ARTS EDUCATION 

FRAMEWORK PROJECT 

2008 

Arts Education 


Assessment 


Framework 


National Assessment Governing Board 

U.S. Department of Education 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT IS NAEP?

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a continuing and nationally representative measure of 

trends in academic achievement of U.S. elementary and secondary students in various subjects. For nearly four decades, NAEP assessments have been conducted periodically in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, 

civics, geography, and other subjects. By collecting and reporting information on student performance at the national, state, and local levels, NAEP is an integral part of our nation's evaluation of the condition and progress of 

education. 

THE 2007–2008 NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD 

The National Assessment Governing Board was created by Congress to formulate policy for NAEP. Among the 

Governing Board’s responsibilities are developing objectives and test specifications and designing the assessment 

methodology for NAEP. 

Members 

Darvin M. Winick, Chair 

President 

Winick & Associates 

Austin, Texas 

Amanda P. Avallone, Vice Chair 

Assist. Principal & 8th Grade Teacher 

Summit Middle School 

Boulder, Colorado 

Francie Alexander 

Chief Acad. Officer, Scholastic, Inc. 

Senior Vice Pres., Scholastic Educ. 

New York, New York 

David J. Alukonis 

Chairman 

Hudson School Board 

Hudson, New Hampshire 

Gregory Cizek 

Professor of Educ. Measurement 

University of North Carolina 

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 

Honorable David P. Driscoll 

Former Commissioner of Education 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

Malden, Massachusetts 

Louis Fabrizio 

Director 

Division of Accountability Services 

NC Dept. of Public Instruction 

Raleigh, North Carolina 

Alan J. Friedman 

Consultant 

Museum Development and Science 

Communication 

New York, New York 

David W. Gordon 

Sacramento County 

Superintendent of Schools 

Sacramento County Office of 

Education 

Sacramento, California 

Robin C. Hall 

Principal 

Beecher Hills Elem. School 

Atlanta, Georgia 

Kathi M. King 

12th Grade Teacher 

Messalonskee High School 

Oakland, Maine 

Honorable Keith King 

Former Member 

Colorado House of 

Representatives 

Colorado Springs, Colorado 

Kim Kozbial-Hess 

4th Grade Teacher 

Hawkins Elem. School 

Toledo, Ohio 

Henry Kranendonk 

Mathematics Curriculum 

Specialist 

Milwaukee Public Schools 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

James S. Lanich 

President 

California Business for 

Educational Excellence 

Sacramento, California 

Honorable Cynthia Nava 

Chair, Education Committee 

New Mexico State Senate 

Las Cruces, New Mexico 

Honorable Steven L. Paine 

State Superintendent of Schools 

WV Department of Education 

Charleston, West Virginia 

Susan Pimentel 

Educational Consultant 

Hanover, New Hampshire 

Andrew C. Porter 

Dean, University of Pennsylvania 

Graduate School of Education 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Honorable Kathleen Sebelius 

Governor 

Topeka, Kansas 

Warren T. Smith, Sr. 

Vice President 

Washington State Board of Education 

Olympia, Washington 

Mary Frances Taymans, SND 

Executive Director 

Secondary Schools Dept. 

National Catholic Educ. Association 

Washington, DC 

Oscar A. Troncoso 

Principal 

Anthony High School 

Anthony Independent School District 

Anthony, Texas 

Ex-officio Member 

Grover (Russ) Whitehurst 

Director 

Institute of Education Sciences 

U.S. Department of Education 

Washington, DC 
2008
 

Arts Education 


Assessment 


Framework 


National Assessment Governing Board 

U.S. Department of Education 
 

National Assessment Governing Board 

Darvin M. Winick 

Chair 

Amanda P. Avallone 

Vice Chair 

Mary Crovo 

Project Officer and Deputy Executive Director 

1997 NAEP Arts Education Framework Project Team 

Council of Chief State School Officers 

Ramsay Selden, Project Director 

Frank Philip, Consensus Coordinator 

Bonnie L. Verrico, Administrative Assistant 

The Council for Basic Education 

A. Graham Down 

Ruth Mitchell 

The College Board 

Robert Orrill 

Carol Myford 

Joan Peterson 

Dennie Palmer-Wolf 

Developed for the National Assessment Governing Board under contract number RN 92167001 

by the Council of Chief State School Officers with the Council for Basic Education and the College Board. Funding for this contract was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts in 

collaboration with the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, a program of the J. Paul Getty 

Trust. 

For further information, contact: 

National Assessment Governing Board 

800 North Capitol Street, N.W.
 

Suite 825 

Washington, DC 20002–4233 

www.nagb.org 

September 2008 

For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office 

Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-0328 
 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 

Development of the NAEP Arts Education Framework .................................................... iii
 

The National Assessment of Educational Progress ......................................................... iii
 

The Arts Education Framework and Assessments .......................................................... iii
 

The Framework Development Process............................................................................ iv
 

NAEP and National Standards: Cooperation and Coordination...................................... iv
 

Development of the Framework ........................................................................................v
 

Next Steps........................................................................................................................ vi
 

NAEP Arts Project Staff and Committees........................................................................... ix
 

Chapter One: The Arts in U.S. Education.............................................................................1
 

The Importance of NAEP to Arts Education.....................................................................1
 

The Role of Arts Education...............................................................................................2
 

The Shape of the Arts Education NAEP ...........................................................................3
 

Chapter Two: The Content and Processes of the Arts .........................................................9
 

Definitions .........................................................................................................................9
 

Content Specific to Each of the Four Arts.......................................................................11
 

Chapter Three: Desired Attributes of the Assessment .......................................................23
 

Sample of Students ..........................................................................................................23
 

The Authenticity of Exercises .........................................................................................23
 

Characteristics of the Assessment Exercises ...................................................................24
 

Forms of Student Response Used in Exercises................................................................24
 

Exercise Formats .............................................................................................................24
 

Student Responses ...........................................................................................................25
 

Length of Performance Exercises....................................................................................25
 

Physical Environment for the Assessment ......................................................................25
 

Resources.........................................................................................................................25
 

Attributes of Assessment Facilitators ..............................................................................26
 

Special Studies.................................................................................................................26
 

Background Information .................................................................................................29
 

Ethical Responsibilities to Students ................................................................................29
 

Issues and Strategies Specific to Each Art Form.............................................................30
 

Desired Emphasis for Each Arts Area .............................................................................35
 

Chapter Four: Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions ...........................................39
 

Appendix A: The Content Outlines......................................................................................61
 

Dance Content Outline ....................................................................................................64
 

Music Content Outline ....................................................................................................71
 

Theatre Content Outline ..................................................................................................85
 

Visual Arts Content Outline ............................................................................................93
 

Appendix B: Public Hearings .............................................................................................105
 

Report on the February Public Hearings: The Issues Paper ..........................................105
 

Report On the October Public Hearings........................................................................107
 

Appendix C: Planning: Schedules and Timelines .............................................................111
 

Significant Dates for the Steering and Planning Committees........................................111
 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

i 
 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE NAEP ARTS 

EDUCATION FRAMEWORK 

THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS
 

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students know and can do in 

various subject areas. Since 1969, assessments have been conducted to provide comprehensive information on student knowledge and skills at ages 9, 13, and 17 and, more 

recently, for students in grades 4, 8, and 12. Because the information on student performance and related factors is available to policymakers, parents, educators, and the general 

public, NAEP is an integral part of the nation’s evaluation of the condition and progress 

of student achievement. 

NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). In 1988, Congress created the National 

Assessment Governing Board to set policy for NAEP. The 26-member, broadly representative Board selects subject areas to be assessed, develops assessment objectives and 

specifications through a national process, and sets appropriate achievement goals, among 

other responsibilities. 

THE ARTS EDUCATION FRAMEWORK AND ASSESSMENTS 

This framework was used to develop the 1997 and 2008 NAEP Arts Education Assessments. For 2008, NAEP tested students in music and visual arts based on a nationally 

representative sample of eighth-grade schools. Results of the 2008 arts assessment will 

be released in spring 2009. Due to budget constraints and the small percentage of schools 

with theater and dance programs, these arts disciplines were not assessed in 2008. 

In 1997, the NAEP arts assessment was conducted nationally at grade 8. For music and 

visual arts, representative samples of public and nonpublic school students were assessed. 

For theater, a special targeted sample was selected from eighth-grade schools that offered 

theater courses and from students who took those courses. Dance was not assessed because only a small percentage of schools had regular dance programs. 

Findings from the 1997 arts assessment were reported in several ways: a brief Highlights 

Report, a comprehensive Arts Report Card, a CD–ROM containing sample tasks and student responses, and an online report of the test development process. Additional information on these materials is available at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

iii 
 

THE FRAMEWORK DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
 

In January 1992, the Governing Board issued a request for proposals to develop an assessment framework and specifications for a planned 1997 Arts Education Assessment. 

The contract was awarded to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), with 

the College Board and the Council for Basic Education as subcontractors. The 18-month 

project began in September 1992 and concluded in March 1994. 

The purpose of the contract was to develop and recommend a framework and other design features for an arts education assessment that includes dance, music, theatre, and the 

visual arts. The recommended form of the assessment was designed by a 32-member 

planning committee with guidance from a steering committee. The planning committee 

was responsible for recommending the content and contributing to the assessment framework and other design documents. Composed of K–12 teachers, arts educators from 

higher education, practicing artists, assessment specialists, and lay persons, the planning 

committee was chaired by Frank Philip of CCSSO. 

The 29-member steering committee was co-chaired by Ramsay Selden, director of the 

State Education Assessment Center at CCSSO and project director; and A. Graham 

Down, president of the Council for Basic Education. The committee included representatives from professional education organizations, parent groups, artist organizations, business, policymakers, and the public at large. The steering committee provided policy and 

procedural guidance during the project. 

NAEP AND NATIONAL STANDARDS: COOPERATION AND COORDINATION 

The development of the NAEP Arts Education Assessment Framework coincided with 

the development of the National Standards for Education in the Arts (National Standards). This confluence of a standards-setting process and its immediate application in 

creating a national assessment provide an unprecedented opportunity to align standards 

and assessment in a model for arts education. 

The two projects—NAEP and the National Standards—have a special role in establishing the importance of the arts in the education of all American students. 

The leadership of both groups has ensured that the projects will be coordinated in every 

aspect of the work, from crafting a common vision through matching schedules and sharing personnel. From the project’s inception, the process has been predicated on the assumption that the National Standards and the NAEP assessment should reflect a common 

vision of arts education. 

At the leadership level, A. Graham Down, chair of the oversight committee for the standards project, also co-chaired the steering committee for the assessment project. Seven 

members, or approximately one-fourth of the standards oversight committee, were also 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

iv 
 

invited to serve on the steering committee for the assessment project. Frank Philip and 

Joan Peterson, who co-chaired the National Council of State Arts Education Consultants 

task force for the standards project, served as coordinator for the NAEP Arts assessment 

Project and consultant for the College Board (a subcontractor to CCSSO), respectively. 

Each of the four subcommittees of the NAEP assessment planning committee included 

representatives from the writing task forces of the standards project and either the president or the president-elect of the national arts education professional organizations. Each 

executive director of the major national arts education organizations was a member of the 

steering committee of the assessment project. 

The meeting schedule, the dates for hearings, and the release of drafts for the assessment 

project were aligned to follow similar events of the standards project. The standards 

project shared the developing drafts of the standards with the planning committee of the 

assessment project in a regular and timely fashion to ensure a smooth articulation 

between the two. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRAMEWORK 

ISSUES 

Ruth Mitchell and Dennie Palmer-Wolf, consultants to the project, wrote an issues paper 

that identified the major areas of concern for the assessment design. Published in early 

January 1993, the paper was designed to be the focus of the national hearings scheduled 

in February 1993. The paper helped frame significant questions for the assessment and 

placed them in a broader context for understanding the role and feasibility of a national 

assessment in the arts. 

NATIONAL HEARINGS 

In considering the design of the proposed National Assessment for Arts Education, the 

project’s management team decided to seek public input at two points in the development 

process: 

•	 The February 1993 hearings were designed to gather responses and reactions to 

the issues paper. The San Francisco hearing was held in conjunction with a major 

arts education conference attended by many prominent writers and leaders of arts 

education. The Orlando, FL, hearing was scheduled for a time and location that 

allowed teachers, parents, and students to attend. The New York City hearing attracted the arts community from one of the country’s major population centers. 

•	 Hearings were conducted in Seattle, Chicago, and Washington, DC, in October 

1993 to solicit input and reaction to a draft of the assessment framework. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

v 
 

Appendix B contains a brief description of the hearings; a complete report is 

available from CCSSO. 

NEXT STEPS 

The consensus process produced the design documents and recommendations. This 

framework describes the proposed assessment. The specifications document explains the 

details for developing the assessment instrument. The consensus work also produced 

documents that suggest the nature and range of background information that should be 

collected along with the assessment and a set of strategies for reporting the results to the 

public and to the field. The second phase of the process began with a contract that NCES 

awarded to the Educational Testing Service in May 1994 to design the assessment exercises. Field testing of the exercises was scheduled for February 1995 and February 1996. 

RECENT CHANGES IN THE ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE 

A complete and comprehensive assessment in any subject area depends on funding from 

Congress. Because of a funding shortfall, the 1994 math and science assessments were 

postponed until 1996. In September 1994, the Governing Board executive committee recommended that the arts assessment be rescheduled for 1997. This would provide the opportunity for a two-stage field test in 1995 and 1996. The expanded field test would allow 

thorough development of the many complex, performance-based assessment tasks. 

GUIDELINES FOR THE PROJECT 

The steering committee’s first task was to develop guidelines to inform the planning 

committee’s work on drafting the framework. A major issue confronted the committee: 

how to balance “what is” in U.S. arts education with “what ought to be.” Although the 

issue cannot be resolved completely, the creative tension it has generated continues to be 

a source of positive energy for the assessment design. 

Another important issue must be mentioned. Early in the process, the steering committee 

insisted on a policy of inclusion in arts education. This means that the proposed NAEP 

assessment should reinforce the promise of arts education for all, including those students 

whose physical and mental abilities need additional support for artistic expression. Engaging the wheelchair-bound child in dance movement, or reviewing the theatrical performance of the hearing-impaired middle school student, for example, are recommended 

for the administration of the assessment. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

vi 
 

Steering Committee Guidelines 

1. The assessment should affirm and articulate the arts as ways of knowing and forms of 

knowledge with a unique capacity to integrate the intellect, the emotions, and physical skills 

in the construction of meaning. 

2. The assessment should honor the discrete disciplines (dance, music, theatre, visual arts), but 

should at the same time encourage students to see the artistic experience as a unified whole 

and make connections between the arts and other disciplines. 

3. The NAEP assessment and national standards processes must work hand in hand. 

4. Where possible, the assessment should examine and report on developing abilities so 

younger and older students exhibit stages in the development of the same capability. 

5. The assessment should connect with students’ real-life experiences so students can use their 

personal knowledge in areas such as street dance, their everyday experience with TV drama, 

or their understanding of traditional regional art forms and community arts resources. 

6. The assessment should assess students’ knowledge, attitudes, and performance in the 

modalities and forms of expression characteristic of the arts (music, dance, painting or 

drawing, acting) as well as verbal or written linguistic modes; that is, writing or talking 

about the arts. 

7. The assessment should go beyond quantification to include critical judgment. An effort 

should be made to ensure that reporting includes descriptive information on student 

performance as well as numerical data. 

8. The assessment should use a common list of background variables to recognize differences 

and inequities in school resources and the conditions related to achievement, such as teacher 

qualifications, instructional time in the arts, school structure, cultural and social background 

of the school community, and incentives. This recognition must be evident in reported data. 

Results have meaning only in terms of the availability and continuity of arts instruction. 

9. The assessment should address both processes and products, and should expand the public’s 

information about the importance of each. 

10. The assessment should be based on a comprehensive vision of arts education and should 

communicate that vision clearly. The assessment should focus on what ought to be in arts 

education rather than what is, but idealism should be tempered with reality. Hence, exercises 

should model multifaceted and thoughtful activities without making unreasonable demands 

on time, materials, and human resources. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

vii 
 

Steering Committee Guidelines (continued) 

11. To stimulate support for arts education, the assessment should produce information useful to 

a variety of audiences—students, artists, teachers, and administrators; local, state, and 

national policymakers; and community members such as parents and business persons—and 

be disseminated in a variety of ways for different audiences. 

12. The assessment should sample student performances under two conditions: a general sample 

reflecting universal expectations and a specialized sample for students in magnet and 

advanced programs at grade 12. 

13. The assessment should reflect a pluralistic view of arts education in terms of both individual 

products and the cultural bases of the arts. It should be oriented toward the demonstration of 

student learning, be sensitive to a variety of instructional approaches, include the range of 

contemporary theories evident in arts education, and include examples of appropriate 

exercises addressing universal themes. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

viii 
 

NAEP ARTS PROJECT STAFF AND 

COMMITTEES 

STEERING COMMITTEE 

Adrienne Bailey 

Educational Consultant 

Chicago, IL 

John Bonaiuto 

Secretary of Education 

South Dakota Department of Education 

Pierre, SD 

Harry Clark 

President 

International NETWORK of Performing 

and Visual Arts Schools 

Pittsburgh, PA 

Nicolette Clarke 

Executive Director 

Vermont Council on the Arts 

Montpelier, VT 

Elliott Eisner 

Professor of Education and Art 

Stanford University 

Stanford, CA 

Harriett Fulbright 

President 

Center for Arts in the Basic Curriculum 

Washington, DC 

Eduardo Garcia 

Arts Education Consultant 

Plainsboro, NJ 

Keith Geiger 

President 

National Education Association 

Washington, DC 

Kay Goodwin 

Arts Advocate 

Ripley, WV 

Michael Green 

President 

National Academy of Recording 

Arts and Sciences 

Burbank, CA 

Richard Gurin 

President and CEO 

Binney & Smith, Inc. 

Easton, PA 

Ronne Hartfield 

Executive Director of Museum 

Education 

Art Institute of Chicago 

Chicago, IL 

Tom Hatfield 

Executive Director 

National Art Education Association 

Reston, VA 

Jerome Hausman 

Director, Center for Arts Curriculum 

Planning and Evaluation 

Urban Gateways 

Chicago, IL 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

ix 
 

Samuel Hope 

Executive Director 

National Office for Arts Accreditation 

in Higher Education 

Reston, VA 

Rebecca Hutton 

Executive Director 

National Dance Association 

Reston, VA 

Joan Katz 

Director, Elementary/ 

Secondary Service 

Public Broadcasting Service 

Alexandria, VA 

Robert Lloyd 

Dean 

Visual Studies Institute for Teachers 

Andover, MA 

John Mahlmann 

Executive Director 

Music Educators National Conference 

Reston, VA 

Greg McCaslin 

Director, Education and Information 

New York Foundation for the Arts 

New York, NY 

Michael Moore 

President 

Association of Institutes for 

Aesthetic Education 

Bowling Green, OH 

David O’Fallon 

Staff Director, Arts Education 

Partnership Working Group 

The Kennedy Center 

Washington, DC 

Bethany Rogers 

Coalition of Essential Schools 

Brown University 

Providence, RI 

John Terrell Scott 

Professor of Art/Artist 

Xavier University 

New Orleans, LA 

Kent Seidel 

Director, Teacher Services and 

Advocacy 

Educational Theatre Association 

Cincinnati, OH 

Albert Shanker 

President 

American Federation of Teachers 

Washington, DC 

Carol Sterling 

Director, Arts Education 

American Council for the Arts 

New York, NY 

Kathryn Whitefill 

President-Elect 

National PTA 

Pasadena, TX 

Barbara Wills 

Executive Director 

American Alliance for Theatre 

and Education 

Tacoma, WA 

Kelvin Yazzie 

Artist 

Flagstaff, AZ 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

x 
 

________________________ 

Advisors to Planning and 

Steering Committees 

Paul Lehman 

Senior Associate Dean 

University of Michigan 

Ann Arbor, MI 

Brent Wilson 

Professor 

Penn State University 

University Park, PA 

PLANNING COMMITTEE 

Angelique Acevedo 

Artist/Teacher, Arts Curriculum 

Integration Specialist 

Bear Creek High School 

Lakewood, CO 

Carolyn Adams 

Dance Teacher, Harlem Dance 

Foundation 

Director, Dance Program 

City College of New York 

Chair, Dance/USA’s National Task 

Force on Dance Education 

New York, NY 

Marianna Adams* 

Curator of Education 

Museum of Art 

Fort Lauderdale, FL 

Donna Kay Beattie* 

Asst. Professor of Art Education 

Brigham Young University 

Provo, UT 

*Arts subgroup leaders. 

Ellyn Berk 

Arts Consultant 

New York, NY 

Deborah Brzoska* 

Fine Arts Coordinator 

Vancouver School District 

Vancouver, WA 

Linda Gregoric Cook 

Registered Drama Therapist 

New Orleans Schools 

New Orleans, LA 

Jennifer Davidson* 

Arts Education Consultant 

Oakland Schools 

Waterford, MI 

Meredith Davis 

Professor/Head, Department of 

Graphic Design 

North Carolina State University 

Raleigh, NC 

Maxine DeBruyn 

Dance Chair 

Hope College 

Holland, MI 

Ed Gero 

Director of the Ensemble 

George Mason University Actor 

Shakespeare Theatre 

Washington, DC 

MacArthur Goodwin 

Education Associate 

South Carolina Department of Education 

Columbia, SC 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

xi 
 

________________________ 

Robert W. Gross 

Multimedia/Assessment Specialist 

Fine Arts Department Chair 

Carl Sandburg High School 

Orlando Park, IL 

Mark Hansen 

President 

National Art Education Association 

Arts Resource Coordinator 

Forest Lake Public Schools 

Forest Lake, MN 

Jorge Huerta 

Professor of Theatre 

University of California, San Diego 

La Jolla, CA 

Sandra June McCollister 

Assistant Professor, Art Education 

Southwest Texas University 

San Marcos, TX 

Claudette Morton* 

Director 

Rural Education Center 

Western Montana College 

Dillon, MT 

Nancy Norwood 

Media Arts Instructor 

Minnesota Center for Arts Education 

Golden Valley, MN 

Barry Oreck* 

Director of In-School Programs 

Arts Connection 

New York, NY 

Nancy Pistone 

Arts Education Consultant 

Pittsburgh, PA 

Theresa Purcell 

President 

National Dance Association 

Dance/Physical Education Specialist 

Brunswick Acres Elementary School 

Kendall Park, NJ 

Janice Ross 

Dance Lecturer 

Stanford University 

Stanford, CA 

Nancy Roucher 

Co-Director 

Florida Institute for Art Education 

Sarasota, FL 

Laura Gardner Salazar 

President 

American Alliance for Theatre 

Education 

Professor of Theatre 

Grand Valley State University 

Allendale, MI 

Will Schmid 

President 

Music Educators National Conference 

Professor/University of WisconsinMilwaukee 

Milwaukee, WI 

Laurel Serleth 

Drama Specialist 

Evanston Schools District 65 

Evanston, IL 

*Arts subgroup leaders. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

xii 
 

________________________ 

Scott Shuler* 

Arts Education Consultant 

Connecticut Department of Education 

Hartford, CT 

Suzanne Shull 

Music Teacher 

Ridgeview Middle School 

Atlanta, GA 

Ruth Ann Teague 

Music Teacher 

Arthur P. Milton Elementary School 

Gary, IN 

Cheryl Tibbals* 

Director of Assessment Administration 

New Standards Project 

Oakland, CA 

Jorja Turnipseed 

Professor of Music Education 

Mississippi State University 

Mississippi State, MS 

Willie Anthony Waters 

Conductor 

Miami, FL 

Advisors to Planning and 

Steering Committees 

Paul Lehman 

Senior Associate Dean 

University of Michigan 

Ann Arbor, MI 

Brent Wilson 

Professor 

Penn State University 

University Park, PA 

*Arts subgroup leaders. 

