as a result of a good assessment. Performance assessment results give a more accurate picture of student learning and should also be able to suggest areas or ways in which programming can be improved.

Understanding Your Results

The results of performance assessments provide theatres with a more accurate picture of student understanding and help to define new ways for theatres to improve their programming. For example, an observation may lead the theatre education staff to re-visit their programming, rethink their curriculum, probe further on surveys, develop new protocols for observing, design performance assessments or re-design the use of portfolios of student work. The decision to use new models for performance assessment becomes more than a snapshot of student learning, it becomes a process that supports good teaching and learning. Performance assessment results should relate to the theatre's mission, its underlying goals, the standards around which the education has been organized and the specific objectives of each course, curriculum unit or residency. Performance assessment results show what students know and can do. These results should also help tell other theatre professionals how education courses help students achieve a set of standards. Theatre educators should be able to tell stakeholders that a certain percentage of students can meet or exceed a certain type of standard. Further, educators will have the tools to convey the effectiveness of educational programs to outside funding sources.

Next Steps

Once results are gathered, analysis plays an important role. Some results will be easier to identify while other results will need more in depth analysis. Results may indicate that a new model should be created, or that an older model could be adapted. It may also indicate that the results collected need more refinement or that a new assessment process is needed in order to follow up on new insights. Read on to learn how analysis can help clarify performance assessment results.