MANAGEMENT TEAM 

Project Staff 

Ramsay Selden 

Project Director 

Council of Chief State School Officers 

Washington, DC 

Frank Philip 

Consensus Coordinator 

Council of Chief State School Officers 

Washington, DC 

Jon Quam 

Project Advisor 

Council of Chief State School Officers 

Washington, DC 

Ed Roeber 

Project Advisor 

Council of Chief State School Officers 

Washington, DC 

Bonnie Verrico 

Administrative Assistant 

Council of Chief State School Officers 

Washington, DC 

Project Officer 

Mary Crovo 

Assistant Director for Test Development 

National Assessment Governing Board 

Washington, DC 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

xiii 
 

Subcontractors 

Graham Down 

President 

Council for Basic Education 

Washington, DC 

Stephanie Soper 

Program Manager 

Council for Basic Education 

Washington, DC 

Ruth Mitchell 

Assessment Consultant 

Washington, DC 

Robert Orrill 

Executive Director, Academic Affairs 

The College Board 

New York, NY 

Carol Myford 

Research Scientist/ETS 

Consultant/The College Board 

Princeton, NJ 

Joan Peterson 

California Department of Education 

Consultant/The College Board 

Sacramento, CA 

Dennis Palmer Wolf 

Executive Director/PACE 

Harvard University 

Consultant/The College Board 

Consultant/Council for Basic Education 

Cambridge, MA 

Liaisons for Funding Organizations 

Doug Herbert 

Director, Arts in Education Program 

National Endowment for the Arts 

Washington, DC 

Mary Ann Stankiewicz 

Consultant/The Getty Center for 

Education in the Arts 

Assistant Vice President for 

Academic Affairs 

Ringling School of Art and Design 

Sarasota, FL 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

xiv 
 

CHAPTER ONE
 

THE ARTS IN U.S. EDUCATION 

THE IMPORTANCE OF NAEP TO ARTS EDUCATION 

This is an important moment for American culture. The arts are becoming part of the national vision of what all students should know and be able to do. The evidence is clear: 

•	 National standards for student achievement have been developed in the arts in a 

process that paralleled the standards discussions being held in mathematics, language arts, science, history, and other areas. 

•	 The standards process, while demanding, has generated important discussion and 

debate about which art forms, what kind of knowledge, and what skills in the arts 

are important for all students. 

•	 The Governing Board—with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, 

an independent federal agency, in collaboration with the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust—commissioned the development of this framework for a planned national assessment of student 

performance in the arts in 1997. The present document, the framework, sets out 

for the educational community and the public the scope of what will be included 

and how the arts will be assessed. 

•	 The framework process is a bold one. Pushing beyond the limits of the arts and 

music assessments of the l970s, this framework calls for the inclusion of theatre 

and dance as well. This work led to lively discussions of the importance of design 

and the media arts. 

Such recognition brought not only long-awaited satisfaction, but responsibility. Faced 

with the significant opportunity to create an assessment solely about learning in the arts, 

the steering and planning committees met the challenge with a proposed assessment that 

is, at once, feasible, fair, and wise. The vision for the assessment—this framework—has 

two noticeable characteristics. First, the committees have wrestled with the difficult central issues of arts education. Second, they have proposed a plan that would recognize vision in the face of current practice. 

The process for the NAEP arts education framework is founded on a vision of a society 

that believes the arts are essential to every child’s complete development. Throughout 

their lives, they will draw from artistic experience and knowledge as a means of 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

1 
 

understanding what happens both inside and outside their own skin, just as they use 

mathematical, scientific, historical, and other frameworks for understanding. They are not 

expected to become talented artists. The expectation is that they will experience enough 

of the discipline, challenge, and joy of creating in different art forms to intimately understand the human significance of dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. 

The NAEP assessment will help to realize this vision. Assessment has the unique ability 

to fix attention in education. “What you test is what you get”—and its corollary, “you 

don’t get what you don’t test”—are well proved in our educational system. As the only 

national assessment in the United States, where our radically decentralized education system resists the comprehensive national examinations found in other countries, NAEP assessments are noticed when results are published biennially. 

A group of art teachers once asked Alan Sandler, an architect long involved with education, “So why do we have to assess at all? We know our students’ work. What’s the 

point?” Sandler replied, “Good assessment is like good architecture. It directs people’s 

attention and their activity in worthwhile ways.” 

NAEP does not assess students individually or report individual student results; instead, 

it reports on student achievement in general in a subject area. NAEP results show, for 

example, that students can handle the mechanics of writing fairly well, but do not express 

ideas persuasively; that they are reasonably proficient at routine computations, but do not 

perform well in applying mathematical concepts; and that their knowledge of history 

seems to leave them without a firm sense of chronology. The information provided by 

NAEP has had a discernible effect on the present educational reform: Being included in 

NAEP makes an important statement about the need for all children in our country to obtain the special benefits of learning that only the arts provide. 

THE ROLE OF ARTS EDUCATION 

The standards, public attention, and this framework itself together make a statement 

about the role of the arts in U.S. education: They are as basic as literacy and numeracy. 

They are basic because they bestow meaning on the world through movement, sound, 

color, and gesture—nonverbal systems of communication essential to understanding. We 

as human beings shape our world by transforming the activities of the physical body into 

meaning that defines human experience. 

The arts are basic in a purely educational sense. They are essential to education reform 

because they give meaning to learning. They are an important vehicle for learning the 

skills so prized by reformers in both the education and business communities—problem 

solving, higher-order thinking, flexibility, persistence, and cooperation. The arts make 

schools better places to be, places where acceptance and encouragement foster growth. 

Students who learn to value the discipline of the arts equip themselves for challenges in 

work and in life. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

2 
 

However, to value the arts as basic and as instrumental to learning other things is to sell 

them short. Through music, dance, theatre, and visual arts, students become part of the 

human heritage of creativity. Through the arts, we touch transcendence and go beyond 

the mundane and the practical to the eternal and ideal. Participation itself expands the 

boundaries of the arts, so that every student—every person—who produces, performs, or 

responds is adding to the body of artistic wealth. This is the power of the arts: a sense of 

contributing to an eternal conversation reaching backward and forward beyond time. 

No child in an American school should be deprived of the opportunity to see, hear, touch, 

and understand the accumulated wisdom of our artistic heritage, and to make his or her 

own contributions through productions and performances. Education can no longer be 

defined without the arts. 

THE SHAPE OF THE ARTS EDUCATION NAEP 

When the framework development process began in early 1993, an issues paper posed a 

series of questions. Answers that were forged out of a year of spirited discussion and 

thoughtful consideration are provided to the most important of those questions. 

• How can the NAEP arts assessment combine realism and vision? The task of designing an arts assessment is complicated by the fact that currently the arts are often a 

marginal experience for students at the elementary and middle school levels and are 

an elective subject in high school. In addition, many schools have cut arts education 

to the bone: It is occasional, rarely involves dance or theatre, and seldom combines 

in-school and out-of-school arts experiences. In some cases—arts magnet schools or 

schools that have elected to use the arts to motivate learning—arts education is abundant. Given this disparity of opportunity, how is it possible to design a national assessment for all students? 

This question was a point of concern and discussion for a year. Throughout the NAEP 

framework process, the committees struggled with the tension between “what is” and 

“what ought to be.” Should only those programs that predominate in many schools be 

assessed? To do so would omit dance, theatre, and in some cases elementary arts instruction altogether. On the other hand, should we assess as if all children continually studied 

dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts beginning in kindergarten, and specialized in at 

least one art form in their high school years? To assess only on this assumption would 

risk frustration, since NAEP takes a representative sample of students from various types 

of schools and school populations across the country. 

We need to know both kinds of information. Both are essential for understanding the 

“fit,” or what is happening in the schools today, and the “gap,” or how far students’ 

abilities and knowledge are from the ideal. The information gained from the NAEP Arts 

Education Assessment will indicate where arts education needs to be strengthened and 

extended so future students can fully realize their potential. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

3 
 

• What is the model of arts learning that will inform the kinds of exercises and examples 

developed for the assessment? Traditionally, only production and performance have 

been assessed, but many teachers, scholars, and artists would argue that there is an 

important place for aesthetics and for the social, cultural, and historical contexts of 

art. However, given this more diversified notion of artistic understanding, are these 

skills considered separable or integrated? Any assessment design will portray and 

broadcast an image of arts education. 

The NAEP framework process and the National Standards have framed a vision of arts 

education that integrates the aesthetic, social, cultural, and historical contexts of the arts 

with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate in the arts. Skills will not be considered as separable, and it has been decided to report the achievement of students as a 

whole according to the various artistic processes, not on separate scales for isolated 

knowledge or technical skills. The image of arts education portrayed by the NAEP Arts 

Education Assessment will be as close to a vision of the arts as basic, unified, and pervasive as practically possible. 

• What methods of assessment should be used? Portfolios, performances, written responses, interviews, and observations can and have been a part of assessment programs. But they are more costly and labor intensive than multiple-choice and shortanswer questions. What kind of design decisions does this lead to? 

Many arts educators worry that an assessment of the arts will artificially quantify those 

essential aspects of the arts that seem unquantifiable—inspiration, imagination, and creativity. This framework has been designed to honor the essential aspects of the arts as 

much as is compatible with the constraints of funding and time available in schools for 

the NAEP assessment. 

All advocates of arts education can take considerable comfort in the fact that longstanding assessments used by the arts—portfolios and performances—are now being adopted 

by other disciplines. Artists have always selected their works for portfolios and assessed 

their own work as they did so. Juries, panels, and audiences have always assessed performing artists. Therefore, the problem does not involve protecting the arts from inappropriate testing techniques, but extending the legitimate use of portfolios and performance 

measures beyond the theatre, the concert hall, the studio, and the individual classroom to 

the national level. 

Performance assessments (the generic term for the class of assessments that is beginning 

to augment and, in some instances, replace conventional paper-and-pencil, machinescorable tests) have a long history in assessing the arts. It is entirely appropriate for the 

NAEP arts assessment to continue to move national assessments forward, much as they 

did by using many performance exercises in the 1970s NAEP visual arts and music 

assessments. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

4 
 

Consequently, the assessment will consist largely of multiple, related exercises organized 

around an activity. For example, in a theatre exercise, a group of students might assume 

characters and act out a scene from a story they have read or heard. This is a production 

exercise. Then they may respond individually in writing to open-ended questions about 

what they might change in their characters if they could do the scene again and why they 

would make those changes. The students might also respond to multiple-choice items 

asking them to identify elements of the scene. Questions and multiple-choice items 

should always be embedded in an exercise and not administered in isolation. The 

production exercise and the open-ended and multiple-choice items would all be scored 

separately. 

The significant knowledge and skills unique to each domain should be embedded in an 

exercise in a way that clearly shows their application or use. Students might be asked to 

perform a movement typical of a traditional dance and thus to show by posture, alignment, and movement that the student knows and can apply the form and cultural context 

of the dance. 

A special study was proposed to explore the use of portfolios. An existing successful national assessment using portfolios is the Advanced Placement Studio Art Portfolio 

Evaluation, which shows feasibility for such an assessment. However, the committees 

decided that the financial resources of the assessment would be better used in gathering 

information across the widest possible range of arts education than on an expensive and 

smaller portfolio project. 

• Should the definition be cut so sharply into four strands? What place, for instance, 

will be made for design and for media arts—courses that enroll many students and 

that link the arts to important fields like communication and industry? And what about 

the interdisciplinary nature of much artistic work: musical theatre; architecture; and 

the writing, design, and illustration of books? 

The inclusion of all four strands—dance, music, theatre, and visual arts—in the assessment is already a step forward. Design and media arts will be included as integral parts of 

these strands. A special study was proposed to explore the interdisciplinary nature of the 

arts by answering important questions about the problems interdisciplinary work poses: 

Where can you find truly interdisciplinary action (as opposed to layers of separate disciplines) and how can it be assessed? 

• Whose art? A Mark Morris performance folded country-western music and clog 

dancing into forms and sequences that owe much to George Balanchine and Martha 

Graham. An audience would understand the stark costumes and pale faces of a Paula 

Jossa Jones piece more fully if they had seen and thought about Asian performance 

forms like butto theater. These are only two of countless illustrations that 

contemporary American arts depend on to understand and borrow work that comes 

from world cultures and from all quadrants of American life. If this is to be a national 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

5 
 

assessment, how can its samples and requests reflect not only the diversity of children 

taking the assessment, but also the pluralism that American culture exhibits? 

The samples of possible stimulus materials will demonstrate the commitment of the 

NAEP arts framework process to embracing the pluralism that enriches our national arts. 

The largest possible range of the arts has been recommended as the field from which assessments can be designed. 

• Who will be sampled for the assessment? Will learning about the arts be assessed 

wherever it occurs, or only if students have had formal arts classes? How will students 

who play in garage bands or who attend dance academies outside of school be identified and assessed? 

A third special study (the two others were special studies of interdisciplinary learning in 

the arts and portfolios) was proposed to look at the accomplishments of students in special programs such as arts magnet schools and districts with exemplary regular arts education programs. The nature and extent of student learning in the arts will be gleaned 

from background questions that are factored into the information gained from the assessment itself when the NAEP results are reported. 

• Learning and production in the arts require time. Dancers and musicians must warm 

up before performing, visual artists may need to mix paints, actors must think themselves into character. How will it be possible to examine student performance in various aspects of an arts discipline (for example, performing, choreography, response to 

performance, or criticism) in ways that are safe and valid? 

The framework recommends to the designers of the NAEP assessments that the nature of 

the arts should be the guiding factor in specifying the shape and length of the assessments. It is expected that time for preparation and warmup will be allowed in addition to 

the time spent in production exercises and answering open-ended questions. 

The task of constructing a NAEP assessment in arts education is both simple and complex. It is simple because there is apparent substantial agreement about the ends of an arts 

education as a result of the discussions and deliberations in the standards development 

and the NAEP framework process. On the other hand, it is complex because of the difficulty in constructing an assessment that accurately appraises student achievement on a 

national level with all the variables of experience and environment, and delivers it in a 

timely, cost-efficient manner. 

For some, the NAEP assessment will be too soft; for others, it will be too hard. For some, 

it will go too far; for others, not far enough. Such is the nature of a process that strives for 

consensus (agreement at certain levels of acceptance) rather than absolute agreement (a 

process that builds from a broad base of national input). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

6 
 

As a large-scale national assessment, NAEP can accomplish certain goals in understanding what K–12 students know and can do that no other assessment can accomplish. It has 

a special role to play in its ability to define and refine an essence of knowledge and experience in the arts from the rich and diverse array of possibility. But NAEP cannot and 

should not be the sole assessment of arts education. Nor should it be thought of as the 

standard-by-standard measuring instrument for the voluntary National Standards. Many 

of the standards will have to be examined in other assessment formats over a longer duration than is possible with NAEP. However, it is one significant and unique measure that 

takes its place beside important work going on in many states, universities, private organizations, local districts, and classrooms. 

During the course of framework development, the committees examined large-scale assessments from other countries, including Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and 

Scotland. Much has been learned about the challenges in dealing with these complex subjects and the ways in which they might be assessed using authentic and valid means. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

7 
 

CHAPTER TWO
 

THE CONTENT AND PROCESSES OF THE ARTS 

Because the assessment depends on a precise definition of what students should know 

and be able to do, this chapter first defines the processes and content of the arts in general 

and then lists the content and processes specific to each of the arts disciplines. 

DEFINITIONS 

As defined by both this assessment framework and the voluntary National Standards, arts 

education refers to dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. The committees also felt it 

was important to include within these categories functional design areas such as architecture, industrial design, graphic design, and the media arts. In the discussion below, it is 

assumed that all four of the arts disciplines are included. It is also assumed that the processes and the content identified are applied in combination and are always integrated at 

various levels. 

PROCESSES 

Creating refers to generating original art. This may include, but should not be limited to, 

the expression of a student’s unique and personal ideas, feelings, and responses in the 

form of a visual image, a character, a written or improvised dramatic work, or the composition or improvisation of a piece of music or a dance. 

Performing/interpreting means performing an existing work—a process that calls on the 

student’s interpretive or re-creative skills. Typically, performing an existing work does 

not apply to the visual arts, where reproducing an artist’s existing work is not central. 

However, it does suggest the engagement and motivation involved in creating a work of 

art. 

Responding includes many varieties, including an audience member’s response to a performance and the interactive response between a student and a particular medium. The 

response is usually a combination of affective, cognitive, and physical behavior. Responding involves a level of perceptual or observational skill; a description, analysis, or 

interpretation on the part of the respondent; and sometimes a judgment or evaluation 

based on criteria that may be self-constructed or commonly held by a group or culture. 

Responding calls on higher-order thinking and is central to the creative process. Although a response is usually thought of as verbal (oral or written), responses can and 

should also be conveyed nonverbally or in the art forms themselves. Major works of art 

in all traditions engage artists in a dialog that crosses generations. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

9 
 

CONTENT 

Two major components of learning are expected of students who study the arts. Students 

should gain knowledge and understanding about the arts, including the personal, historical, cultural, and social contexts for works; and should gain perceptual, technical, expressive, and intellectual/reflective skills. Both components are found in each arts 

discipline. 

When students use the artistic processes of creating, performing, and responding, they 

draw from various kinds of knowledge and understanding about the arts to construct 

meaning. Students need to be able to place the arts in broader contexts to fully appreciate 

their significance. These contexts include a personal perspective, an understanding of 

how the arts fit into the students’ immediate society and broader culture, and a historical 

perspective. Students need knowledge of aesthetics to understand varied concepts and 

philosophies of the nature, meaning, and intrinsic value of the arts that people from different cultures and periods have formulated and held. Students also need to know about 

and understand the different forms of expression, the structure of each, and the various 

technical processes by which art forms can be created. 

The acquisition and application of skills determine the quality of the learning experience. 

Without the necessary skills, creating, performing, and responding cannot take place. 

Perceptual skills are needed to collect the sensory stimuli and discern nuance. Technical 

skills are needed to produce the work with quality. Expressive skills are needed to add a 

unique and personal nature to the work. Intellectual/reflective skills are needed to test 

different creative possibilities, solve artistic problems, refine one’s work, and help each 

student consider the arts thoughtfully and beyond superficial qualities. 

Throughout the processes of creating, performing, and responding in the arts, students are 

called on to apply knowledge and skills simultaneously. Knowledge and skills rarely 

function in isolation; one implies the other. Few important artistic behaviors are entirely 

based on knowledge, and arguably, none involve only skills. A skill cannot be mastered 

in the absence of relevant knowledge. Skills and techniques (knowing how) are infused 

with creating, performing, and responding. Students involved in these processes not only 

gain knowledge about the arts, but they also learn through and within the arts. Similarly, 

students use this knowledge of aesthetics and history as they create, perform, or respond 

in the arts. More knowledge is often gained as students engage in artistic processes. 

The framework provides a general vision for the four arts disciplines and the flexibility to 

accommodate differences among them. Each discipline fits into the grand scheme of the 

framework, preserving the distinguishing characteristics of each medium. 

For example, teachers and artists working in the visual arts place a high value on firsthand creative expression and response to visual media, but often give lower priority to 

the performance or duplication of existing art. Music education, on the other hand, has 

typically placed great emphasis on the performance of existing music and on students’ 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

10 
 

responses to performance and through the performance. K–12 music education programs 

historically have minimized their emphasis on students’ original musical compositions. 

Theatre views creating and performing as a combined act, and views the response of the 

audience, director, actors, and designers to the work as integral to the development of a 

performance. For dance, the processes of creation, performance, and critical evaluation of 

the work, while all present, often merge. 

Exhibit 1 illustrates each art discipline’s approach to the common framework. Each cell 

represents a subscale in which results may be reported. The columns will be summarized 

to report a comprehensive score for each arts area. 

Exhibit 1. The framework matrix 

CONTENT SPECIFIC TO EACH OF THE FOUR ARTS
 

DANCE 

Dance incorporates creation, performance, and response. When actively involved in these 

processes, students not only learn about dance, but they also learn through and within 

dance. Dance skills and technique weave throughout the processes of creating, performing, and responding. Students use and apply knowledge of different dance forms and 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

11 
 

styles (aesthetics) along with personal, social, cultural, and historical contexts whether 

they are creating, performing, or responding. 

The following framework depicts the expectations of dance education. 

Dance Assessment Framework 

Arts Processes in Dance 

Creating—When creating in dance, students: 

• Invent solutions to movement problems, generating and selecting from 

alternatives. 

• Follow improvisational and compositional structures. 

• Collaborate to achieve solutions. 

Performing—When performing in dance, students: 

• Accurately recall and reproduce movement. 

• Demonstrate physical technique. 

• Communicate through movement (expression). 

Responding—When perceiving, analyzing, interpreting, critiquing, and judging dance, 

students: 

• Identify compositional elements and notice details. 

• Identify contexts (stylistic, cultural, social, historical) of the dance. 

• Make informed critical observations about the dance’s and the dancer’s technical 

and artistic components. 

Based on Specific Content From Dance 

Knowledge—Students apply knowledge of: Skills—Students apply cognitive, affective, 

and motor skills, including: 

Context: 

• Personal 

• Social 

• Cultural 

• Historical 

Aesthetics 

Form and Structure 

Processes 

Perceptual 

Intellectual/Reflective 

Expressive 

Technical 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

12 
 

Creating in Dance 

Students must have the ability to create dance and to express their understanding through 

the language of movement. To convey ideas and feelings, students make use of movement and elements of choreography. They reveal in their dances insights into themselves, 

their social and cultural worlds, and their concepts of nature and the arts. Through a 

knowledge of vocabulary and compositional structures, students are able to collaborate 

with others in shared expression and the creation of dance. 

Performing Dance 

Dance uses the human body as both an instrument and a thinking medium. Students progressively develop dance knowledge, skills, techniques, and responses that allow them to 

use their bodies with confidence, success, and insight. Physical skills in dance include 

coordination, agility, flexibility, balance, strength, and control of movement. Through 

dance, students gain spatial awareness, bodily awareness, musicality, and an increased 

ability to observe and refine movement. Dance also fosters an awareness of historical, 

cultural, and stylistic elements involved in the creation and performance of movement. In 

dance, the cognitive, motor, and affective domains operate interdependently and simultaneously. Students apply intellectual skills throughout the process of creating and 

performing. 

Responding To Dance 

Responding to dance must include the vital dimension of experiencing, knowing, and 

thoughtfully interpreting dance. Whether responding to one’s own dance or to the dance 

of others, students should develop new levels of understanding, insight, and perceptual 

acuity as a consequence of interacting with dance. 

Knowledge and Skills 

In dance, knowledge and skills are inextricably connected. Students combine both attributes to express themselves through movement and to create dance works that exist always 

within larger cultural contexts. Likewise, knowledge about dance is often learned 

through the act and skill of dancing. 

The content for dance integrates knowledge and skills. It includes the use of a movement 

and verbal vocabulary to compose and describe dance. Students are expected to know 

and use dance forms and structures and to be able to apply effective criteria in the critique of dance. 

MUSIC 

Music is a form of artistic expression communicated through the medium of sound. Music processes include creating (composing and improvising), performing (playing, singing, and conducting), and responding (listening, moving, analyzing, and critiquing). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

13 
 

Music uses a unique set of symbols. Performance of music demands the integrated development of intellectual/cognitive, feeling/affective, and psychomotor skills. 

The student expectations for music are illustrated in the following framework. 

Music Assessment Framework 

Arts Processes for Music 

Creating—When improvising, composing, or arranging music, students: 

• Apply historical, cultural, and aesthetic understanding by creating stylistically 

appropriate alterations, variations, and improvisations. 

• Use standard and/or nonstandard notation to express original ideas. 

• Evaluate, refine, and revise successive versions of original work. 

• Demonstrate skill and expressiveness in the choice and use of musical elements. 

• Present the created work for others. 

Performing—When singing or playing music with musical instruments, students: 

• Select appropriate repertoire. 

• Apply skill by performing with technical accuracy. 

• Develop an appropriate and expressive interpretation by applying understanding 

of structure and cultural and historical contexts of music. 

• Read musical notation accurately. 

• Evaluate, refine, and revise the performance. 

• Present the performance for others. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

14 
 

Responding—When perceiving, analyzing, interpreting, critiquing, and judging music, 

students: 

• Select repertoire for listening. 

• Analyze the elements and structure of music. 

• Compare and contrast various musical styles. 

• Identify formal and expressive qualities that distinguish a particular style of 

music. 

• Place music within its cultural and historical context. 

• Make critical judgments about technical and expressive qualities of musical 

performances and compositions. 

• Use movement or words to interpret and describe personal responses to music. 

Based on Specific Content in Music 

Knowledge—Students apply knowledge of: Skills—Students apply cognitive, affective, 

and motor skills, including: 

Context: 

• Personal 

• Social 

• Cultural 

• Historical 

Aesthetics 

Form and Structure 

Processes 

Perceptual 

Intellectual/Reflective 

Expressive 

Technical 

Creating 

In music, performers are creative when interpreting a piece of music. However, for 

purposes of this assessment framework, creating refers specifically to improvising and 

composing new music. When improvising, musicians spontaneously create an original 

work or variation within certain limits or guidelines established by the particular style in 

which they are performing. For example, a person improvising in the blues operates 

creatively within the limits of the blues style. When composing music, students usually 

have the freedom to create what their imagination dictates, including the choice of any 

style or genre. Students should also have time to evaluate and revise their work before 

presenting it to the public. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

15 
 

Performing/Interpreting 

All students should be able to sing and to perform on instruments. For purposes of the 

national assessment, performing refers to the process of singing and playing existing musical works (repertoire). The performing process involves a wide variety of critical judgments and sophisticated understanding of musical syntax to develop an interpretation and 

a performance of that interpretation. As with all the arts, students are constantly applying 

and exercising higher order thinking, such as analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating, 

while creating and performing music. 

Responding 

Although composers and performers respond to the music they are creating and performing, for purposes of NAEP the response process focuses on the role of the audience. 

Composers, improvisers, and performers always seek to elicit a response from their audience. Students therefore must learn to understand and respond to music. 

Individuals respond to music in three general ways: physically, intellectually, and emotionally. Physical responses to music involve movement, such as dance or other rhythmic 

movement. Intellectual responses to music include activities such as labeling, analyzing, 

classifying, placing a work within a particular context, and making critical judgments 

about a work or performance. Emotional responses are the wide range of affect. All three 

types of responses play an essential role in making individual judgments about music. 

The Artistic Process of Music as a Whole 

NAEP will assess students’ ability to carry out the processes—creating, performing, and 

responding—each of which consists of several essential components or steps. For example, all three processes involve analyzing and evaluating. These three processes also require students to understand the syntax of music as well as cultural and historical 

contexts. 

Knowledge and Skills 

As with all the arts, knowledge and skills in music are so closely intertwined that it is 

nearly impossible to separate them. 

Music knowledge includes the contexts of music, the form and structure of music, and 

the musical processes. Knowing musical context includes understanding the historical 

period, style, and culture in which a work is created; the performance traditions of that 

time or place; and the appropriate aesthetic criteria for judging the quality of the work 

and its performance. 

Knowing form and structure includes understanding the building blocks of music: the 

materials, notations, elements, and forms of musical works. Knowing musical processes 

includes understanding the sequence and criteria for judgments involved in developing a 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

16 
 

new work, performing an existing work, or developing an opinion about a work or performance heard. 

Music skills enable individuals to apply what they know by creating, performing, or responding to music. Technique is students’ physical ability to transform their musical 

ideas into new creations or performances that accurately convey those ideas. Although 

technique is important to the processes of creating and performing, other skills are 

equally important. Perceptual skills enable the student to hear and interpret the details 

that make up music. These skills allow students to recall music in the mind even when it 

is not aurally present. Expressive skills give the work the meaning and feeling that moves 

the listener. Such skills also provide the basis for recognizing and responding to expression when it is present in a work or performance. 

THEATRE 

Theatre is rooted in religious festival and the universal impulse of humans to play, imitate, create, and share ideas and feelings. Much of the joy of the theatre lies in bringing 

together diverse people, ideas, and artists in the interaction of production elements, performers, and the audience. A social art form, theatre reveals both the human condition 

and the human experience. It transports players and audiences through time and space. 

In theatre, creating and performing are so closely related that the assessment will combine creating and performing as the framework below suggests. 

Theatre Assessment Framework 

Arts Processes for Theatre 

Creating/Performing—When creating and performing in theatre, students: 

• Develop scripts and scenarios. 

• Develop characters through an acting process. 

• Make design and technical choices to communicate locale and mood for dramatic 

material for theatre, film, and television. 

• Direct by interpreting dramatic texts and organizing time and people in planning 

and rehearsing improvised and scripted scenes. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

17 
 

Creating/Performing—When creating and performing in theatre, students: 

• Develop scripts and scenarios. 

• Develop characters through an acting process. 

• Make design and technical choices to communicate locale and mood for dramatic 

material for theatre, film, and television. 

• Direct by interpreting dramatic texts and organizing time and people in planning 

and rehearsing improvised and scripted scenes. 

Responding—When perceiving, analyzing, interpreting, critiquing, and judging works in 

theatre, students: 

• Describe and analyze artistic choices in their own work and construct meaning. 

• Describe and compare elements, styles, genre, media, and dramatic literature. 

• Place work in context (personal, social, historical, and cultural). 

• Evaluate performances as audience and critic. 

Based on Specific Content From Theatre 

Knowledge—Students apply knowledge of: Skills—Students apply cognitive, affective, 

and motor skills, including: 

Context: 

• Personal 

• Social 

• Cultural 

• Historical 

Aesthetics 

Form and Structure 

Processes 

Perceptual 

Intellectual/Reflective 

Expressive 

Technical 

Creating and Performing 

Different theatre processes call for different creative processes. All call for imaging, 

conceiving, and generating. In addition, playwriting requires the use of the first three 

processes to create character, story, and dialog. Acting calls for discovering and 

developing emotion and circumstances for a character. Designing calls for discovering, 

developing, and organizing an environment. To direct, students must analyze a script and 

develop an interpretation by organizing the time, place, spaces, and rhythms of a 

production. Creating in filmmaking and television demands the development and 

organization of the elements of theatre as well as the special elements of the medium. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

18 
 

Performing is central to theatre studies. Performing is the evidence of creating; it is the 

process viewed and heard by an audience. Performing is a highly complex collaborative 

activity in which the performer is aware of the audience and responds and adjusts the 

performance accordingly. The ways of learning demanded by performance are equally 

complex, requiring the interplay of all the processes noted in creating. Performing is impossible to assess through any means other than the processes themselves. 

Responding 

Responding refers to students’ reactions both as spectators to other’s work and reflecting 

on their own work. They respond to outside artists and performers and those in their own 

school. They examine artistic choices in ideas, stories, scripts, designs, and actions by 

explaining, describing, clarifying, comparing, and evaluating. They apply their knowledge of the theatre and their analytical skills to determine which elements are successful 

in a performance. However, responding in theatre is more than analysis; it involves emotional and intuitive behaviors as well. Students become responsive audience members of 

theatrical performances, films, and television presentations. They recognize a variety of 

theatrical genres and styles and identify and compare them in theatre, film, and television. They reflect on how theatre creates meaning in their lives and in the lives of others 

now and in the past. Students describe the role and influence of theatre, film, and television in their lives and relate the impact of theatre and television in their locality, in their 

nation, and in the world. 

Knowledge 

Knowledge means knowing about the art of theatre—its historical, cultural, social, and 

personal contexts; its forms and structure; how it creates meaning; and its aesthetic qualities. Students understand the literary, visual, aural, oral, kinesthetic, and psychological 

aspects of a theatrical event. They are able to engage in self-criticism and consider form, 

structure, contexts, and aesthetic responses. 

Skills 

Skills are the abilities associated with the technical, perceptual, and expressive processes 

of theatre. This category includes activities such as creating a text, acting, staging, designing, and articulating a response. Abilities to create, perform, and respond in the theatre are predicated on the application of both knowledge and skills simultaneously. 

VISUAL ARTS 

The visual arts are rightly described in the plural; at their broadest and most interesting, 

they include forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, folk art, and the 

decorative arts. They also embrace new media (film, photography, computer imaging, 

and video) and functional design areas such as architecture, industrial design, and graphic 

design. Under the influence of media, conceptual, and performance arts, the visual arts 

are increasingly about the realization of ideas in formats that are simultaneously visual, 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

19 
 

spatial, and temporal. The visual arts enable students to reflect on what they inherit from 

past and present world cultures. 

In the NAEP Assessment Framework for Arts Education and related documents, the term 

“design” is often used in conjunction with “visual arts” because of an important distinction that has to do with functionality. The framework’s particular use of the term “design” refers to ways of thinking, problem-solving strategies, and criteria for evaluation 

commonly applied by graphic designers, industrial designers, architects, and filmmakers 

in which concern for function and user/audience characteristics are as important as selfexpression and aesthetic dimensions. This distinction adds emphasis to those aspects of 

visual arts that surround us but are often not considered products of legitimate artists. Rather than fragmenting the field, the emphasis can add to a full and robust understanding 

of the effects of visual arts in our everyday life. 

This use of the term “design” should not be confused with the visual composition or organization of elements and “principles of design” in a work of art. In describing this latter 

concept, the document uses the terminology “principles of visual organization.” 

The framework below illustrates the vision for visual arts education. 

Visual Arts Assessment Framework 

Arts Processes for the Visual Arts 

Creating—When creating works of art and design, students define, invent, select, 

represent, create, and reflect: 

• Subjects, themes, problems, and ideas that reflect knowledge and understanding 

of context and values (personal, social, cultural, and historical) and aesthetics. 

• Visual, spatial, and temporal concepts in planning works of art and design. 

• Form, media, techniques, and processes to achieve “goodness of fit” with the 

intended meaning or function. 

• Preliminary or formative ideas (sketches, models, etc.) before final execution. 

• A product that reflects ongoing thoughts, actions, and new directions. 

• Relationships between process and product, personal direction, and application of 

concepts learned to daily life. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

20 
 

Responding—Students describe, analyze, interpret, evaluate, articulate, and apply: 

• Content, form, context, and aesthetics. 

• Relationships between form and context, form and meaning or function, and 

critical/analytical models through understanding of the works of critics, 

historians, aestheticians, and artists and designers. 

• Attitudes and prior knowledge. 

• The development of a personal belief system and world view informed by 

experience in the arts. 

Based on Specific Content From the Visual Arts 

Knowledge—Students apply knowledge of: Skills—Students apply cognitive, affective, 

and motor skills, including: 

Context: 

• Personal 

• Social 

• Cultural 

• Historical 

Aesthetics 

Form and Structure 

Processes 

Perceptual 

Intellectual/Reflective 

Expressive 

Technical 

Creating 

Creating in the visual arts and areas of functional design involves students in the construction and communication of meaning through the making of a tangible object, visible 

performance, or environment. It involves feeling, thinking, and doing. The creative process fully integrates the artist’s intuitive and emotional insights to the world with rational 

thought, critical judgment, and the physical and cognitive abilities required to make appropriate visual form. 

Responding 

Responding in the visual arts and design means interpreting works of art or design done 

by other students, other artists and designers, or the students themselves. Responding is 

an interpretive and evaluative behavior that reveals knowledge of how visual form communicates meaning. It includes the ability to articulate and formulate judgments. Interpretive abilities can be evaluated through oral, written, and visual presentations. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

21 
 

Knowledge and Skills 

Knowledge in the visual arts relates to understanding the meaning of visual form and 

how it is conveyed. For example, students must be able to account for the influence of 

context (personal, social, cultural, and historical) on meaning in both creating and responding to works of art and design. They explore the content of visual form through examinations of subject matter, means of representation, media and processes, visual 

organization, composition, and theoretical frameworks (philosophical or aesthetic constructs) for creating and interpreting the visual arts. In areas of functional design, knowledge of user or audience characteristics is also critical to creating objects and 

environments that work—that is, meet performance criteria. 

Skills in the visual arts relate to understanding how to construct or interpret meaning in 

visual form. Creating skills include gathering information; analyzing and synthesizing 

experience; generating many visual ideas or solutions; selecting from competing ideas, 

media, or processes; planning and organizing the visual execution of ideas; evaluating 

ideas and form; and applying technical proficiency in the making of visual objects. Responding includes many of these skills applied in interpretive contexts. Verbal skills, exhibited in oral and written presentations and the construction of convincing arguments, 

are also relevant. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

22 
 

CHAPTER THREE
 

DESIRED ATTRIBUTES OF THE ASSESSMENT 

Chapter two explained the content of the arts in general and of each art form as it is understood for purposes of the NAEP framework. The assessment will draw on that content 

for tasks or exercises that will take up about 60 minutes of students’ time at grade 4 and 

60 to 90 minutes at grades 8 and 12. The assessment exercises will consist mostly of constructed responses along with some multiple-choice items. The concept of matrix sampling implies that each student who participates in the assessment will do a limited 

number of exercises that contribute a piece of the puzzle. Aggregated together, the pieces 

will form the entire image of what all students know and can do in the arts. 

Some constructed responses will ask students to perform using the language of the art 

form, such as dancing a dance, singing a song, acting out an improvised scene, or drawing a picture for visual arts. Others will employ some short or extended written responses. Typically, assessment exercises will be designed around stimulus materials 

where students will be responding to works of art and producing a work of their own. 

All assessment exercises will be governed by the conditions described in the following 

sections. 

SAMPLE OF STUDENTS 

The sample of students assessed should reflect the general population in order to provide 

data on the achievements of the nation’s students. In addition, at the middle and high 

school levels (and possibly at the elementary level), students who have pursued a specialized area of study, such as instrumental music, should be given the opportunity to demonstrate the extent to which they have mastered that area of study. 

THE AUTHENTICITY OF EXERCISES 

Assessment exercises should be as authentic as time and resources permit. In other 

words, if there are several ways to assess the same area of skill and knowledge, students 

should be asked to perform the exercises that most closely parallel the genuine artistic 

behaviors using the appropriate mode of response. For example, the most appropriate 

way to assess students’ singing ability is to have them sing rather than answer written 

questions about singing. 

Although the exercises will be as authentic as time and resources allow, it is also imperative that a national assessment such as NAEP be standardized. This does not suggest that 

it uses all multiple-choice questions, as the word “standardized” has sometimes come to 

mean. Instead, the exercises must offer the same opportunities and the same challenges, 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

23 
 

and should be available in the same circumstances, for all the students assessed. No comparison of students is possible without standardization. Exercises should be both as faithful as possible to artistic learning and standardized in form, content, and context for a 

large number of students. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ASSESSMENT EXERCISES 

Tasks should be designed to elicit higher order thinking, which may be expressed in 

words but often is best expressed in purely artistic behaviors. Some students whose 

creative achievement is greater than their verbal abilities may score poorly on an arts assessment when asked to articulate their artistic understanding in words. Tasks should 

therefore elicit the response in the most appropriate form for determining actual learning. 

Tasks should be designed to differentiate between students at both the low and high ends 

of the achievement spectrum. At the low end, it must be possible to measure the 

difference between students with no training and those with some training. At the high 

end, the exercises must provide sufficient richness and depth so that exceptionally 

talented students and those who have pursued indepth study can demonstrate the extent 

of their accomplishments. 

FORMS OF STUDENT RESPONSE USED IN EXERCISES 

It is impossible to adequately describe many artistic behaviors in words. Appropriate aural, visual, and kinesthetic responses to student performance must therefore be developed. 

However, some components of the artistic process can be expressed in words. Obviously, 

students’ ability to use appropriate dance, musical, dramatic, or visual arts vocabulary 

can only be assessed by asking students to use that vocabulary. Evaluating products, performances, and compositions often requires speaking or writing. 

EXERCISE FORMATS 

The following issues must be considered carefully: 

•	 Performance exercises should be demanding, rigorous, and authentic. They 

should require students to engage in activities typical of the artistic process. Assessment exercises should actively involve students as both participants and audience members with attention to the integration of the artistic processes—creating, 

performing, and responding. Students’ knowledge of the arts, the skills and techniques they are able to employ, and their understanding of the historical, personal, 

social, and cultural contexts in which the arts exist should be embedded and assessed within the framework of the three processes. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

24 
 

•	 Performance exercises should require students to apply and demonstrate what 

they know and are able to do. These performance exercises will include multiple 

tasks. In theatre, for example, different students might plan, write, develop dialog, 

act, design sets, create dramatic material, interpret, and critique performances and 

productions, and also demonstrate an understanding of the role and influence of 

theatre, film, and electronic media in their lives and in other historical, cultural, 

and social contexts. Open-ended questions, requiring students to respond in 

writing to prompts, should be part of the exercises rather than administered in 

isolation. 

STUDENT RESPONSES 

Student responses will vary from written explanations and analyses to individual performances and group productions, with the latter two dependent on the availability of 

videotape or onsite trained observers. Students will perform exercises in groups and individually. Groups will vary in size depending on the demands of the exercise. 

The guideline for selecting a mode of response should be the authenticity of the task. 

Does it match what is expected of a performer or respondent in that art form? Are the 

students given an opportunity to show that they can critically appraise a complete piece 

of music, an exhibition of drawings, a dance, or a play? 

LENGTH OF PERFORMANCE EXERCISES 

Authenticity should be the guideline for this category. Dancers and musicians must warm 

up; painters and designers must think and brainstorm before producing their work; actors 

must set a scene both physically and mentally. NAEP assessment exercises have traditionally been designed to intrude only minimally on a school’s schedule; however, intrusiveness can be mitigated by the value of the assessment exercises so that the school, the 

teachers, or the students will not resent the time spent on them. 

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE ASSESSMENT 

If arts creation and performance are to be properly assessed, appropriate and adequate 

rooms must be provided. When possible, designated school space (art rooms, music 

rooms, dance studios, or areas suitable for theatre) should be used to provide an authentic 

environment. If such space is not available, multipurpose areas with room to carry out the 

exercises should be used. 

RESOURCES 

Resources will be needed to maintain an authentic environment for assessment. Assessments may use audio and video clips to which students could be asked to respond. They 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

25 
 

may need audio and video capacity (tape recorders and video recorders) if performances 

are to be scored offsite. Paper and pencil, art materials, costumes, storyboard formats, 

and microphones may also be required. 

ATTRIBUTES OF ASSESSMENT FACILITATORS 

Training of facilitators will be important in this NAEP assessment. Facilitators who will 

conduct this assessment in the schools must be sensitive to the creative process and must 

possess some understanding of the arts discipline being assessed. 

In addition, some representatives of the arts disciplines have requested specific attention 

to the attributes of the facilitators. For dance, a substantial part of learning involves understanding and learning movement from live demonstrations. To assess students’ knowledge and skills, they must be placed in an authentic dance situation. Videotape stimulus 

materials may not provide enough three-dimensional information for students to fully 

grasp the movement requested of them. It may be important to have a person with special 

dance training administer the assessment. 

For theatre, an arts-trained facilitator would provide a cooperative, comfortable atmosphere so that students do not feel inhibited or hampered in their efforts to create and 

perform. 

In the visual arts, onsite facilitators should be knowledgeable about students, classrooms, 

and the visual arts. Although the administration of the exercises will strive for the greatest reliability through video, written, photographic, or actual object prompts and stimulus 

presentations, unanticipated situations can best be handled by experienced facilitators. A 

working knowledge of art materials and techniques is desired as well as familiarity with a 

broad approach to art education, including production, critical thinking and writing about 

art, historical and social context of art, and the philosophy of art. 

SPECIAL STUDIES 

The planning and steering committees recommended three special studies to accompany 

the large-scale assessment. 

AN EXPLORATION OF INTERDISCIPLINARY ASSESSMENT 

This study would have two major objectives: (1) to identify interdisciplinary content in 

the arts that could be a suitable target of the assessment and (2) to see how assessments 

of this interdisciplinary content could be planned, developed, and scored. The study 

could have very useful implications for developing assessments that address interdisciplinary connections across disciplines in education and for resolving some problems and 

questions involved in such assessments. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

26 
 

First, three kinds of interdisciplinary work must be defined and considered as suitable for 

the NAEP assessment. Interdisciplinary can mean combining the parts of a single arts 

discipline; for example, combining jazz and classical music or painting and ceramics. 

Interdisciplinary can involve combining disciplines among the arts themselves; for example, the production of a music video, which includes all four arts. Finally, interdisciplinary can mean a combination of the arts and other subjects, such as studying the 

physics of musical sounds or understanding the importance of art in the social structure 

of Colonial America. 

Assessing both the first and third types of interdisciplinary learning requires more resources than we can expect for the NAEP Arts Education Assessment (although in the 

future it might be possible to connect or relate portions of two NAEP assessments; for 

example, the arts and history). We concentrate this special study on the second definition, 

a combination of two or more of the arts disciplines—dance, music, theatre, and visual 

arts. 

The first step of this special study would be to analyze the content of the arts assessment 

(as specified in the framework, content outlines, and standards) to identify those aspects 

of the content that are truly, inherently, and significantly interdisciplinary. It is important 

for interdisciplinary assessments (as well as instruction) to address legitimately interdisciplinary topics or issues. Interdisciplinary activities can be conceived specifically, but 

that must be avoided; we must attend to aspects of learning that are truly and impartially 

interdisciplinary. This first step would identify such topics or issues to determine and describe the kinds of interdisciplinary work that are present, are important, and that must be 

assessed. 

Next, a small number of those topics or issues should be selected and plans should be developed for how to assess them. A premium should be placed on adherence to the intent 

of the topic, issue, or goal. Given its nature, what assessment techniques would be useful 

and appropriate? This will help reveal the kinds of responses that are needed or appropriate to measure these areas, which is the main purpose of the study. For this reason, a 

range of interdisciplinary topics or issues, and their appropriate assessment responses, 

should be explored. 

These plans should then lead to a series of practical trials and considerations. What exercises should be administered? How should they be administered? How should they be 

scored? How should scores be attributed to the structural parts of the assessment? 

An exercise could be as simple as asking students to assess a piece of music for its qualities as music and as stimulus for dance, with sketches of proposed moves for the dance. 

Alternatively, the exercise might be to take a scene from a musical and evaluate the contributions of music, dance (or choreographed motion), acting, scene, and costume design 

to the effect. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

27 
 

Such exercises would elicit information of a different order than that focused on a single 

art form. We would be able to judge how evenly the students’ knowledge was spread 

across the art forms (if that is the objective); whether they could apply knowledge and 

skills across the board; and how they perceived meaning expressed in the facets of the 

scene. 

There is little doubt of the potential need and value of such interdisciplinary exercises. 

Developing and scoring them, however, presents unresolved problems. Is it possible to 

write scoring rubrics that are themselves interdisciplinary, or should we use multiple, 

discipline-specific rubrics? Can we do both, thereby leaving open the option to use one 

exercise as the origin of multiple scores? Can we score interdisciplinary exercises with 

any degree of reliability, once we know what the goal is? Do we need to use raters from 

each of the disciplines involved (i.e., four different raters in the case of the opera 

excerpt)? 

It is fortunate that difficulties do not imply impossibilities. The findings of a special exploratory study on the assessment of interdisciplinary arts learning could yield information about how students understand the interdisciplinary aspects of the arts in real-life 

settings. The findings should also inform interdisciplinary assessment and encourage 

cross-disciplinary teaching. This “connecting” technique could also lead to economical 

uses of assessment resources by providing multiple information from a single stimulus. 

A PORTFOLIO STUDY 

In a sense, portfolio assessment is coming home for arts educators. It is fitting that largescale use of portfolio procedures and principles be tested with the arts. A portfolio is a 

collection of work produced over time and unified by a theme or purpose. For a NAEPlike assessment, the time element causes problems. How are the conditions of collecting 

and maintaining a portfolio to be maintained and, for some period of time, to be standardized sufficiently to allow for valid comparison? 

Nevertheless, portfolios are being used and these problems are being addressed in largescale assessments in writing and mathematics. NAEP, in its writing and reading assessments, is experimenting with portfolios of students’ work. In the arts, the Advanced 

Placement (AP) Studio Art Portfolio Evaluation asks students to submit collections of 

original works that are then assessed holistically by groups of raters. 

One basic form of special study would be a portfolio of drawings or paintings, much like 

the AP Studio Art Portfolio. Size, theme, and deadline specifications would have to be 

determined, and raters would be trained to look for age-appropriate abilities across 

several works as opposed to isolated examples. The key issue for NAEP is how and 

whether portfolio methods can be incorporated as a data collection approach at the 

national level. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

28 
 

Many other kinds of portfolios in the arts are possible; for example, a dancer could record 

the development of a suite of dances, a theatre director could keep a portfolio of developments during the production of a play, or a singer could keep an audiotape portfolio of 

his or her performance. 

The focus of a portfolio special study would be to explore the feasibility of the assessment format for NAEP. Its success would depend on maintaining a delicate balance 

between the demands of a standardized assessment and a student’s need for unhampered 

development of ideas. 

COMPARING ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAMS 

The United States is not without exemplary arts education programs. There are excellent 

high schools for the performing arts and also elementary schools whose entire instructional program is built around the arts. There are also school districts in which all students receive regular, sequential arts education taught by qualified arts educators in 

grades K–12. What qualities do these programs have that may or may not be present in 

other schools or districts? A special study is proposed to examine and compare student 

performance on the NAEP Arts Education Assessment when students are involved in 

programs with these different levels of resources and implementation. 

A special study would select schools and districts that reflect variety in program breadth 

and depth. Students would be given the same assessments as students in matched schools 

that are already part of the national sample. In that way it would be possible to determine 

the effects of special training. Do students know more? Can they apply what they know 

more effectively? By looking at background variables, we will also obtain information 

about the effects of different intensities of arts study. All special studies proposed were 

not conducted due to budget constraints. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

Background information requested at the time of the assessment will be essential to understanding the results of the national assessment. The planning committee has prepared 

a set of general and specific questions to help profile the school’s educational environment and culture. Questions will be asked about instructional content, instructional practices and experiences, teacher characteristics, school conditions and context, conditions 

beyond school, and reporting groups. Typically, NAEP uses three questionnaires: one for 

the student, one for the teacher, and one for the principal. 

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES TO STUDENTS 

These responsibilities include ensuring the physical safety of students—for example, not 

asking them to perform dance movements before being properly warmed up or to undertake theatrical improvisations involving potentially dangerous props or scenery. Ethical 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

29 
 

responsibility also means respecting the ethnic and cultural sensibilities of students by 

choosing topics for assessments that would not be construed as insulting or biased against 

any ethnic, racial, religious, geographic, or cultural group. 

The assessment must be sensitive to students’ privacy and not ask them to reveal personal 

information. The assessment should provide guidelines for the protection of any student 

videotapes or audiotapes. 

ISSUES AND STRATEGIES SPECIFIC TO EACH ART FORM 

In addition to this framework, the NAEP arts project has developed a series of documents 

that recommend design parameters to the Governing Board. As discussed in the introduction, this framework is intended to be a broad description of the proposed NAEP Arts 

Education Assessment, much like an artist’s color rendering of a new building helps the 

casual observer visualize the end product. 

Similarly, the specifications document is similar to specific blueprints or working drawings for the test development contractor. This higher level of specificity and clarity was 

needed to construct the assessment in the second phase of the project in 1994. Thus, the 

following descriptions are broad suggestions about what the assessment looks like in the 

various arts areas. Practitioners seeking more specific and detailed prescriptions as a 

guide in building their own assessments should refer to the specifications document. 

DANCE 

Standardized assessment of dance provides a unique challenge. First, the art form itself is 

temporal; it leaves few lasting traces and no permanent objects to assess. Second, evidence of learning in dance can be particularly difficult to separate from innate ability because all children are constantly developing and practicing their instrument—the body. 

Because the child’s body is both an instrument of creating in dance and an everyday 

functional body, a dance assessment must be careful to distinguish between growth and 

learning that is the result of dance training and that which comes from another source. 

Typical physical activities such as sports, self-directed movement improvisation, playing, 

and watching and imitating are sources of dancelike behavior that are distinct from formal education in creative movement. 

Repertoire 

Dance has no universally accepted pedagogies or methods for dance education. Because 

so little dance instruction exists in schools, the assessment must be extremely careful to 

avoid limiting the exercises to a narrow range of styles. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

30 
 

Use of Videotape 

There are two possible applications of video technology in dance. First, videotape may be 

a reliable and cost-effective means of recording student responses. Second, videotape 

may be a way to provide a stimulus for the response. However, the use of video presents 

problems that must be addressed. In the collection of data: 

•	 The presence of the camera may change student responses. 

•	 Subtlety and nuance of behavior may be lost in the translation from three to two 

dimensions. 

•	 It is difficult to position video cameras properly to see and record every student 

during the entire exercise. 

As a stimulus for student response, video prompts must be of good quality and the playback equipment must project an image that can be seen clearly by the students. If slides 

or color reproductions of various dance styles can be used, they would likewise need to 

be of appropriate size to allow individual examination. 

Space 

The dance assessment will require a quiet space for watching and responding to videotapes and a gym or other spacious, well-lighted room free of obstructions for the movement exercises. 

Time 

A substantial period of time is needed to extract a meaningful sample of what students 

know and can do. Two types of assessment exercises combine to present an appropriate 

overview of dance: performance exercise and open-ended, paper-and-pencil tests. A test 

time of 60 minutes for grade 4 and 90 minutes for grades 8 and 12 is preferred. The test 

could combine one performance exercise for creating/performing with open-ended verbal 

or response exercises for responding. 

Class Design 

To put students at ease, the size of the group for movement activities should be no fewer 

than 4 students and no more than 12. Each student should have adequate space to fully 

perform the exercises. The arrangement of students should be changed frequently to allow everyone to be observed and to assess student performance independently. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

31 
 

MUSIC 

Repertoire 

Assessments in music should include activities that give the students opportunities to perform, compose, explain, and express their responses to music. Assessing students’ ability 

to create, perform, and respond to music requires making choices about which music to 

use. Singing, playing, and listening are processes that necessarily involve repertoire. One 

of the great challenges to the developers of a national assessment is to select appropriate 

repertoire. 

There is no “canon,” or universal body of musical literature, studied by all students in the 

United States. Developers of NAEP, therefore, cannot assume that all students have studied particular musical works. Examples used in the assessment must be drawn from the 

rich musical diversity of the United States and the world. 

Because students do not have a common singing or playing repertoire, they must either 

learn a work during the assessment through sight-reading and/or rote imitation or they 

must be allowed to perform a work they already know. 

Stimulus Materials 

Stimuli for music exercises will be both aural and visual. These stimuli should be provided through videotapes, audiotapes, notated music, and other visual formats. 

Sources for stimuli include: 

•	 High-quality recordings of the suggested repertoire, including commercial 

recordings of a variety of music from across America and around the world, and 

recordings and notated examples in standard general music text series. 

•	 Visual materials, including still images and video recordings. 

•	 Specially recorded examples for the assessment. 

•	 Collections of notated repertoire for performance and selective music lists developed by professional music educators. 

THEATRE 

Like dance, theatre is temporal, and the acts of creation and performance are central to 

any assessment in theatre. Therefore, ways must be found either to rate student responses 

as they occur or to record students’ acts of creating and performing so they can be rated 

fairly later. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

32 
 

Videotaping 

To adequately assess the creating and performing exercises, students will need to be videotaped under the best conditions possible. There must be enough light so that all actions and facial expressions can be captured by the camera. Microphones must be placed 

in ways to pick up all of the sounds. Because many schools do not have complete stages 

or auditoriums, the space required for the exercises should be large and open so students 

can move unhampered by furniture or architectural barriers. Unless the quality of the information and data collected can be otherwise assured, raters with theatre education expertise will have to be onsite. 

Facilitators 

The assessment facilitators must provide a cooperative, comfortable atmosphere so that 

students do not feel inhibited or hampered in their efforts to create and perform. This can 

best be done by a theatre educator. At the same time, due to the nature of the assessment 

and the need for reliability, facilitators may not coach the students. 

Group Work 

Because theatre is a collaborative art form, many of the creating and performing exercises should be done by groups of students. The size of the group will vary depending on 

the specific exercise. 

Stimulus Materials 

The choice of stimulus material is especially sensitive in theatre. Some exercises need to 

be culturally neutral so that student responses are not restricted by unfamiliarity with a 

particular style or period of theatre. On the other hand, it will be important to provide 

some scripts or videos of scenes that are from easily recognizable works. 

Electronic Media 

In this century, live theatre has been transformed to reach broader audiences through film 

and television productions. Any assessment in theatre should include a strong film and 

electronic media component, recognizing that there are significant differences among live 

theatre, film, and electronic media. The assessment exercises in this area should involve 

students in both the similarities and the differences. 

VISUAL ARTS 

It is important for the physical design of the assessment to reflect the creative process and 

the nature of the exercises that students are asked to perform. For example, art and design 

activities should encourage students to study the train of thinking (as revealed in notes 

and sketches) for insight, which may alter the direction of their creative solution. If the 

test design does not foster such a review, it is not authentic. A test form that allows students to keep the whole process in view is better than a booklet format in which previous 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

33 
 

responses are covered by turning the page. Likewise, formats must allow for sufficient 

drawing space to encourage detail. In addition, careful decisions must be made regarding 

the proportions of the space in which students will draw or paint, the diagrams or visuals 

chosen to encourage thinking, and the design of typographic prompts that move students 

through the activity. 

Because art and design activities carried out in the classroom rely heavily on discussion 

with teachers, the assessment itself must encourage students in the absence of teachers. 

The infusion of prompt questions, visuals, and videotaped demonstrations may simulate 

the role of the teacher in arts instruction. They also could encourage the redesign of solutions by staging the introduction of new concepts throughout the design process, thus assessing students’ abilities to analyze and evaluate during the creative process. 

Assessment exercises for the visual arts can emanate from many sources, such as the 

work of art or design, a problem/theme/issue, cultural/historical contexts, and artists’ 

self-expression. Although exercises may begin their focus from one of these orientations, 

all four approaches can assess the same content (subject matter, form, content, media and 

processes, criticism, and aesthetics). Some approaches will be more effective than others 

for certain age groups. 

If technically feasible, some of the exercises should be designed as sequential, interconnected units that cross grade levels, with some units displaying levels of complexity appropriate for more advanced students. Exercises should include a mix and a balance of 

creating and responding experiences that engage a wide variety of knowledge and skills 

in studio production, art criticism, art history, and aesthetics. Exercise content should be 

sensitive to equitable representation both in production (i.e., two- and three-dimensional 

work, conventional and nonconventional or inventive media) and in style or context (i.e., 

classical and folk art of all cultures, gender-equitable selections). 

Inferring Understanding From Student Responses in the Visual Arts 

Students complete exercises that require a range of intellectual, technical, perceptual, and 

expressive skills. The analysis of the evidence that results from the performance of those 

skills (i.e., art works, journals, critical writing, process review) enables experts in the 

field to make inferences about the students’ mastery and understanding of the visual arts. 

The content may include personal, social, cultural, historical, and aesthetic contexts; art 

forms and structures; and critical and creative art processes. Because the nature of how 

the data are gathered will be a departure from past NAEP approaches, the validity of 

these inferences is a central issue in assessment. The richness of the data is extremely 

important for an accurate characterization of learning in the visual arts. 

Time 

Art is a process during which many different kinds of sophisticated and complex perceptual, expressive, creative, and technical actions take place. The student needs time to 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

34 
 

work through these processes. The idea of small-, medium-, and large-sized assessment 

blocks works well for the processing needs of visual arts and design. 

Raters or Scorers 

Scorers will need more advanced levels of experience and understanding than facilitators. 

They need to be aware of and have experience in the subtle visual and contextual discrimination necessary to rate a creating or responding product. Substantial training in and 

experience with scoring of portfolio-type process materials are essential. 

DESIRED EMPHASIS FOR EACH ARTS AREA 

Following are recommendations concerning the grade-level distribution of the assessment exercises across the three artistic processes for each arts discipline. The distribution 

of exercises across the artistic processes will be described in terms of “proportion of the 

exercise pool,” but such proportions are not intended to refer simply to the proportions of 

the total number of exercises in a given category. Simple proportions of exercises are 

problematic because single exercises may vary widely in the amount of time they require 

and the amount of information they yield (especially across, but also within, formats). In 

this document, specifications of “proportion of the exercise pool” correspond to proportion of total student time at a particular grade level that would be required if the entire 

grade-level pool could be administered to a single individual, tempered by the understanding that the statistical efficiency of different exercise formats may vary. It should 

not be taken to refer strictly to numbers of exercises in different categories. 

DANCE 

Dance is first and foremost a physical art form. The assessment of dance education 

should include a distribution of content that reflects a major emphasis on dance at all 

grade levels. At grade 4, creating receives more emphasis than performing and responding. The proportion of student time spent on creating at grade 8 should be less than at 

grades 4 and 12 because middle school students have special needs in overcoming “being 

alike” rather than “being original.” At grade 12, responding receives increased emphasis 

over creating and performing. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

35 
 

Recommended Percentages for Dance 

Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12 

Creating 40% 20% 30% 

Performing 30% 40% 30% 

Responding 30% 40% 40% 

When computing total scores for the dance assessment, the relative weights for creating, performing, and 

responding should reflect the proportion of time spent on each process at each grade level. 

MUSIC 

The nature of music requires a unique allocation of assessment priorities. Some parts of 

the musical process require more time to complete than others. Creating a composition 

may take months or years, but listening and responding to the composition may require 

only minutes. 

Most music students at the fourth-grade level spend more time on performance, such as 

singing and playing instruments. Older students spend more time in responding activities, 

such as analyzing and critiquing. The National Standards establish the expectation that 

musically educated individuals should create (improvise, compose, and arrange) music. 

All students should spend a substantial percentage of their instructional time engaging in 

creating activities. The recommended percentages for the three processes in this assessment are as follows: 

Recommended Percentages for Music 

Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12 

Creating 20–30% 20–30% 20–30% 

Performing 40–50% 35–45% 30–40% 

Responding 25–35% 30–40% 35–45% 

When computing total scores for the music assessment, the relative weights for creating, performing, and 

responding should reflect the proportion of time spent on each process at each grade level (for example, at 

grade 4, 25% for creating, 45% for performing, and 30% for responding; at grade 8, 25% for creating, 40% 

for performing, and 35% for responding; at grade 12, 25% for creating, 35% for performing, and 40% for 

responding). 

THEATRE 

At grade 4, the emphasis in theatre curriculum is on students doing, not on their responding skills, recognizing that some analysis is required when creating and performing. For 

this reason, it is recommended that the assessment emphasis in fourth grade be weighted 

so that 70 percent of the subscores are collected in the area of creating and performing, 

with 30 percent collected in responding. To achieve this weighting, it is estimated that 70 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

36 
 

percent of the student assessment time will need to be focused on creating and performing, with 30 percent devoted to responding exercises. 

At grades 8 and 12, it is recommended that 60 percent of subscores be collected in creating and performing, with 40 percent collected in responding. To achieve this emphasis, it 

is estimated that 60 percent of student assessment time be devoted to creating and performing, with 40 percent allocated to responding. It is further recommended that responding exercises include an evaluation of students’ reactions as practitioners as well as 

critics. In this way, the assessment will reflect the collaborative nature of theatre. 

Recommended Percentages for Theatre 

Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12 

Creating/Performing 70% 60% 60% 

Responding 30% 40% 40% 

When computing total scores for the theatre assessment, the relative weights for creating/performing and 

responding should reflect the proportion of time spent on each process at each grade level. 

VISUAL ARTS 

At all three grade levels, students should spend a greater proportion of time working on 

creating exercises (50–70 percent) than on responding exercises (30–50 percent): 

Recommended Percentages for Visual Arts 

Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12 

Creating 50–70% 50–70% 50–70% 

Responding 30–50% 30–50% 30–50% 

When computing total scores for the visual arts assessment, creating and responding should be equally 

weighted at each grade level (for example, at grades 4, 8, and 12, 50% for creating and 50% for 

responding). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

37 
 

CHAPTER FOUR
 

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS 

The attention now turns from the design of the assessment and its exercises to interpreting the results. For the information to be useful as a basis for policy decisions, it is important to report how many students achieve at certain levels. Governing Board policy 

defines three levels of achievement—basic, proficient, and advanced—to be used in reporting the results of the NAEP Arts Education Assessment at grades 4, 8, and 12. These 

achievement levels describe how well students should perform on the assessment. 

According to NAEP, Basic denotes partial mastery of the content but performance that is 

only adequate for work at the three grade levels. Proficient represents solid academic 

achievement and competency over challenging subject matter. Advanced performance 

on this assessment represents achievement that is equal to that expected of top students. 

Because the assessment is based on the new National Standards, which sets high expectations for student learning, the results will describe the range of scores from the lowest 

level, proceeding through (or beyond) the areas of expected achievement. The NAEP 

proficient level is set as the target for students and represents the achievement levels described in the National Standards. The planning committee recognizes that due to inadequate opportunities for arts study in many schools, a number of students may score below 

the basic level. Although this may be cause for concern, it will also demonstrate the deficiencies in arts education instruction or indicate where additional study opportunities 

must be provided if all students are expected to achieve the world-class standards. 

These preliminary achievement level descriptions will be used by the test development 

panel to guide test and item construction. This will ensure that exercises in the Arts Education Assessment will provide information on the various types of knowledge and skills 

included in the achievement level descriptions for each grade level. After the assessment 

is field tested, refined, and administered to the national sample of students, the preliminary achievement level descriptions will inform the final achievement level-setting process. In this stage, panelists examine the assessment exercises and the student performance 

data to recommend to the Governing Board the achievement levels to be used in reporting the NAEP arts education results. 

The achievement levels portrayed here in the NAEP framework are general in nature and 

only describe the broad expectations. They are framed by the three major arts education 

processes—creating, performing, and responding—and are set at the three grade levels 

examined. For additional detail in each of the four arts areas at grades 4, 8, and 12, refer 

to the specifications document. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

39 
 NAEP2008 ARTS 

FRAMEWORK 

40 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Dance 

NAEP uses the following descriptors as expectations for student achievement: 

• Basic denotes partial mastery of the content but performance that is only adequate for work at the three grade levels. 

• Proficient represents solid academic achievement and competency over challenging subject matter, as suggested in the NationEducation. • Advanced performance on this assessment represents achievement that is equal to that expected of top students. 

Grade 4 

Dance Process Fourth-grade students at the basic level in dance: Fourth-grade students at the proficient level in dance: Fourth-grade 

Creating 

• Stop after finding a single solution to a movement 

challenge and rely on imitation of others rather than generating their own ideas. 

• Find multiple ways to solve a movement challenge 

but may rely on only one movement element. 

• Find mult

challenge elements 

• Create a movement sequence that has a clear 

beginning, middle, and end but may be unable to repeat it accurately. 

• Create a movement sequence that has a clear 

beginning, middle, and end and make effective use of time, space, and force; accurately repeat it. 

• Create, r

clear beguse of timan idea. 

• Participate as observers or performers but will not 

offer any ideas to the group or partner in the process of creating a movement sequence. 

• Contribute and work cooperatively with a partner or a 

group of students in creating a movement sequence. 

• Contribut

or group dance thaidea. 

Performing 

• Accurately reproduce and perform locomotor and 

nonlocomotor movement. 

• Accurately reproduce and perform locomotor and 

nonlocomotor movement using time, space, and force. 

• Accurate

nonlocomforce; pebody. 

• Have difficulty maintaining balance, isolating various 

body parts, and controlling their movement while performing basic movement sequences. 

• Maintain balance and alignment, and control all of the 

body parts while performing basic movement sequences. 

• Maintain 

movemeflexibility, 

• Perform without commitment or expressive qualities. • Perform movement phrases with full physical 

commitment. 

• Perform 

through bmovemen

Responding 

• Discuss dance using general vocabulary. • Recognize and label some movement elements. • Use appr

movemen

• Speculate about the culture and/or time period of a 

dance. 

• Accurately place a dance in a culture and time 

period. 

• Accurate

cultures a

• Give personal opinions about a dance, offering no 

supportive rationale. 

• Give personal opinions about a dance, providing 

supporting rationale. 

• Give pers

supportivof the daquality of elements set). 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Dance 

Grade 8 

Dance Process Eighth-grade students at the basic level in dance: Eighth-grade students at the proficient level in dance: Eighth-grade 

Creating 

• Stop after finding a single solution to a movement 

challenge and rely on imitation of others rather than generating their own ideas. 

• Find multiple ways to solve a brief movement 

challenge. 

• Find mult

challengeand artic

• Create and accurately repeat a movement sequence 

that demonstrates a clear beginning, middle, and end. 

• Create, repeat, and perform dance that 

demonstrates effective use of time, space, force, body shapes, dynamics, and rhythm; has a beginning, middle, and end. 

• Create, r

demonstbody shabeginningpersonal 

• Participate as observers or performers but will not 

offer any ideas to the group or partner. 

• Contribute and work cooperatively with a partner or a 

group of students in creating a movement sequence. 

• Contribut

or group successf

Performing 

• Perform locomotor and nonlocomotor movements 

using accurate time, space, and force in a variety of ways. 

• Accurately demonstrate basic dance steps, 

positions, and patterns from a variety of dance styles and traditions. 

• Accurate

and tradi

• Have difficulty maintaining proper alignment of the 

body and lack clarity in movement while performing basic movement sequences. 

• Maintain body alignment while performing basic 

movement sequences; possess strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination. 

• Maintain 

form whilpossess coordinat

• Perform without commitment or expressive qualities. • Perform dance sequences, communicating 

expressively through both literal and abstract gesture and movement. 

• Perform 

and abstcommun

Responding 

• Label some elements of dance using general 

vocabulary. 

• Use appropriate dance vocabulary to describe 

movement elements and choreographic principles viewed in a dance. 

• Use appr

and analyelements variety of 

• Speculate about the culture and/or time period of a 

dance. 

• Accurately describe dances from a variety of cultures 

and time periods. 

• Explain h

society p

• Give opinions about a dance, offering some 

supporting rationale. 

• Give opinions with supporting rationale about works 

of dance; identify individual elements of the dance, including but not limited to the quality of the dancers’ and production elements (for example, sound, costumes, lighting, set). 

• Give opin

dances; mcontent, 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

41 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Dance 

Grade 12 

Dance Process Twelfth-grade students at the basic level in dance: Twelfth-grade students at the proficient level in dance: Twelfth-grad

• Stop after finding a single solution to a brief 

movement challenge and rely on imitation of others rather than generating their own ideas. 

• Use improvisation to find multiple ways to solve a 

brief movement challenge, choosing the most effective solution and articulating reasons for the selection. 

• Select an

material t

• Create and accurately repeat a dance that • Create, repeat, and perform dance that demonstrates • Create, r

Creating 

demonstrates a clear beginning, middle, and end. effective use of time, space, force, body shapes, 

dynamics, and rhythm; has a beginning, middle, and end; and deals with an issue of personal significance. 

demonstbody shabeginningchoreogrvariation, a contem

• Participate as observers or performers but will not 

offer ideas to the group or to partners in the process of creating a movement sequence. 

• Contribute and work cooperatively with partners or a 

group of students in the process of creating a movement sequence. 

• Contribut

a group odance thidea. 

Performing 

• Accurately recall and perform movement sequences 

using time, space, and force. 

• Accurately recall and perform dances from a variety 

of dance styles and traditions; demonstrate time, space, and force; perform accurate dance steps, positions, and patterns from a variety of dance styles and traditions. 

• Accurate

dance styspace, anpositionsusing the commitm

• Have difficulty maintaining proper alignment of the 

body and lack clarity in movement while performing basic movement sequences. 

• Maintain body alignment appropriate to the dance 

form while performing complex movement sequences. 

• Maintain 

form, demthe body sequenceperforma

• Perform a dance without commitment or expressive 

qualities. 

• Perform a dance expressively through both literal and 

abstract gesture and movement to communicate an idea. 

• Perform 

and abstcommuncommun

Responding 

• Use appropriate dance vocabulary to describe 

movement elements and choreographic principles viewed in a dance. 

• Use appropriate dance vocabulary to describe and 

analyze the use and effect of movement elements and choreographic principles viewed in a variety of dances. 

• Use appr

analyze, choreogrelements commun

• Identify the cultural context and historical period of 

various dances. 

• Explain how a dance reflects and impacts a society 

politically, culturally, and socially. 

• Compare 

dances rculturallyinformatiperforma

• Give opinions with supporting rationale about works 

of dance; identify individual elements of the dance, including but not limited to the quality of performance and production elements (for example, sound, costumes, lighting, set). 

• Give opinions with supporting rationale about works 

of dance; make critical judgments about the form, content, and meaning of dance. 

• Give opin

works of make anform, conreferencemeaning 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

42 
 NAEP2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

43 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Music 

NAEP uses the following descriptions as expectations for student achievement: 

• Basic denotes partial mastery of the content but performance that is only adequate for work at the three grade levels. 

• Proficient represents solid academic achievement and competency over challenging subject matter, as suggested in the NationEducation. • Advanced performance on this assessment represents achievement that is equal to that expected of top students. 

Grade 4 

Musical Process Fourth-grade students at the basic level in music: Fourth-grade students at the proficient level in music: Fourth-grade Creating 

• Compose short pieces that are inconsistent in the 

manipulation of dimensions such as instrumentation, form, loudness, tempo, meter, tonality, and mood. 

• Compose short pieces or accompaniments that are 

consistent* in the manipulation of dimensions such as instrumentation, form, loudness, tempo, meter, tonality, and mood. 

• Compose 

and may creating o

• Improvise repetitious “answers” to given rhythmic 

and melodic phrases, demonstrate little understanding of style and form when creating simple melodic or rhythmic accompaniments or embellishments. 

• Improvise varied “answers” to given rhythmic and 

melodic phrases and create simple melodic or rhythmic ostinato accompaniments or embellishments on familiar melodies using appropriate matching styles and forms. 

• Improvise 

melodic pusing mahigh levebeyond t

• Sing in unison with others but have difficulty singing 

independently. The performance may contain inaccurate pitches and rhythms or may lack expression. 

• Sing independently and can sing partner songs, 

rounds, and ostinatos as a member of an ensemble, responding appropriately to the cues of a conductor. The performance is technically accurate (correct pitches and rhythms) and expressive (attention to dynamics, phrasing, and style). 

• Sing inde

in an ensaccurate be able to be able to expressivAdvanceof more ttone quain a roun

• Play easy, rhythmic, melodic, and chordal patterns • Play easy, rhythmic, melodic, and chordal patterns • Play an in

on classroom instruments such as the recorder, on classroom instruments such as the recorder, expressioxylophone, keyboard, or autoharp. The performance xylophone, keyboard, or autoharp. The performance that perfo

Performing may be inconsistent, containing technical and is technically accurate (correct pitches and rhythms) ensemble 

expressive inaccuracies. Basic students may have and expressive (attention to phrasing and dynamic). independdifficulty keeping up with an ensemble. Proficient students should be able to play 

independently and in unison with others as members of an ensemble. 

ensembleproductiodemands 

• Read notation with difficulty and require practice to 

produce a performance that may contain technical and expressive inaccuracies. 

• Read notation sufficiently to perform simple melodic 

or rhythmic phrases accurately after practice. The repertoire difficulty is at the level recommended by the National Standards and should include whole, 

half, quarter, and eighth notes; corresponding rests; and pitch notation in the treble clef. Proficient students should be familiar with basic symbols for dynamics, meter, tempo, and articulation, and expressive symbols (for example, p, f, cresc.). 

• Read not

rhythmic of the repby the Naindicates meter, tesymbols 

* For the purpose of this assessment, the term “consistent” has been chosen to define the quality of a created work. Consistency is the logical use rhythm, form, timbre, dynamics, and other expressive qualities) to achieve style and balance. 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Music 

Grade 4 (continued) 

Musical Process Fourth-grade students at the basic level in music: Fourth-grade students at the proficient level in music: Fourth-grade 

Responding 

• When listening to music, recognize when music 

changes from one section to another, but may not be able to identify simple forms. Basic students may be able to identify various genres of Western music as being the same or different, but lack sufficient knowledge of musical terminology to support responses; distinguish being non-Western music from Western music without being able to make distinctions about geographical origins; and recognize a limited number of musical instruments by sight, sound, and name. 

• When listening to music, identify elements and 

simple forms through movement and verbal response (for example, ABA and call and response); identify various genres of Western music and have sufficient know- ledge of musical terminology to support responses; identify non-Western music and make distinctions about geographical origins; recognize voices and most band and orchestra instruments by sight, sound, and name; and recognize instruments that are unique to folk, popular, and non-Western styles. 

• When lis

extended variationssuch as cWestern of musicaidentify nrecognizesymphonsome insnon- Westo defend understa

• Evaluate the quality of a performance or composition 

with limited insight and by using general, nonmusical terminology. 

• Accurately evaluate the quality of a performance or 

composition and use appropriate musical terminology to support a response. 

• Accurate

or performterminoloown perfevaluatio

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

44 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Music 

Grade 8 

Musical Process Eighth-grade students at the basic level in music: Eighth-grade students at the proficient level in music: Eighth-grade 

Creating 

• Compose short pieces (melodies, rhythms, or 

accompaniments) that are inconsistent in the use of musical elements. 

• Compose short pieces (melodies, rhythms, or 

accompaniments) that are consistent in the use of musical elements to achieve unity, variety, tension/release, and balance. Proficient students can use traditional (acoustic instruments, voice) or nontraditional (synthesized sounds, MIDI) sound sources. The composition may be recorded using traditional or nontraditional methods or notation (analog recording, digital sequencing, conventional notation, or notation created for the piece). 

• Compose 

consistencreative usources aideas frorefine wo

• Improvise (vocally or instrumentally) with uncertainty • Improvise (vocally or instrumentally) melodic or • Improvise 

short melodies or rhythms that are inconsistent with rhythmic variations or simple harmonic melodies

the style and guidelines given for the task. accompaniments that are consistent with the style of 

music being used for the task. 

styles; deand creatask and 

Performing 

• Sing independently, but the performance may 

contain inaccurate pitches and rhythms or lack expression. (At the basic level, the young male whose voice is changing may be able to sing cambiata parts written for a narrow range, but a general lack of understanding about his own voice causes technical errors (for example, attempts at matching pitch may result in one- or two-octave leaps)). 

• Sing independently and can sustain a part in an 

ensemble section. The performance is technically accurate and expressive. Repertoire difficulty is at the level recommended by the National Standards and includes two- and three-part ensemble singing. (At the proficient level, the young male whose voice is changing should be able to sing songs or cambiata parts written specifically for his range.) 

• Sing inde

ensembleaccurate be able tlevel recouse a tonfocused wchamber with a ranan expreperformaadvanced process obreath anaccidentsmake adjoctaves ohe can chimself.) 

• Play an instrument as a soloist, accompanist, and/or • Play an instrument with technical accuracy and • Play an i

member of an ensemble. The performance is expression as a soloist, accompanist, and/or member soloist, ainconsistent, containing technical and expressive of an ensemble. Repertoire difficulty is at the level ensemble inaccuracies, and the repertoire difficulty is below the recommended by the National Standards. performalevel recommended by the National Standards. correct. R

recommerequiring productiolevel of p

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

45 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Music 

Grade 8 (continued) 

Musical Process Eighth-grade students at the basic level in music: Eighth-grade students at the proficient level in music: Eighth-grade Responding 

• Read notation with difficulty and require practice to 

be able to perform simple melodies or rhythms that may contain technical and expressive inaccuracies. 

• Read notation sufficiently to perform simple melodies 

or rhythms accurately after practice. The repertoire is at the level recommended by the National Standards and should include whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted notes; corresponding rests; and pitch notation in both treble and bass clef. Proficient students should be familiar with basic symbols for dynamics, meter, tempo, and articulation, and expressive symbols (for example, p, f, cresc.) and should be able to use standard notation to record musical ideas. 

• Read not

to be ablread muspractice trecommeStudents notation. 

• When listening to music, can identify simple forms 

(for example, ABA and rondo) and can identify some 

Western music by historical periods and genre, but have insufficient knowledge of musical terminology to discuss style. Basic students can identify some styles of folk, popular, and non-Western music; make “same” and “different” distinctions about the geographic origins of non-Western music; and recognize and name some instruments used in Western and non-Western music. 

• When listening to music, can identify and discuss 

commonly used musical forms (for example, theme and variations, fugues) and can identify some Western music by historical periods with sufficient knowledge of musical terminology to support responses. Proficient students identify and describe stylistic elements heard in folk, popular, and nonWestern music; identify some non-Western music by country; recognize most instruments of the band and orchestra; and identify other instruments unique to folk, popular, and non-Western styles. 

• When list

and cont(for exampredict celengths owell as ghave a wfor discusstyles of contempodescribe of folk, poclassify sgenre; reband and unique to 

• Evaluate compositions or performances with limited 

insight or use of musical vocabulary. Basic students can identify technical problems in performances, but responses are limited to common musical terms (for example, fast, slow, loud, soft). 

• Evaluate the quality of compositions or performances 

and use a basic musical vocabulary to defend response, use self-evaluation to improve successive performances. 

• Can com

compositmusical texpressivrelationshperformeanalysis successiv

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

46 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Music 

Grade 12 

Musical Process Twelfth-grade students at the basic level in music: Twelfth-grade students at the proficient level in music: Twelfth-grad

Creating 

• Compose original pieces, but the results are 

fragmented and lack unity. Basic students can compose only for media close to their own performing instrument or voice. 

• Compose original pieces that are consistent in the 

use of musical elements using traditional or nontraditional media and/or notation, arrange simple pieces with or without accompaniment based on knowledge of vocal and/or instrumental ranges and style, demonstrate creative use of expressive elements. 

• Compose 

creativitytechnical selecting able to oor arrang

• Improvise (vocally or instrumentally) melodies or 

rhythms within limited sets of pitches, rhythms, and styles. 

• Improvise original pieces, variations, and harmonic 

accompaniments that are consistent with the style used for the task. 

• Improvise 

of styles; with a higconfidenc

• Sing independently, but the performance may be 

technically or expressively inconsistent. 

• Sing independently and can sustain their own part in 

an ensemble section. The performance is technically accurate and expressive. Repertoire difficulty is at the level recommended by the National Standards and includes four-part harmony with or without accompaniment. 

• Sing inde

a chambperformaaccurate should be difficulty 

Standardstrong, v

• Play an instrument as a soloist, accompanist, and/or • Play an instrument with technical accuracy as a • Play an i

member of an ensemble. The performance may be soloist, accompanist, and/or member of an ensemble soloist, ainconsistent, containing technical and expressive (including chamber ensemble). Performances are ensemble inaccuracies, and the repertoire difficulty may be expressive and stylistically correct. Repertoire Advance

Performing below the level recommended by the National Standards. difficulty is at the level recommended by the National Standards and includes four-part harmony with or 

without accompaniment. 

expressioaccuratelevel of dStandard

• Read notation sufficiently to perform easy selections • Sight-read music accurately and expressively at the • Read not

somewhat accurately after practice and describe how level of difficulty recommended by the National accuratemusical elements are used in a given score of one or Standards. Proficient students read notation stylistic qtwo staves, use standard notation to read simple sufficiently to describe how the elements of music are read musmelodies and rhythms. used in a given score of up to four staves. Students 

use standard notation to record musical ideas. 

the Natiovocal scoelements notation tnonstandcompose

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

47 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Music 

Grade 12 (continued) 

Musical Process Twelfth-grade students at the basic level in music: Twelfth-grade students at the proficient level in music: Twelfth-grad

Responding 

• When listening to music, can identify musical forms 

(for example, theme and variations, symphony), can identify some Western music by historical periods, and have some knowledge of musical terminology to support responses. Basic students can identify some styles of folk, popular, and non-Western music, making some distinctions about the geographical origins of non-Western examples, and can recognize most instruments of the symphony orchestra. Basic students may be able to identify other instruments unique to Western, folk, popular, and non-Western styles. 

• When listening to music, can identify and discuss 

elements of extended musical forms (for example, concerto, opera), can identify Western music by historical periods and have sufficient knowledge of musical terminology to support responses, can accurately predict styles or genres of unfamiliar music. Proficient students are able to describe stylistic elements heard in folk, popular, and nonWestern music; identify some non-Western music by country; recognize instruments of the band and orchestra; and identify many other instruments unique to folk, popular, and non-Western styles. Students can discuss acoustical characteristics of different classes of instruments. 

• When lis

and cont(for examan extendiscussinqualities music, fromake precomposefirst timeelements and non-Western know one able to reof the syof instrumWestern characteas well acan evalucan explacompose

• Evaluate compositions or performances and use a 

basic musical vocabulary. Basic students can evaluate technical aspects of performances, but may lack sufficient knowledge to judge stylistic qualities. 

• Compare and contrast the quality of compositions or 

performances, use a basic musical vocabulary to describe the elements of music (pitch, rhythm, tempo, instrumentation, ensemble). Proficient students use a process of self-evaluation to improve successive performances. 

• Compare 

and perfodescribe music anbeing plaperformaanalysis performa

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

48 
 NAEP2008 ARTS 

FRAMEWORK 

49 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Theater 

NAEP uses the following descriptions as expectations for student achievement: 

• Basic denotes partial mastery of the content but performance that is only adequate for work at the three grade levels. 

• Proficient represents solid academic achievement and competency over challenging subject matter, as suggested in the NationEducation. • Advanced performance on this assessment represents achievement that is equal to that expected of top students. 

At the fourth grade, students are not as willing to “fall into dramatic play” as they are up to age 8. Students need to be motivated and challenged to participate. They 

adult problems and often insist on bringing realistic details to their work. They prefer to work in groups of their own gender. Most performance work at this level is 

are making critical and creative choices in all aspects of the creating and performing processes. 

Grade 4 

Theatre 

Processes Fourth-grade students at the basic level in theatre: Fourth-grade students at the proficient level in theatre: Fourth-grade 

• Collaborate to develop scripts and scenarios and to 

improvise dialog in which they describe one of the following: characters, environments, or situations. 

• Collaborate to develop scripts and scenarios in which 

they describe characters, environments, and situations; and improvise dialog to tell a story. 

• Collabora

which theand situaa clear b

• Develop characters and assume roles using some • Develop characters using variations of movement • Develop 

Creating/ 

Performing 

movement and vocal expression. and vocal expression, assume roles that exhibit 

concentration, and contribute to the action of the dramatization. 

and vocaconcentrcontribut

• Use some of the design choices the group has made, 

and remain within the playing space during the dramatic play. 

• Make design choices that reflect environments that 

communicate locale and mood using visual and aural elements, and collaborate to establish playing spaces by safely organizing available materials to suggest some the following: scenery, properties, lighting, sound, costumes, and makeup. 

• Make de

that comand auraplaying simagined propertiemakeup. 

• Participate in the improvisations as a way of 

organizing their classroom dramatizations. 

• Collaboratively plan improvisations as a way of 

organizing their classroom dramatizations. 

• Collabora

organizina leaders
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Theater 

Grade 4 (continued) 

Theatre 

Processes Fourth-grade students at the basic level in theatre: Fourth-grade students at the proficient level in theatre: Fourth-grade 

Responding 

• Describe artistic choices in their own dramatic work, 

identifying elements of classroom dramatizations they chose in their creative and performing work. 

• Describe and analyze artistic choices in their own 

dramatic work, identifying and describing elements of classroom dramatizations; provide rationales for personal choices in their creative and performing work; and constructively suggest alternatives. 

• Describe 

dramatic elements rationaleand perfoalternativenvironmwith meaprocess. 

• Describe some elements and effects of theatre, film, 

and television. 

• Describe and compare various elements and effects 

of theatre to film and television. 

• Describe 

effects oprovide reffective

• Place work in personal and social contexts by • Place work in personal, social, and cultural contexts • Place wo

identifying similar characters and situations in by identifying and comparing similar characters and cultural ctheatre, film, and television. situations in theatre, film, and television. similar c

theatre, f

• State personal preferences, as an audience, for • Evaluate performances as an audience, articulating • Evaluate 

entire performances and for certain parts of them. emotional responses to dramatic performances; state 

personal preferences for entire performances and for certain parts of them. 

articulatiperformaentire peand prov

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

50 
 NAEP2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

51 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Theatre 

Eighth graders are sometimes inhibited by their physical growth and development. They may hide or flaunt their changing voices odevelop when there was none before. They may be very interested in the opposite sex but refuse to play or have any relationship w

admire or do not like. These changes may make it seem as though students are taking a step backward from where they were at earl

stage is natural and the students must not be judged negatively in assessing achievement relating to these aspects. 

Grade 8 

Theatre 

Processes Eighth-grade students at the basic level in theatre: Eighth-grade students at the proficient level in theatre: Eighth-grade 

• Individually and in groups, develop scripts and 

scenarios from adaptations of storylines or create original work that includes simple characters, environments, and actions. 

• Individually and in groups, develop scripts and 

scenarios from adaptations of storylines or create original work that includes characters, environments, and actions that create tension and suspense. 

• Individua

scenariooriginal wenvironmsuspensformed sunique. 

• Develop characters that suggest artistic choices • Develop characters that suggest artistic choices • Develop 

through limited script analysis and the rehearsal through script analysis and the rehearsal process, through s

Creating/ 

Performing 

process, demonstrating some acting skills. demonstrating acting skills, working in an ensemble, 

and interacting as invented characters. 

process, an ensemcharactebelievabinvented 

• Make designs to communicate locale, understand the • Make designs to communicate locale and mood; • Make de

use of a few technical theatre elements, and work understand the use of the most technical theatre theme; u

collaboratively to select and create some elements of elements; and work collaboratively and safely to elementsscenery and properties to signify environment and select and create some elements of scenery, select ancostumes to suggest character. properties, lighting, and sound to signify environment 

and costumes and makeup to suggest character. 

propertieenvironmsuggest 

• Direct by interpreting dramatic texts and rehearsing • Direct by interpreting dramatic texts and rehearsing • Direct by 

improvised and scripted scenes. improvised and scripted scenes demonstrating social 

and consensus skills. 

groups in and scripconsens
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Theatre 

Grade 8 (continued) 

Theatre 

Processes Eighth-grade students at the basic level in theatre: Eighth-grade students at the proficient level in theatre: Eighth-grade 

• Describe their artistic choices and construct 

meaning, describing the perceived effectiveness of their contributions to developing improvised and scripted scenes. 

• Describe and analyze their artistic choices and 

construct meaning, articulating those meanings and describing the perceived effectiveness of their contributions to developing improvised and scripted scenes. 

• Describe 

construct and desccontributidevelopin

• Describe archetypal characters and situations in • Describe and compare archetypal characters and • Describe 

dramas from and about various historical periods; situations in dramas from and about various genres situations 

define the elements of film (composition, movement, and historical periods; identify the elements of film artistic stsound, and editing); and describe characteristics of (composition, movement, sound, and editing); and identify thcharacters, environments, and actions in theatre, describe characteristics and compare the movemen

Responding 

musical theatre, film, and television. presentations of characters, environments, and 

actions in theatre, musical theatre, film, and television. 

these elework; and the preseand actiotelevisionbetween 

• Place work in personal and social contexts by 

analyzing the social impact of dramatic events in their lives, in the community, and in other cultures; and explain how culture affects the content of dramatic performances and how social concepts such as cooperation, communication, self-esteem, risk taking, and sympathy apply in theatre and daily life. 

• Place work in personal, social, and cultural contexts 

by analyzing the emotional and social impacts of dramatic events in their lives, in the community, and in other cultures; and explain how culture affects the content of dramatic performances and how social concepts such as cooperation, communication, collaboration, self-esteem, risk taking, sympathy, and empathy apply in theatre and daily life. 

• Place wo

cultural csocial imthe commhow cultuvalues of concepts collaboraand empa

• Evaluate performances as audience by using 

articulated criteria to describe the perceived effectiveness of artistic choices found in dramatic performances. 

• Evaluate performances as audience by using 

articulated criteria to describe and analyze the perceived effectiveness of artistic choices found in dramatic performances. 

• Evaluate 

articulateconstructeffectivenperforma

• Identify a few exemplary artists and works of theatre, 

film, and television. 

• Identify some exemplary artists and works of theatre, 

film, and television. 

• Identify s

theatre, fconsidere

• Describe the effect of publicity on audience response 

to dramatic performances. 

• Describe and analyze the effect of publicity, study 

guides, and programs on audience response to dramatic performances. 

• Describe 

guides, paudience 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

52 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Theatre 

Twelfth-grade students are young adults. Connected to a real and often confusing world, they struggle to make sense of their enviroaround them. They are more willing to role-play someone else than play themselves. They rely on peer groups and the media for th

information. They are open to new ideas. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

53 

Grade 12 

Theatre 

Processes Twelfth-grade students at the basic level in theatre: Twelfth-grade students at the proficient level in theatre: Twelfth-grade 

Creating/ 

Performing 

• Develop scripts and scenarios with character, 

conflict, and resolution. 

• Develop imaginative scripts and scenarios so that 

story and meaning are conveyed to an audience. 

• Develop i

theatre, ficharacteraction so conveyed 

• Develop characters through the acting process, 

including analyzing the physical and social dimensions of characters; and in a group, present the characters. 

• Develop characters through the acting process, 

including analyzing the physical, emotional, and social dimensions of characters, and in an ensemble, create and sustain characters that communicate with audiences. 

• Develop c

including social dimensembleclassical, dramatic 

• Make design and technical theatre choices to 

communicate locale and mood by sketching designs for a set, lighting, props, costumes, or makeup appropriate for a scene or scenario; select sound effects to convey environment; and demonstrate knowledge of production elements (stage management, promotional or business plans) for a production. 

• Make design and technical theatre choices to 

communicate locale and mood by sketching designs for a set, lighting, props, costumes, or makeup appropriate for a scene or scenario, considering some cultural and historical perspectives; select music and sound effects to convey environments that clearly support the text; and design some production elements (stage management, promotional or business plans) for a production. 

• Collabora

productiotechnical as well as for a set, appropriathe culturselect muenvironmreflect a ucoherent business scientific impacted implemenproductio

• Direct by interpreting dramatic texts and organizing • Direct by interpreting dramatic texts and organizing • Direct by 

time and people in planning and rehearsing time and people in planning and rehearsing organizin

improvised and scripted scenes. improvised and scripted scenes, effectively 

communicating directorial choices to an ensemble. 

rehearsineffectively including explain aresponsibin theatre
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for Theatre 

Grade 12 (continued) 

Theatre 

Processes Twelfth-grade students at the basic level in theatre: Twelfth-grade students at the proficient level in theatre: Twelfth-grade 

Responding 

• Describe artistic choices and construct meaning by 

evaluating their own collaborative efforts and artistic choices. 

• Describe and analyze artistic choices and construct 

meaning by evaluating their own collaborative efforts and artistic choices, and analyze the effect of their own cultural experiences on their dramatic work. 

• Describe 

construct collaborathe effect dramatic aesthetic intent with 

• Describe some elements, genres, media, and 

dramatic literature from various cultures and historical periods. 

• Describe and compare elements, styles, genres, 

media, and dramatic literature, focusing on comparing how similar themes are treated in drama from various cultures and historical periods. 

• Describe 

media, ancomparindrama froand discuconcepts

• Place work in personal, social, historical, and cultural 

contexts by identifying some of the lives and works of representative theatre artists in some cultures and historical periods. 

• Place work in personal, social, historical, and cultural 

contexts by identifying and comparing the lives, works, and influence of representative theatre artists in various cultures and historical periods. 

• Place wo

cultural clives, wortheatre arperiods ainfluences social impartists (fo

• Evaluate performances as audience and critic, 

analyzing and critiquing parts of dramatic performances. 

• Evaluate performances as audience and critic, 

analyzing and critiquing parts of dramatic performances, taking into account context. 

• Evaluate 

analyzing performaconstructchoices; aabout dramost appthe work; productioinfluence television 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

54 
 

Grade 4

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

55 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for the Visual Arts 

NAEP uses the following descriptions as expectations for student achievement: 

• Basic denotes partial mastery of the content but performance that is only adequate for work at the three grade levels. 

• Proficient represents solid academic achievement and competency over challenging subject matter, as suggested in the NationEducation. • Advanced performance on this assessment represents achievement that is equal to that expected of top students. 

In creating and responding to works of art and design, fourth-grade students are involved in exploratory, trial-and-error experiences. 

Grade 4 

Visual Arts 

Processes 

Fourth-grade students at the basic level in visual arts: Fourth-grade students at the proficient level in visual arts: Fourth-grade 

arts: 

• Develop one or two ideas/approaches to a problem, 

with little originality in content or form, reflecting no awareness of the relationship between the art/design work and the context. 

• Develop several ideas/approaches to a problem, 

some of which are original in their content and form, and reflect some awareness of the relationship between the art/design work and the context. 

• Develop 

most of wand reflerelationscontext. 

• Visually and in written form demonstrate a limited 

understanding of the relationship between principles of visual organization and the construction of meaning or function. 

• Visually and in written form demonstrate a general 

understanding of the relationship between principles of visual organization and the construction of meaning or function. 

• Visually a

level of uprinciples construc

• Explore ideas, media, and tools in a limited way. • Explore a variety of ideas, media, and tools. • Experime

media, a

• Demonstrate a limited understanding of the relation- • Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship of • Demonst

ship of design-related problems and processes to design-related problems and processes to real-life relations

real-life situations, using a random process to situations, using a linear process to develop a processe

Creating/ 

Performing 

develop a singular solution to a problem. singular solution to a problem. relations

solution, (models, multiple s

• Seek the most obvious answer to a question about 

process or content rather than integrate information from a variety of sources. 

• Integrate information from a variety of sources, take 

an idea and expand upon it, and find answers to questions about process or content. 

• Integrate 

take an ianswers 

• Find, select, and integrate information from a few 

sources, precluding much extension or elaboration of ideas. 

• Find, select, and integrate information from a variety 

of sources, enabling some extension and elaboration of ideas and selection of methods and processes from several approaches to solving problems. 

• Find, sel

wider vaextensioof methoapproachunderstasources and vario

• Demonstrate a limited ability to recognize personal • Recognize personal strengths and weaknesses, and • Recogniz

strengths and weaknesses in their own work. select and discuss own work. can selec

from own quality wprocesse
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for the Visual Arts 

Grade 4 (continued) 

Visual Arts Processes 

Fourth-grade students at the basic level in visual arts: Fourth-grade students at the proficient level in visual arts: Fourth-grade 

arts: 

Responding 

• Demonstrate a limited ability to use vocabulary that 

describes visual experiences and/or phenomena. 

• Can respond to works of art/design using a general 

vocabulary that describes visual experiences and/or phenomena. 

• Can artic

using a svisual exsupport a

• Respond to questions about works of art/design 

(their own and others) with answers that focus on basic description rather than interpretation. 

• Respond to questions about works of art and design 

(own and others) with answers that demonstrate an ability to interpret. 

• Respond 

design (tinterpreta

• Identify obvious patterns of similarity (i.e., style, 

subject/theme, function) in works of art/design but are unable to articulate basis for the judgment. 

• Identify obvious patterns of similarity (i.e., style, 

subject/theme, function) in works of art and design, and can articulate some similarities in ways that show the relationships between the parts and the whole. 

• Identify o

similarity works of and find similaritiethe parts 

• Cannot recognize obvious differences and 

similarities between works of art/design, and cannot defend their judgments. 

• Recognize obvious differences and similarities 

between works of art/design, defending how similarities and differences relate to history, culture, and human needs. 

• Recogniz

differencart/desigdifferencneeds.

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

56 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for the Visual Arts 

In creating and responding to works of art and design, the eighth-grade student shows emerging abilities to make intellectual and visual selections and decisions basto construct or interpret meaning. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

57 

Grade 8 

Visual Arts 

Processes 

Eighth-grade students at the basic level in visual arts: Eighth-grade students at the proficient level in visual arts: Eighth-grade 

arts: 

Creating/ 

Performing 

• Operate within a limited definition of context in 

design-related problems that focus on immediate, real-life situations with prescribed problem-solving approaches. 

• Operate within an expanded definition of context in 

design-related problems that include broader issues of environment, human factors, and social behavior with diverse problem-solving approaches. 

• Operate w

in designunder- staprocess ofrom it, usapproach

• Do not recognize competing priorities or performance 

criteria in the definition of the problem; address only one aspect of the problem at a time; and cannot recognize principles guiding organization of form, content, or function. 

• Recognize competing priorities or performance 

criteria in the definition of the problem; identify alternative solutions; and recognize principles guiding organization of form, content, or function. 

• Recogniz

the problereflect altrecognize organizat

• Exhibit limited technical skill with tools and media with 

a tendency to prefer one media to another, more from a sense of proficiency with the material or tool rather than because it is the best choice for the communication of the idea. 

• Demonstrate increased control of media and tools 

with a desire to learn specific techniques to gain greater ability to communicate ideas, and make conscious choices that are appropriate to the problem. 

• Demonst

often chodevelop ecommunithat are aexperimemedium. 

• Develop one or two methods for judging ideas in • Devise and employ several methods for judging ideas • Devise an

planning or simulation (thumbnail sketches, models, in planning or simulation (thumbnail sketches, ideas in pmaquettes) before reaching closure on concepts, models, maquettes) before reaching closure on images (tvisual organization, meaning, or production. concepts, visual organization, meaning, or 

production. 

and mentbefore reorganizat

• Cannot weigh ideas against individually determined 

or group-determined criteria in the creation of works of art/ design. 

• Weigh ideas against individually determined or 

group-determined criteria in the creation of works of art/design. 

• Weigh ide

group-deof art and group-sha

• Find, select, and integrate information from a few 

sources, precluding much extension or elaboration of ideas. 

• Find, select, and integrate information from a variety 

of sources, enabling some extension and elaboration of ideas and selection of methods and processes from several approaches to solving problems. 

• Find, sele

wider varextension of methodapproachunderstanto the genvarious p
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for the Visual Arts 

Grade 8 (continued) 

Visual Arts 

Processes Eighth-grade students at the basic level in visual arts: Eighth-grade students at the proficient level in visual arts: Eighth-grade 

arts: 

Creating/ 

Performing 

• Cannot identify personal strengths and weaknesses; 

and within process reviews, provide limited positive and realistic evaluation of work. 

• Identify personal strengths and weaknesses, 

selecting and discussing their own work; and within process reviews, identify and comment on works of varying quality, demonstrating some ability to reflect criteria and insights. 

• Identify a

weak- nediscussinreviews, quality wability to to person

• Inappropriately use visual and verbal vocabulary of • Appropriately use visual and verbal vocabulary of • Appropri

form and principles of organization as a way to form and principles of visual organization to make verbal voconstruct meaning. inferences and construct meaning. organiza

meaning

• Respond to questions of art/design through literal 

discussion, debate, writing, and visual analysis, confining inferences made to obvious physical characteristics. 

• Respond to questions of art/design through literal 

and metaphorically expanded discussion, supported debate, expository writing, and visual analysis, making inferences on the obvious and not-so-obvious physical, as well as some abstract, characteristics. 

• Respond 

extended discussioand visuaobvious aabstract position. 

• Cannot apply criteria to interpretation of works of art/ • Apply criteria to the interpretation of works of art/ • Apply cri

design but can recognize one or two obvious design and can recognize most obvious connecting art/desig

Responding connecting patterns, shared concepts, and inferences or connections among works of art and patterns, shared concepts, and inferences or connections among works of art and other types of and subt

and infer

other types of experience or ideas. experience or ideas. art and o

• Do not judge or defend the various dimensions of 

context in which art and design are created and interpreted. 

• Judge the various dimensions of context in which art 

and design are created and interpreted. 

• Judge an

context iinterprete

• Identify literal ways in which works of art reflect and • Identify and describe literal ways in which works of • Identify a

influence the way people perceive experiences in art reflect and influence the way people perceive which wotheir lives and how people’s experiences influence experiences in their lives and how people’s people pthe development of specific works. experiences influence the development of specific 

works. 

how peodevelopm

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

58 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for the Visual Arts 

In creating and responding to works of art and design, students in the 12th grade show evidence of increased awareness about think

concepts and judgments. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

59 

Grade 12 

Visual Arts 

Processes Twelfth-grade students at the basic level in visual arts: Twelfth-grade students at the proficient level in visual arts: Twelfth-grade 

arts: 

• Recognize one or two predictable approaches to the 

organization of form, theories of meaning, and dimensions of context. 

• Recognize and analyze several different predictable 

and inventive approaches to the organization of form, theories of meaning, and dimensions of context. 

• Recogniz

different iof form, thcontext acontent o

• Generate a single solution to a problem that • Generate several solutions to a problem, some of • Generate 

replicates an existing solution; and show little which depart from known solutions; and show an which dep

understanding of context, audience, and performance emerging understanding of context, audience, and high degrcriteria. performance criteria. performa

of design

• Generate one or two alternatives with little 

recognition of personal, conceptual, and critical development across an accumulated body of work. 

• Generate several alternatives while recognizing 

personal, conceptual, and critical development across an accumulated body of work. 

• Generate 

recognitiodevelopmwork. 

• Use media, tools, and technical processes with some • Use media, tools, and technical processes with • Use med

Creating/ evidence of focused selection and personalization, greater evidence of focused selection, competen

Performing control in communicating meaning, and testing of personalization, control in communicating meaning, selection, 

limits; and work against the medium without and testing of limits; and can work with the medium, communiunderstanding its limits and capacity. understanding its capacity and limits. work and 

subtle ascapacities

• Respond to a few simple components of challenging • Respond to some complex components of • Respond 

problems; define superficial, physical dimensions of challenging problems; define most physical and challengin

the problem, proceeding haphazardly through the some abstract dimensions of the problem, abstract dproblem-solving process; and are unable to assess proceeding consciously through a linear problem- intentionathe impact of process on solutions. solving process but not extending or elaborating 

upon it; and can assess the impact of process on the solution. 

process, use analounderstanthe soluti

• Make limited use of simulation techniques but are • Develop some use of simulation techniques and • Develop a 

unable to predict the outcome of possible solutions. predict the outcome of some possible solutions. determine 

and predisolutions. 
 

Preliminary Achievement Level Descriptions for the Visual Arts 

Grade 12 (continued) 

Visual Arts 

Processes Twelfth-grade students at the basic level in visual arts: Twelfth-grade students at the proficient level in visual arts: Twelfth-grade 

arts: 

Creating/ 

Performing 

• Develop design solutions that respond to a partial list 

of performance criteria but are unable to weigh criteria or resolve competing demands within the same problem. 

• Develop design solutions that respond to a broad 

range of performance criteria and can weigh criteria or resolve competing demands within the same problem. 

• Respond 

define proredefine torientatiostudents’ criteria ancertain asothers. 

• Recognize one or two personal strengths and weaknesses in creating and responding but are unable to 

select and discuss their own work or identify works of varying quality related to the progression of personal creative development. 

• Recognize some personal strengths and weaknesses 

in creating and responding; and select and discuss their own work, identifying works of varying quality related to the progression of personal creative development. 

• Recogniz

weaknesselect, idthrough trelationshpersonal 

Responding 

• Do not refer to the visual and verbal vocabulary of 

form and principles of visual organization in the construction of meaning; and recognize obvious, literal relationships of ideology, theory, and context to the formal principles. 

• Refer to the visual and verbal vocabulary of form and 

principles of visual organization in the construction of meaning; and recognize obvious literal and abstract relationships of ideology, theory, and context to the formal principles. 

• Refer to a

vocabulaorganizatrecognize relationshthe forma

• Understand and manage simple, obvious 

relationships between context and the creation and interpretation of works of art/design. 

• Understand and manage simple, not-so-obvious, and 

abstract relationships between context and the creation and interpretation of works of art/design. 

• Understa

subtle relcreation a

• Develop predictable and common theoretical 

constructs and methods for decisionmaking among competing priorities or opinions. 

• Develop predictable and inventive theoretical 

constructs and methods for decisionmaking among competing priorities or opinions. 

• Develop 

constructamong co

• Place singular and obvious personal comments • Place varied and thoughtful personal comments • Place mu

within an elementary critical process, with little within a compound critical process, with conscious within a cengagement in criticism by explaining meaning; engagement in criticism by explaining meaning; engagemidentifying, describing, and recognizing critical identifying, describing, and recognizing critical identifyinmodels; and forming belief systems. models; and forming belief systems. models; a

• Cannot identify where design solutions do not • Identify where design solutions do not function well • Identify a

function well and show limited ability to transfer and transfer learning from one problem to another. not functilearning from one problem to another. problem-

from one 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

60 
 

APPENDIX A 

THE CONTENT OUTLINES 

The content outlines for the disciplines of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts are based 

on the work of the NAEP planning committee and on the National Standards in each of 

the arts disciplines. The National Standards in dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts 

were developed by professionals in those disciplines who are members of the National 

Consortium of Arts Organizations. The consortium was funded to develop content standards in the arts by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the 

Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

The connection between the work of the National Standards task forces and the work of 

the NAEP planning committee is a strong one. Through each phase of the NAEP project, 

the planning committee in each arts discipline based its assessment discussions on the 

concurrent work of the National Standards task force in that discipline. 

For purposes of assessment, the NAEP planning committee (composed of specialists in 

dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts) identified major categories in which the content 

of the arts could be organized. Thus, in assessing what students know and are able to do 

in each of the arts, the content was formulated around the processes of creating, performing, and responding. 

In developing standards in the arts, the National Standards task forces initially organized 

their work around the processes of creating and performing, perceiving and analyzing, 

knowing historical and social contexts, and understanding the nature and the meaning of 

each of the arts. Although these categories are not specifically delineated in the final 

document, they can be used to approach and understand the work of each discipline. 

In the content outlines, the NAEP planning committee content categories appear in boldface Roman numerals I, II, or III followed by each discipline group’s assessment recommendation, which is labeled in boldface capital letters. The Achievement Standards from 

the proposed National Standards that delineate the content to be assessed in that discipline are cited. For reference purposes, the Achievement Standards number and letter 

from the proposed voluntary National Standards are noted in parentheses at the end of 

each statement. 

In unfolding the standards for the purposes of assessment, it was sometimes necessary for 

the NAEP planning committee to modify the wording (but not the intent) of an achievement standard to provide the level of detail needed by assessment developers. These 

modifications occur in italics to indicate the changes made for assessment purposes. At 

the 12th-grade level, reframing the standards in this way also made them more inclusive 

and therefore more appropriate in the assessment of general students. Asterisks are used 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

61 
 

in music and theatre to indicate the standards that are particularly useful for measurement 

of the student who has had less than 2 years of specific arts instruction at the high school 

level. 

At grade 12, following the pattern of the National Standards, the standards designated as 

proficient are abbreviated with “Pro” and advanced standards are abbreviated with 

“Adv.” Both are followed by the number and letter of the standard being addressed, as in 

grades 4 and 8. 

Not all of the proposed National Standards are included in the content outlines. Some 

standards cannot be appropriately evaluated in a large-scale assessment and are more 

appropriately addressed in state level, district level, or classroom-based assessments. 

In some assessment examples in the content outline, the music group cited the six levels 

of difficulty as defined in the music glossary in the National Standards. These levels 

were adapted for use in the standards with permission from NYSSMA Manual, Edition 

XXIII, published by the New York State School Music Association in 1991. 

The following general comments made by the visual arts group of the NAEP planning 

committee reflect circumstances that called for changes necessary to meet the demands of 

the assessment: 

1.	 In the National Standards, the term “design” refers to “composition,” whereas in 

the NAEP Arts Education Assessment Framework and specifications the term 

“design” refers to the disciplines of architecture, interior design, industrial design, 

and graphic design, all of which are included in the NAEP visual arts assessment. 

Therefore, the NAEP visual arts group replaced the word “design” with 

“composition.” 

2.	 The NAEP Arts Education Assessment content outline deals with cognitive skills 

implied but not specified in the standards. Specifically mentioned are areas related to visual thinking, the construction of meaning, and representation. 

3.	 The NAEP visual arts group’s rewording of the National Standards clearly differentiates content that is about “syntax” (organization of visual elements) from content that is about “semantics” (selection of subject matter) so that these two 

aspects of content can be considered separately. The standards combine these two 

aspects of content in a single statement. 

4.	 The NAEP Arts Education Assessment framework and specifications use the 

word “form” rather than “image” to include more spatial and temporal considerations. Where there are references to “visual” characteristics, the NAEP visual arts 

group added “spatial and temporal” to include three-dimensional art and timebased media. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

62 
 

5.	 The NAEP visual arts group was more specific in its use of terminology to provide information to the assessment development contractor. For example, when 

the standards refer to “characteristics,” the group added words such as “characteristics of materials” or “formal and symbolic characteristics” to clarify the intended meaning. 

6.	 The NAEP visual arts group felt it necessary to elaborate on issues related to application of the arts to daily life and on criticism. Because the standards did not 

address these issues explicitly, the group augmented the content outline to provide 

a focus for assessment. 

7.	 The standards use “art forms” and “arts disciplines” to refer to the same concept. 

The NAEP visual arts group standardized that concept under the term “arts 

disciplines” or “other arts,” reserving “visual art forms” for cases in which there 

is a need to distinguish painting from printmaking (for example, in the exercise 

design). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

63 
 

DANCE CONTENT OUTLINE
 

DANCE, GRADE 4 

I. Creating 

A. Invent Solutions to Movement Problems, Generating and Selecting From Alternatives (A movement problem is a task that requires effort, thought, and 

practice to solve.) 

1. Given a movement problem that requires an original response, devise and test 

out two to three movement solutions; students choose their favorite solution and 

discuss the reasons for that choice (4a). 

B. Follow Improvisational and Compositional Structures 

1. Create an original dance of at least 30 seconds with a beginning, middle, and 

end expressing the student’s own idea (2a, 2b). 

2. Create an original dance phrase of 20 seconds, repeat the phrase accurately, and 

vary it (making changes in the time, space, and/or force or energy) (2d). 

C. Collaborate To Achieve Solutions 

1. Create and perform an original dance of at least 30 seconds with a partner, expressing an idea agreed upon by the partner (2e). 

II. Performing 

A. Accurately Recall and Reproduce Movement 

1. Given verbal direction, demonstrate the nonlocomotor movements of bend, 

stretch, twist, and swing (nonlocomotor movements are done in place) (1a). Given a live demonstration, perform a combination of these movements. 

2. Given verbal direction, demonstrate eight basic locomotor movements (walk, 

run, hop, jump, leap, gallop, slide, skip) traveling forward, backward, sideward, 

diagonally, and turning (locomotor movements travel from one place to another) 

(1b). Given a live demonstration, perform a combination of these movements. 

3. Given verbal direction, demonstrate movements in straight and curved pathways 

(1e). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

64 
 

4. Given verbal direction and changes in rhythmic accompaniment (e.g., drumbeat tempo changes), demonstrate changes in movement that respond to 

changes in tempo (1f). 

B. Demonstrate Physical Technique (Physical technique is defined as skills that 

allow the dancer to move with appropriate skeletal alignment, body part articulation, strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination in locomotor and 

nonlocomotor movements.) 

1.	 Given verbal directions to move through space as part of a large group, demonstrate the ability to define and maintain personal space, distance from others, 

and spatial arrangement (form) (1d). 

2.	 While following the movements of a facilitator, demonstrate physical technique, 

concentration, and focus while performing movement skills in a group (1g). 

3.	 Given verbal direction, demonstrate the following partner skills: copying, leading and following, mirroring (2f). 

C. Communicate Through Movement (Expression) 

1.	 With competence and confidence, perform their own dances for peers and discuss their meanings (3c). 

2.	 With competence and confidence, perform for peers folk dances from various 

cultures, learned previously through demonstrations by a facilitator (5a). 

III. Responding 

A. Identify Compositional Elements and Notice Details 

1.	 After viewing a brief movement study, describe the movements (e.g., skip, gallop) and the movement elements (such as levels and directions) and suggest 

ideas being communicated in the study (1h). 

B. Identify Contexts (Stylistic, Cultural, Social, Historical) of Dance 

1.	 After viewing three dances from particular specific cultures and/or time periods 

(such as Colonial America), describe the cultural and/or historical contexts of 

each dance (5c). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

65 
 

C. Make Informed Critical Observations About the Dance’s and Dancer’s Technical and Artistic Components 

1.	 Observe and discuss how dancers differ from others who move (such as athletes, pedestrians) (3a). 

2.	 Take an active role in a discussion of a dance, offering personal reactions and 

interpretations (3b). 

3.	 Observe two dances and discuss how they are similar and different in terms of 

one element of dance (such as space, shapes, levels, pathways) (4b). 

DANCE, GRADE 8 

I. Creating 

A. Invent Solutions to Movement Challenges, Generating and Selecting From 

Alternatives 

1.	 Create a warmup exercise and explain how that exercise prepares the body and 

mind for expressive purposes (6c). 

B. Follow Improvisational and Compositional Structures 

1.	 Given verbal direction, demonstrate in movement the principles of contrast and 

transition (2a). 

2.	 Given verbal direction, demonstrate movements that exemplify choreographic 

processes such as reordering (2b). 

3.	 Given verbal direction, demonstrate movements in the following forms of AB, 

ABA, canon, call and response, and narrative (2c). 

C. Collaborate To Achieve Solutions 

1.	 Demonstrate the following partner skills in a visually interesting way: creating 

and complementary shapes, taking and supporting weight (2e). 

2.	 Demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively in a group of three or four during 

the choreographic process (2d). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

66 
 

II. Performing 

A. Accurately Recall and Reproduce Movement 

1.	 Memorize and reproduce dance sequences that are at least 32 counts in length 

(1g). 

2.	 Given the prompt of a rhythmic pattern drumbeat, reproduce that rhythmic pattern in movement (1d). 

3.	 Given the prompt of a spatial pattern drawn on paper, reproduce that pattern by 

traveling through space (1c). 

4.	 Given verbal prompts, demonstrate two previously learned dances, each at 

least 32 counts in length, representing two different styles, including basic 

dance steps, body positions, and spatial patterns in demonstration (1b)(5b)(5a). 

B. Demonstrate Physical Technique 

1.	 Given verbal prompts, demonstrate through movement sustained, percussive, 

and vibratory qualities (1e). 

2.	 While following the demonstrated movements of a facilitator, demonstrate the 

skills of alignment, balance, articulation of isolated body parts, weight shift, 

elevation and landing, fall, and recovery (1a). 

C. Communicate Through Movement (Expression) 

1.	 Create a dance of at least 32 counts that successfully communicates a topic of 

personal significance (3d). 

III. Responding 

A. Identify Compositional Elements and Notice Details 

1.	 After viewing a dance, describe the movements and movement elements using 

appropriate dance vocabulary (i.e., level, direction) (1h). 

B. Identify Contexts (Stylistic, Cultural, Social, Historical) of Dance 

1. Describe the role of dance in two different cultures and/or time periods (5d). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

67 
 

C. Make Informed Critical Observations About the Dance’s and Dancer’s Technical and Artistic Components 

1.	 After observing a dance, discuss personal opinions about both the choreography and the performers (4b). 

2.	 Identify and use criteria for evaluating dance (such as skill of performers, originality, visual and/or emotional impact, variety, and contrast) (4d). 

3.	 Compare and contrast two dance compositions in terms of space (such as shape 

and pathways), time (such as rhythm and tempo), and force/energy (such as 

movement qualities) (4c). 

DANCE, GRADE 12 

Proficient and Advanced 

* Denotes expectations appropriate for the general 12th-grade student. 

The Standards Dance Task Force has identified both “proficient” and “advanced” levels 

of achievement for grades 9–12 to address the level of attainment for a student who has 

received instruction in the skills and/or knowledge of dance for 1 to 2 years beyond grade 

8 and the level of attainment for a student who has received instruction for 3 to 4 years 

beyond grade 8. 

I. Creating 

A. Invent Solutions to Movement Challenges, Generating and Selecting From 

Alternatives 

*1. Create and perform a dance that includes two or more dynamic qualities 

(such as percussive) and expresses personal meaning (Pro–1d). 

*2. Use improvisation to generate movement for choreography (Pro–2a). 

3. Create a dance, then manipulate it by applying a different form, describing 

how the meaning of the dance was changed (Adv–2e). 

B. Follow Improvisational and Compositional Structures 

1. Create a movement sequence that illustrates one of the following structures 

or forms: theme and variation, rondo, or round (Pro–2b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

68 
 

2. Create a dance of at least 1 minute, describing the reasons for the choreographic decisions (Pro–4a). 

*3. Observe a dance on video, describe the choreographic style, then create a 

dance of at least 1 minute in the style of the choreography observed. 

C. Collaborate To Achieve Solutions 

1. Working in groups of three or four, choreograph a dance of at least 32 

counts, then describe the choreographic principles, processes, and structures 

used (Pro–2c). 

2. Working with a partner, choreograph and perform a duet of at least 64 counts 

discussing the use of choreographic principles, processes, and structures 

(Pro–2c). 

II. Performing 

A. Accurately Recall and Reproduce Movement 

*1. After learning 32 counts of a dance taught by a facilitator, accurately recall 

and reproduce the movements and rhythmic patterns (Pro–1f). 

2. After learning two dances of different styles, accurately recall and reproduce 

each dance. 

B. Demonstrate Physical Technique 

*1. After learning 32 counts of a dance demonstrated by a facilitator, 

demonstrate appropriate skeletal alignment, bodypart articulation, strength, 

flexibility, agility, and coordination in locomotor and nonlocomotor 

movement (Pro–1a). 

2. After learning a 64-count dance, perform the dance with artistic expression, 

demonstrating clarity, musicality, and stylistic nuance (Adv–1h). 

C. Communicate Through Movement (Expression) 

*1. Create a dance of at least 32 counts that communicates a contemporary social 

theme (such as isolation, poverty, relationships, the environment) (Pro–3c). 

2. Create a dance of at least 32 counts that conveys a contemporary social 

theme, vary the choreography so that it expresses a different theme, and discuss each idea and the ways it was expressed. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

69 
 

III. Responding 

A. Identify Compositional Elements and Notice Details 

*1. After observing a dance, answer questions about how the choreographer’s 

choices communicate ideas (Pro–3a). 

2. After observing a dance on video, identify the choreographer’s use of structure or form (i.e., theme and variation, rondo, round, canon call and response, 

narrative) (Pro–2b). 

3. After observing two different dances, compare how the choreographers manipulate movement and movement elements to express ideas (Adv–2e). 

B. Identify Contexts (Stylistic, Cultural, Social, Historical) of the Dance 

*1. After observing a classical dance form (such as ballet), discuss the traditions 

and technique (Pro–5b). 

2. Analyze how dance and dancers are portrayed in contemporary American 

media (Pro–5d). 

3. Compare and contrast the role and significance of dance in two different 

social/historical/cultural/political contexts (such as dance used for political 

devices in Communist China compared with dance used in Native-American 

ceremonies) (Adv–5f). 

C. Make Informed Critical Observations About the Dance’s and Dancer’s Technical and Artistic Components 

1. Establish aesthetic criteria and apply them in evaluating own work and that 

of others (Pro–4b). 

*2. Describe similarities and differences between two contemporary theatrical 

dances (Pro–5a). 

3. Analyze issues of ethnicity, gender, social/economic class, age and/or physical condition in relation to dance (what are the stereotypes in dance in reference to these issues? How does dance reflect such contemporary issues? etc.) 

(Adv–4f). 

4. Examine ways that dance creates and conveys meaning by considering the 

dance from a variety of perspectives (such as the dance critic, the audience, 

the choreographer, the performer) (Adv–3d). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

70 
 

MUSIC CONTENT OUTLINE
 

MUSIC, GRADE 4 

I. Creating 

A. Compose 

1. Create music to accompany readings or dramatizations, manipulating dimensions such as the variety of sounds, tempo, loudness, and mood of a piece to enhance or match the readings or dramatizations and describing and explaining 

the choices made (4a). 

2. Create short songs and instrumental pieces of 4 to 8 measures in length within 

specified guidelines (e.g., a particular style, form [call and response, ostinato, 

aba], instrumentation, compositional technique, tonality [major, minor, pentatonic], meter [duple, triple]) (4b). 

3. Use a variety of sound sources (e.g., classroom instruments, electronic instruments, body sounds) when composing (4c). 

B. Evaluate Own Composition 

1. Use criteria based on knowledge of the elements and style of music for comparing, evaluating, and revising compositions (7a). 

2. Explain, using appropriate music terminology (e.g., describing dimensions such 

as tempo, text, instrumentation), personal preferences (likes and dislikes) for 

specific musical works or styles (7b). 

C. Improvise 

1. Improvise “answers” in the same style to given rhythmic and melodic phrases 

from 2 to 4 measures long (3a). 

2. Improvise simple rhythmic and melodic ostinato accompaniments (3b). 

3. Improvise simple rhythmic variations and simple melodic embellishments on 

familiar melodies (3c). 

4. Improvise short songs and instrumental pieces, using a variety of sound sources, 

including traditional sounds (e.g., voices, instruments); nontraditional sounds 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

71 
 

available in the classroom (e.g., paper tearing, pencil tapping); body sounds 

(e.g., hands clapping, fingers snapping); and sounds produced by electronic 

means (e.g., personal computers and basic MIDI devices, including keyboards, 

sequencers, synthesizers, and drum machines) (3d). 

II. Performing 

A. Sing: Competence and Expressiveness 

1. Sing independently (as a soloist singing familiar songs), on pitch and in rhythm, 

with appropriate timbre, diction, and posture and maintain a steady tempo (1a). 

2. Sing expressively (as a soloist singing familiar songs) with appropriate dynamics, phrasing, and interpretation (1b). 

3. Sing familiar songs from memory (1c). 

4. Sing ostinatos, partner songs, and rounds along with an ensemble on videotape 

that includes all parts (1d). 

5. Sing in groups along with a videotape that includes the conductor, blending 

vocal timbres, matching dynamic levels, and responding to the cues of the 

conductor (1e). 

B. Sight Singing (Read Unfamiliar Pieces From Notation) 

1. Read whole, half, dotted half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests in 2/4, 3/4, and 

4/4 time signatures (5a). 

2. Sing at sight simple pitch notation in the treble clef in major keys (range of no 

more than an octave, primarily stepwise movement, no more than 4 measures) 

(5b). 

C. Evaluate and Improve Own Singing 

1. Use criteria based on knowledge of the elements and style of music for evaluating and suggesting improvements in performance (7a). 

2. Explain, using appropriate music terminology, personal preferences (likes and 

dislikes) for specific musical works or styles (7b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

72 
 

D. Play Instruments: Competence and Expressiveness 

1. Perform familiar music as a soloist expressively (2c) on pitch, in rhythm, with 

appropriate dynamics and timbre, and maintain a steady tempo (2a). 

2. Perform (in an ensemble or as a soloist) easy rhythmic, melodic, and choral patterns accurately and independently on rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic classroom instruments, either using own instrument or selecting an instrument from 

among those provided. The piece should be no more than 16 measures, with 

harmony limited to I and V chords and melody limited to range of an octave and 

stepwise movement (2b). 

3. Echo short (2–4 measure) rhythms and melodic patterns (2d). 

4. Perform in groups along with a videotape that includes the conductor, blending 

instrumental timbres, matching dynamic levels, and responding to the cues of 

the conductor (2e). 

5. Perform independent instrumental parts while other students play 1–3 contrasting parts on a videotape that includes a conductor (2f). 

E. Sight Reading (Play an Unfamiliar Piece From Notation) 

1. Play from notation whole, half, dotted half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests in 

2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures (5a). 

2. Play from notation easy rhythmic, melodic, and chordal patterns on rhythmic, 

melodic, and harmonic classroom instruments (2b). 

F. Evaluate Own Playing 

1. Use criteria based on knowledge of the elements and style of music for evaluating and suggesting improvements in performances (7a). 

2. Explain, using appropriate music terminology, personal preferences (likes and 

dislikes) for specific musical works or styles (7b). 

III. Responding 

A. Describe, Analyze, Compare, and Contrast 

1. Identify simple music forms (e.g., ABA, call and response) presented aurally 

(6a). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

73 
 

2. Demonstrate perceptual skills by moving, answering questions about, and describing aural examples of various styles of music representing diverse cultures 

(6b). 

3. Use appropriate terminology to explain music, music notation, music instruments and voices, and music performances (6c). 

4. Identify the sounds of a variety of instruments, including many orchestra and 

band instruments, and instruments from various cultures, as well as male and 

female voices (6d). 

5. Respond through purposeful movement to selected prominent music characteristics or to specific music events while listening to music (6e). 

B. Use Notation (Connect What Is Seen With What Is Heard) 

1. Read whole, half, dotted half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests in 2/4, 3/4, and 

4/4 time signatures (5a). 

2. Read simple pitch notation in the treble clef in major keys (5b). 

3. Identify symbols and traditional terms referring to dynamics (e.g., piano, forte, 

crescendo, diminuendo), tempo (e.g., presto, ritard, accelerando), and articulation (e.g., staccato, legato, marcato, accent) (5c). 

4. Use standard symbols to notate meter (2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures), rhythm 

(whole, half, dotted half, quarter, and eighth notes), pitch (notes in treble clef), 

and dynamics (p, f, < [crescendo], > [diminuendo]) in simple patterns (5d). 

C. Evaluate Performances and Recommend Improvements 

1. Use criteria based on knowledge of musical elements and style for evaluating 

performances (7a). 

D. Evaluate Works 

1. Use criteria based on knowledge of musical elements and style for evaluating 

compositions (7a). 

2. Explain, using appropriate music terminology (e.g., describing dimensions such 

as tempo, text, instrumentation), personal preferences (likes and dislikes) for 

specific musical works or styles (7b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

74 
 

E. Place Works Within Cultural and Historical Context 

1. Identify, by genre or style, aural examples of music from various historical periods and cultures (9a). 

2. Describe in simple terms how elements of music are used in music examples 

from various cultures of the world (9b). 

3. Identify diverse uses of music in daily experiences and describe characteristics 

that make certain music suitable for each use (9c). 

4. Identify and describe the roles of musicians in various music settings and 

cultures (9d). 

MUSIC, GRADE 8 

I. Creating 

A. Compose 

1. Compose short pieces (8 to 12 measures) within specified guidelines (e.g., ABA 

form, limited range, and simple rhythms), demonstrating how the elements of 

music are used to achieve unity, variety, tension/release, and balance (4a). 

2. Arrange simple pieces (limit 12 measures) for voices or instruments other than 

those for which the pieces were written (e.g., create guitar accompaniment for 

folk song) (4b). 

3. Use a variety of traditional and nontraditional (e.g., classroom instruments, body 

sounds, found sounds) sound sources and electronic media (synthesizer, sequencer) when composing and arranging (4c). 

B. Evaluate Own Composition 

1. Evaluate the quality (use of elements to create unity, variety, tension/release, 

and balance) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of own and others’ compositions and arrangements by applying specific criteria appropriate for the style of 

the music and offer constructive suggestions for improvement (7b). 

C. Notate Personal Musical Ideas 

1. Use standard notation to record their musical ideas and the musical ideas of 

others (5d). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

75 
 

D. Improvise 

1. Improvise simple harmonic accompaniments (3a). 

2. Improvise melodic embellishments and simple rhythmic and melodic variations 

on given pentatonic melodies and melodies in major keys (3b). 

3. Improvise short melodies (at least 12 measures), unaccompanied and over a given rhythmic accompaniment, each in a consistent style (e.g., classical, blues, 

folk, gospel), meter (e.g., duple, triple), and tonality (e.g., major, pentatonic) 

(3c). 

E. Evaluate Own Improvisation 

1. Evaluate the quality and effectiveness (expressive impact) of their own and others’ improvisations by applying specific criteria appropriate for the style of the 

music and offer constructive suggestions for improvement (7b). 

II. Performing 

A. Sing: Competence and Expressiveness 

1. Sing familiar songs accurately (pitches, rhythms, expressions) and with good 

(consistent) breath control throughout their singing ranges, alone and in small 

and large ensembles (1a). 

2. Sing familiar songs with expression appropriate for the work being performed 

(1c). 

3. Sing music written in two and three parts (e.g., learn part through rote imitation 

and reading notation, then sing one part with a videotape of complete ensemble 

performance, including student’s part, led by visible conductor) (1d). 

B. Sight Singing (Read Unfamiliar Pieces From Notation) 

1. Read whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted notes and rests in 2/4, 

3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 3/8, and alla breve time signatures (5a). 

2. Read at sight simple melodies (melodies appropriate to student’s vocal range, 

no longer than 8 measures, mostly stepwise movement and rhythms specified 

above; sung using syllables, numbers, letters, or nonsense syllables) in clef of 

student’s choice (5b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

76 
 

3. Students who participate in a choral ensemble or class, sight-read, accurately 

and expressively, music with a level of difficulty of 2 (to be defined according 

to the piece selected for task) on a scale of 1 to 6 (5e). 

C. Evaluate and Improve Own Singing 

1. Evaluate the quality (technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of their 

own performances by applying specific criteria appropriate for the style of the 

music and offer constructive suggestions for improvement (7b). 

D. Play Instruments: Competence and Expressiveness 

1. Perform on at least one instrument accurately (technical and expressive) and independently, alone (familiar music) and in small and large ensembles (e.g., a 

part learned through rote imitation and reading notation, then sung with a videotape of complete ensemble performance that includes doubling of the student’s part, led by a visible conductor), with good posture, good playing 

position, and good breath, bow, or stick control (2a). 

2. Play by ear simple melodies (e.g., folk songs) on a melodic instrument with 

simple accompaniments (e.g., strummed I, IV, V, vi, ii chords) on a harmonic 

instrument (2d). 

3. Perform music representing diverse genres and cultures, with expression appropriate for the work being performed (2c). 

E. Sight Reading (Play an Unfamiliar Piece From Notation) 

1. Read whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted notes and rests in 2/4, 

3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 3/8, and alla breve time signatures (5a). 

2. Read at sight simple melodies (limited to 8 measures, range determined by instrument, rhythms indicated above) in the clef appropriate to the instrument 

(5b). 

3. Students who participate in instrumental ensemble or class, sight-read, accurately and expressively, music with a level of difficulty of 2 on a scale of 1 to 6 

(5e). 

F. Evaluate Own Playing 

1. Evaluate the quality (technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of their 

own performances by applying specific criteria appropriate for the style of the 

music and offer constructive suggestions for improvement (7b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

77 
 

III. Responding 

A. Describe, Analyze, Compare, and Contrast 

1. Describe specific music events in a given aural example, using appropriate 

terminology (6a). 

2. Analyze the uses of elements of music in aural examples representing diverse 

genres and cultures (6b). 

3. Demonstrate knowledge of the basic principles of meter, rhythm, tonality, intervals, chords, and harmonic progressions in their analyses of music (6c). 

B. Read Notation (Connect What Is Seen With What Is Heard) 

1. Read whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted notes and rests in 2/4, 

3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 3/8, and alla breve time signatures (5a). 

2. Identify and define (while looking at a score) standard notation symbols for 

pitch, rhythm, articulation (accents, legato, staccato, marcato), dynamics (piano, forte, crescendo, diminuendo), tempo, and expression (phrasing) (5c). 

3. Use standard notation to record their musical ideas and the musical ideas of 

others (5d). 

C. Evaluate Performances and Recommend Improvement 

1. Evaluate the quality (technical and expressive) and effectiveness (expressive 

impact) of their own and others’ performances and improvisations by applying 

specific criteria appropriate for the style of the music and offer constructive 

suggestions for improvement (7b). 

D. Evaluate Works 

1. Evaluate the quality (technical and expressive) and effectiveness (expressive 

impact) of their own and others’ compositions and arrangements by applying 

specific criteria appropriate for the style of the music and offer constructive 

suggestions for improvement (7b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

78 
 

E. Place Works Within Cultural and Historical Context 

1. Describe distinguishing characteristics (relating to instrumentation, texture, 

rhythmic qualities, melodic lines, form) of representative music genres and 

styles from a variety of cultures (9a). 

2. Classify by genre and style (and, if applicable, by historical period, composer, 

and title) a varied body of exemplary (that is, high-quality and characteristic) 

musical works and explain the characteristics that cause each work to be considered exemplary (9b). 

3. Compare the functions music serves, the roles of musicians, and the conditions 

under which music is typically performed in several cultures of the world (9c). 

MUSIC, GRADE 12 

* Denotes expectations appropriate for the general 12th-grade student. 

I. Creating 

A. Compose 

1. Compose music in several distinct styles (classical, folk, pop, jazz, rock), demonstrating creativity in using the elements of music for expressive effect (Pro– 

4a) and imagination and technical skill in applying the principles of composition 

(Adv–4d). 

2. Arrange simple pieces (e.g., piano music, 4-part hymns, duets, trios, quartets) 

for voices or instruments other than those for which the pieces were written, in 

ways that preserve or enhance the expressive effect of the music (Pro–4b). 

3. Compose and arrange music for voices and various acoustic and electronic instruments, demonstrating knowledge of the ranges and traditional use of the 

sound sources (Pro–4c). 

B. Evaluate Own Composition 

*1. Apply specific criteria for making informed, critical evaluations of the quality 

(technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of compositions or arrangements in their personal participation in music (Pro–7a). 

*2. Evaluate a composition or arrangement by comparing it to similar or exemplary 

models (Pro–7b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

79 
 

 3. Evaluate a given musical work in terms of its aesthetic qualities (e.g., interplay 

of unity and variety, tension/release, balance, overall expressive impact) and 

explain the musical means it uses to evoke feelings and emotions (Adv–7c). 

C. Notate Personal Musical Ideas 

*1. Use standard notation to record their musical ideas (Grade 8–5d). 

D. Improvise 

1. Improvise stylistically appropriate harmonizing parts in a variety of styles (e.g., 

classical, hymn, folk, pop, jazz, blues, rock) (Adv–3d). 

2. Improvise rhythmic and melodic variations on given pentatonic melodies and 

melodies in major and minor keys (e.g., folk songs, standard pop songs, hymn 

tunes) (Pro–3b). 

*3. Improvise original melodies in a variety of styles (e.g., classical, folk, pop, jazz, 

blues, rock), over given chord progressions (progressions typical of the styles), 

each in a consistent style, meter, and tonality (Adv–3e). 

E. Evaluate Own Improvisation 

1. Apply specific criteria for making informed, critical evaluations of the quality 

(technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of improvisations in their participation in music (Pro–7a). 

2. Evaluate (e.g., consider questions of unity or variety, consistency, appropriate 

use of resources) an improvisation by comparing it to similar or exemplary 

models (Pro–7b). 

II. Performing 

A. Singing: Competence and Expressiveness 

*1. Sing familiar songs performed from memory with expression and technical 

accuracy (Pro–1a). 

2. Sing (one of the parts in) music written in four parts (Pro–1b) and more than 

four parts, with and without accompaniment (Adv–1e). 

3. Demonstrate well-developed ensemble skills (e.g., balance, intonation, rhythmic 

unity) (Pro–1c). 

4. Sing in small ensembles with one student on a part (Adv–1f). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

80 
 

B. Sight Singing (Read Unfamiliar Pieces From Notation) 

Students who participate in a choral or instrumental ensemble or class: 

1. Sight-read, accurately (correct pitches and rhythms) and expressively (e.g., appropriate dynamics, phrasing), music with a level of difficulty of 3 on a scale of 

1 to 6 (Pro–5b) or 4 on a scale of 1 to 6 (Adv–5e). 

2. Interpret nonstandard notation symbols used by some 20th-century composers 

(Adv–5d). 

C. Evaluate and Improve Own Singing 

1. Apply specific criteria for making informed, critical evaluations of the quality 

(technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of performances in their participation in music (Pro–7a). 

*2. Evaluate a performance by comparing it to similar or exemplary models (Pro– 

7b). 

3. Evaluate the quality (technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of their 

own performances by applying specific criteria appropriate for the style of the 

music and offer constructive suggestions for improvement (Grade 8–7b). 

D. Play Instruments: Competence and Expressiveness 

1. Play with expression (e.g., appropriate dynamics, phrasing, rubato) and technical accuracy a large and varied repertoire of instrumental literature with a level 

of difficulty of 4 on a scale of 1 to 6 (Pro–2a) or 5 on a scale of 1 to 6 (Adv–2d). 

2. Perform an appropriate part in an ensemble, demonstrating well-developed ensemble skills (e.g., balance, intonation, rhythmic unity) (2b). 

3. Perform in small ensembles with one student on a part (2c). 

E. Sight Reading (Play an Unfamiliar Piece From Notation) 

Students who participate in a choral or instrumental ensemble or class: 

1. Sight-read, accurately and expressively, music with a level of difficulty of 3 on a 

scale of 1 to 6 (Pro–5b) or 4 on a scale of 1 to 6 (Adv–5e). 

2. Interpret nonstandard notation symbols used by some 20th-century composers 

(Adv–5d). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

81 
 

F. Evaluate Own Playing 

1. Apply specific criteria for making informed, critical evaluations of the quality 

(technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of performances, compositions, arrangements, and improvisations in their personal participation in music 

(Pro–7a). 

*2. Evaluate a performance by comparing it to similar or exemplary models (Pro– 

7b). 

3. Evaluate the quality (technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of their 

own performances by applying specific criteria appropriate for the style of the 

music and offer constructive suggestions for improvement (Grade 8–7b). 

III. Responding 

A. Describe, Analyze, Compare, and Contrast 

1. Analyze aural examples of a varied repertoire of music, representing diverse genres and cultures, by describing the uses of elements of music and expressive 

devices (Pro–6a). 

2. Demonstrate knowledge of the technical vocabulary of music (e.g., Italian 

terms, form, harmony, tempo markings) (Pro–6b). 

3. Identify and explain composition devices and techniques (e.g., motives, imitation, retrograde, inversion) used to provide unity, variety, tension, and resolution in a musical work and give examples of other works that make similar uses 

of these devices and techniques (Pro–6c). 

4. Demonstrate the ability to perceive and remember music events by describing in 

detail significant events (e.g., elements of form, order of themes or phrases, nature of variations) occurring in a given aural example (Adv–6d). 

5. Compare ways in which musical materials (e.g., melody, accompaniment, instrumentation, dynamics) are used in a given example relative to ways in which 

they are used in other works of the same genre or style (Adv–6e). 

6. Analyze and describe uses of the elements in a given musical work that make it 

unique, interesting, and expressive (Adv–6f). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

82 
 

B. Use Notation (Connect What Is Seen With What Is Heard) 

1. Demonstrate the ability to read (e.g., follow a score while listening) an instrumental or vocal score of up to four staves by describing how the elements of 

music are used in the score (Pro–5a) and explaining all transpositions and clefs 

(Adv–5c). 

2. Interpret nonstandard notation symbols used by some 20th-century composers 

(Adv–5d). 

*3. Use standard notation to record the musical ideas of others (Grade 8–5d). 

C. Evaluate Performances and Recommend Improvement 

1. Apply specific criteria for making informed, critical evaluations of the quality 

(technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of performances in their personal participation in music (Pro–7a). 

*2. Evaluate a performance by comparing it to similar or exemplary models (Pro– 

7b). 

*3. Evaluate the quality (technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of others’ 

performances by applying specific criteria appropriate for the style of the music 

and offer constructive suggestions for improvement (Grade 8–7b). 

D. Evaluating Works 

*1. Apply specific criteria for making informed, critical evaluations of the quality 

(technical) and effectiveness (expressive impact) of compositions, arrangements, and improvisations in their participation in music (Pro–7a). 

*2. Evaluate a composition, arrangement, or improvisation by comparing it to similar or exemplary models (Pro–7b). 

*3. Evaluate a given musical work in terms of its aesthetic qualities (e.g., interplay 

of unity and variety, tension/release, balance, overall expressive impact) and 

explain the musical means it uses to evoke feelings and emotions (Adv–7c). 

E. Place Works Within Cultural and Historical Contexts 

*1. Compare characteristics of two or more arts within a particular historical period 

or style and cite examples from various cultures (Pro–8b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

83 
 

*2. Classify by genre or style, and by historical period or culture, unfamiliar but 

representative aural examples of music and explain the reasoning behind their 

classifications (Pro–9a). 

*3. Identify sources of American music genres, trace the evolution of those genres, 

and cite well-known musicians associated with them (Pro–9b). 

*4. Identify several distinct roles that musicians perform, cite representative individuals who have functioned in each role, and describe their activities and 

achievements (Pro–9c). 

5. Identify and explain the stylistic features of a given musical work that serve to 

define its aesthetic tradition and its historical or cultural context (Adv–9d). 

6. Identify and describe several distinct music genres or styles that show the influence of two or more cultural traditions, identify the cultural source of each influence, and trace the historical conditions that produced the synthesis of 

influences (Adv–9e). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

84 
 

THEATRE CONTENT OUTLINE
 

THEATRE, GRADE 4 

I. Creating and Performing 

A. Develop Scripts and Scenarios From Adaptations of Storylines or Objects Presented in Groups of Two to Eight 

(A scenario is an outline of a story.) 

1. Collaborate (students contribute suggestions relevant to the improvisation; they 

listen and accept others’ suggestions) to select interrelated characters, environments, and situations for classroom dramatizations (1a). 

2. Describe characters, their relationships, and their environments in the process of 

developing the script or scenario (2a). 

3. Improvise dialog to tell stories (1b). 

B. Develop Characters in Groups of Two to Eight, Act Out Characters, Their 

Relationships, and Their Environments 

1. Use variations of locomotor and nonlocomotor movement and vocal expression 

(pitch, tempo, and tone) in creating characters (2b). 

2. Assume roles, exhibit concentration, and contribute to the action of classroom 

dramatizations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history (2c). 

C. Make Design Choices To Communicate Locale and Mood 

(Constructing designs, at this level, means creating an environment by arranging materials for classroom dramatizations. The materials could be a table, 

chairs, pieces of fabric, etc., or students might use materials to create objects 

or effects such as using two blocks of wood to sound like a door slamming.) 

1. Construct designs which reflect environments that communicate locale and 

mood using visual elements (such as space, color, line, texture) and aural aspects 

using a variety of sound sources (such as making wind noises with the mouth, 

stamping feet to simulate an army marching) (3a). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

85 
 

2. Collaborate to establish playing spaces for classroom dramatizations and to select and safely organize available materials that suggest scenery, properties, 

lighting, sound, costumes, and makeup (3b). 

D. Direct by Planning Classroom Dramatizations 

1. Collaboratively plan improvisations and a way of staging (organizing) classroom dramatizations (4a). 

II. Responding 

A. Describe and Analyze Artistic Choices in Their Own Dramatic Work 

(Students know that they can and should make choices in all aspects of the 

creating and performing dramatic processes, and that in so doing, they will 

achieve different effects.) 

1. Identify and describe the visual (see), aural (hear), oral (say), and kinetic (do 

with our bodies) elements of classroom dramatizations and dramatic 

performances (7a). 

2. Describe and provide rationales for personal choices in creative and performing 

work (7c). 

3. Analyze classroom dramatizations and constructively suggest alternative ideas 

for dramatizing roles, arranging environments, and developing situations along 

with means of improving the collaborative process of planning, playing, and 

responding (7d). 

B. Describe and Compare Various Elements and Effects of Theatre to Dramatic 

Media (Film and Television) 

1. Describe visual, aural, oral, and kinetic elements in theatre and dramatic media 

such as film and television (6a). 

2. Compare how ideas (e.g., sibling rivalry, respect) and emotions (e.g., sadness, 

anger) are expressed in theatre, film, and television (6b). 

C. Place Work in Context (Personal, Social, Historical, Cultural) 

(Students explain how context is reflected in and influences theatre, film, and 

television.) 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

86 
 

1. Identify and compare similar characters and situations in dramas from and about 

various cultures, and discuss how theatre and dramatic media (film and television) reflect life (8a). 

2. Explain how the wants and needs of characters are similar to and different from 

other people they know (7b). 

D. Evaluate Performances as Audience 

1. Articulate emotional responses to dramatic performances and give reasons for 

those responses (7c). 

2. State a personal preference for certain parts of a dramatic performance and provide reasons to support that preference (7c). 

3. Compare whole performances, stating a personal preference for one over another and providing reasons to support that preference (7c). 

THEATRE, GRADE 8 

I. Creating/Performing 

A. Develop Scripts and Scenarios From Adaptations of Storylines or Create Original Work 

1. Individually and in groups create characters, environments, and actions that create tension and suspense (1a). 

2. Refine and record dialog and action (1b). 

B. Develop Character Through Script Analysis and the Rehearsal Process 

1. Analyze descriptions, dialog, and actions to discover, articulate, and justify 

character motivation and invent character behaviors based on the observation of 

interactions, ethical choices, and emotional responses of people (2a). 

2. Demonstrate acting skills (such as sensory recall, concentration, breath control, 

diction, body alignment, control of isolated body parts) to develop characterizations that suggest artistic choices (2b). 

3. In an ensemble (working compatibly together in groups of 3 or 4), interact as invented characters (ones created by students) (3c). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

87 
 

C. Make Design Choices To Communicate Locale and Mood and Understand the 

Use of Technical Theatre Elements 

1. Explain the functions and interrelated nature of scenery, properties, lighting, 

sound, costumes, and makeup in creating an environment appropriate to drama 

(3a). 

2. Analyze improvised and scripted scenes for technical requirements (necessary 

scenery, properties, special lighting, sound, costumes, and makeup) (3b). 

3. Work collaboratively and safely to select and create elements of scenery, properties, lighting, and sound to signify environments, and costumes and makeup to 

suggest character (3d). 

D. Direct by Interpreting Dramatic Texts and Organizing Time and People in 

Small Groups (2 to 4) in Planning and Rehearsing Improvised and Scripted 

Scenes 

1. Lead small groups in planning design elements and in rehearsing improvised 

and scripted scenes, demonstrating social and consensus skills (4a). 

II. Responding 

A. Describe and Analyze Artistic Choices and Construct Meaning 

(Students should understand dramatic/artistic intentions and actions and their 

social and personal significance, selected and organized from the aural, oral, 

and visual symbols of a dramatic production.) 

1. Articulate and support the meanings constructed from their and others’ dramatic 

performances (7b). 

2. Describe and evaluate the perceived effectiveness of students’ contributions (as 

playwrights, actors, designers, and directors) to the collaborative process of developing improvised and scripted scenes (7d). 

3. Explain the knowledge, skills, and discipline needed to pursue careers and avocational opportunities in theatre, film, and television (8b). 

B. Describe and Compare Elements, Styles, Genres, Media, and Dramatic 

Literature 

1. Describe and compare archetypal characters (those types that have emerged 

from centuries of storytelling, such as the trickster, the villain, the warrior, or 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

88 
 

the superhero) and situations in dramas from and about various artistic styles, 

genres, and historical periods (8a). 

2. Identify the elements of film (composition, movement, sound, editing). 

C. Place Work in Context (Personal, Social, Historical, and Cultural) 

1. Analyze the emotional and social impact of dramatic events in their lives, in the 

community, and in other cultures (8c). 

2. Explain how culture affects the content and production values of dramatic 

performances (8d). 

3. Explain how social concepts such as cooperation, communication, collaboration, 

consensus, self-esteem, risk-taking, sympathy, and empathy apply in theatre and 

daily life (8e). 

D. Evaluate Performances as Audience 

1. Use articulated criteria to describe, analyze, and constructively evaluate the perceived effectiveness of artistic choices found in dramatic performances and 

identify some exemplary artists and works (7c). 

2. Describe and analyze the effect of publicity, study guides, programs, and 

physical environments on audience response and appreciation of dramatic 

performances (7a). 

3. Describe characteristics and compare the presentation of characters, environments, and actions in theatre, musical theatre, and dramatic media (6a). 

THEATRE, GRADE 12 

I. Creating and Performing 

A. Develop Scripts and Scenarios 

1. Construct imaginative scripts and collaborate with actors to refine scripts so that 

story and meaning are conveyed to an audience (Pro–1a). 

2. Write theatre, film, and television scripts that include original characters with 

unique dialog that motivates action (Adv–1b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

89 
 

B. Develop Characters Through an Acting Process 

1. Analyze the physical, emotional, and social dimensions of characters found in 

dramatic texts and from various genres and media (Pro–2a). 

2. In an ensemble, create and sustain characters who communicate with audiences 

(Pro–2c). 

3. Create consistent characters from classical, contemporary, realistic, and nonrealistic dramatic texts in informal theatre productions (Adv–2e). 

C. Make Design and Technical Theatre Choices To Communicate Locale and 

Mood and Understand the Use of Technical Theatre Elements 

1. Sketch designs for a set, lights, costumes, props, or makeup appropriate for a 

scene or a scenario considering the cultural and historical perspectives (Pro– 

3b). 

2. Select music and sound effects to convey environments that clearly support the 

text (Pro–3c). 

3. Design coherent stage management, promotional, or business plans for a 

production (Pro–3e). 

4. Explain how scientific and technological advances have impacted set, lights, 

sound, costume design, and implementation for theatre, film, and television 

productions (Adv–3f). 

5. Collaborate with a director to develop unified production concepts (a brief 

statement, metaphor, or expression of the essential meaning of a play which orders and patterns all parts of the play) that convey the metaphorical nature of the 

drama for theatre, film, or television productions (Adv–3g). 

D. Direct by Interpreting Dramatic Texts and Organizing Time and People in 

Small Groups (3 to 5) in Planning and Rehearsing Improvised and Scripted 

Scenes 

1. Effectively communicate directorial choices to an ensemble for improvised or 

scripted scenes (Pro–4c). 

2. Explain and compare the roles and interrelated responsibilities of the various 

personnel involved in theatre, film, and television productions (e.g., set designers, costumers, camera operators) (Adv–4d). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

90 
 

3. Collaborate with designers and actors to develop aesthetically unified production concepts for theatre, film, or television productions (Adv–4e). 

4. Direct a scene to achieve production goals (Adv–4f). 

II. Responding 

A. Describe and Analyze Artistic Choices and Construct Meaning 

1. Constructively evaluate personal and others’ collaborative efforts and artistic 

choices in theatre productions (Pro–7d). 

2. Analyze the effect of personal cultural experiences on own dramatic work (Pro– 

8d). 

3. Articulate and justify personal aesthetic criteria that compare perceived artistic 

intent with the final aesthetic achievement (Pro–7b). 

B. Describe and Compare Elements of Styles, Genre, Media, and Dramatic 

Literature 

1. Compare how similar themes are treated in drama from various cultures and historical periods, illustrate with informal performances, and discuss how theatre 

can reveal universal concepts (Pro–8a). 

C. Place Work in Context (Personal, Social, Historical, and Cultural) 

1. Identify and compare the lives, works, and influence of representative theatre 

artists in various cultures and historical periods (Pro–8b). 

2. Identify cultural and historical influences on American theatre (Pro–8c). 

3. Analyze the social impact of underrepresented theatre and film artists (e.g., Native American, Hispanic) (Adv–8e). 

D. Evaluate Performances as Audience and Critic 

1. Analyze and critique parts of dramatic performances, taking into account the 

context, and constructively suggest alternative artistic choices (Pro–7c). 

2. Analyze and evaluate critical comments about dramatic work, explaining which 

points are most appropriate to inform further development of the work (Adv– 

7h). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

91 
 

3. Analyze how dramatic forms, production practices, and theatrical traditions influence contemporary theatre, film, and television productions (Adv–8g). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

92 
 

VISUAL ARTS CONTENT OUTLINE
 

VISUAL ARTS, GRADE 4 

I. Creating 

A. Generate Subjects, Themes, Problems, and Ideas for Works of Art and Design 

in Ways That Reflect Knowledge and Understanding of Values (Personal, Social, Cultural, Historical), Aesthetics, and Context 

1. Explore and understand prospective content for works of art and design, selecting the subject matter, symbols, and ideas that are to be communicated (3a). 

2. Demonstrate awareness that the visual arts and design have both a history and 

specific relationship to various cultures (4a). 

3. Demonstrate awareness of how history, culture, the visual arts, and design can 

influence one another in making and studying works of art/design (4c). 

B. Invent and Use Ways of Generating Visual, Spatial, and Temporal Concepts 

in Planning Works of Art and Design 

1. Show development of ideas over time. 

2. Demonstrate knowledge of the difference between materials, techniques, and 

processes (1a). 

3. Show familiarity with and ability to use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories (1c). 

4. Demonstrate knowledge of the differences among visual characteristics and purposes of art to convey ideas (2a). 

5. Plan compositions using specific placement or organization of elements, symbols, and images that communicate the intended meaning or function. 

6. Provide reasons for specific selections and explain means for giving visual form 

to content expressed in words and other forms of communication. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

93 
 

C. Select and Use Form, Media, Techniques, and Processes To Achieve Goodness 

of Fit With the Intended Meaning or Function of Works of Art and Design 

1. Demonstrate ability to use art and design materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner (1d). 

2. Select and use basic media, techniques, and processes with qualities and characteristics that communicate specific ideas. 

3. Use different art and design materials in ways that result in the purposeful use 

of form (lines, shapes, colors, textures, space, etc). 

4. Create compositions using specific placement or organization of elements, symbols, and images. 

D. Experiment With Ideas (Sketches, Models, etc.) Before Final Execution as a 

Method of Evaluation 

1. Attempt multiple solutions to compositional and expressive problems. 

2. Analyze how different compositional and expressive features cause different 

responses (2b). 

3. Simulate, assess, and select prospective ideas (sketches, models, etc.) for development of final works of art and design (3a). 

E. Create a Product That Reflects Ongoing Thoughts, Actions, and New 

Directions 

1. Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories (1c). 

2. Discuss how different materials, techniques, and processes cause different 

responses (1b). 

F. Reflect Upon and Evaluate Their Own Works of Art and Design (i.e., students 

judge the relationship between process and product; the redefinition of current ideas or problems; and the definition of new ideas, problems, and personal directions) 

1. Evaluate final compositions for use of compositional and expressive features. 

2. Demonstrate knowledge of the various purposes and reasons for works of art 

and design based on people’s experiences (cultural backgrounds, human needs, 

etc.) (5a and 5b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

94 
 

3. Propose how works in the visual arts and design affect the way people perceive 

their experiences. 

II. Responding 

A. Describe Works of Art and Design in Ways That Show Knowledge of Form, 

Aesthetics, and Context (Personal, Social, Cultural, Historical) 

1. Identify characteristics of materials and visual, spatial, and temporal structures 

in their works and the works of others. 

2. Provide reasons for an artist’s or designer’s specific selections of content and 

the communication role of visual, spatial, and temporal form in specific works 

of art and design. 

3. Identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, and places (4b). 

4. Describe and compare how people’s experiences (cultural backgrounds, human 

needs, etc.) influence the development of specific art works that differ visually, 

spatially, temporally, and functionally (5b). 

B. Analyze and Interpret Works of Art and Design for Relationships Between 

Form and Context, Form and Meaning or Function, and the Work of Critics, 

Historians, Aestheticians, and Artists/Designers 

1. Analyze and interpret how history, culture, personal experiences, and the visual 

arts and design can influence one another in making and studying works of 

art/design (4c). 

2. Demonstrate knowledge of various purposes and reasons for works of visual art 

and design based on people’s experiences (cultural backgrounds, human needs, 

etc.) (5a and 5b). 

3. Analyze and interpret similarities and differences between characteristics of the 

visual arts and design and other arts disciplines (6a). 

4. Interpret the ways other artists/designers use subject matter, symbols, and ideas 

and speculate on their influences on students’ own work and the work of others. 

5. Analyze how factors of time and place (such as climate, resources, ideas, and 

technology) influence the visual characteristics that give meaning to a work of 

art and design. 

6. Analyze a variety of purposes for creating works of art and design. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

95 
 

C. Articulate Judgments About Works of Art and Design That Reflect Attitudes 

and Prior Knowledge (Description, Analysis, Interpretation) 

1. Judge art and design works that differ visually, spatially, temporally, and functionally and defend how similarities and differences are related to history and 

culture as expressed in human needs and beliefs of the times being considered. 

D. Apply Judgments About Works of Art and Design to Decisions Made in Daily 

Life, Developing a Personal Belief System and World View That Is Informed 

by the Arts 

1. Use different responses to works of visual art and design to form, confirm, or 

change a personal belief system. 

VISUAL ARTS, GRADE 8 

I. Creating 

A. Generate Subjects, Themes, Problems, and Ideas for Works of Art and Design 

in Ways That Reflect Knowledge and Understanding of Values (Personal, Social, Cultural, Historical), Aesthetics, and Context 

1. Speculate and discriminate among various ideas, making the most appropriate 

choices for specific artistic or design purposes. 

2. Interpret and speculate on the ways that others have used subject matter, symbols, and ideas in visual, spatial, or temporal expressions, and how these are 

used to produce meaning or function that is appropriate to their own works. 

3. Analyze the characteristics of art and design works of various eras and cultures 

to discover possible expressions or solutions to problems. 

4. Speculate on how factors of time and place (such as climate, resources, ideas, 

and technology) influence the visual, spatial, or temporal characteristics that 

give meaning or function to a work of art or design (4c). 

B. Invent and Use Ways of Generating Visual, Spatial, and Temporal Concepts 

in Planning Works of Art and Design 

1. Demonstrate the development of ideas across time. 

2. Analyze and consider form, media, techniques, and processes and analyze what 

makes them effective or ineffective in communicating specific ideas (1a). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

96 
 

3. Demonstrate knowledge of how sensory qualities, expressive features, and the 

functions of the visual arts evoke intended responses and uses for works of art 

and design. 

4. Speculate about the effects of visual structures (elements and principles of design) and reflect upon their influence on students’ ideas (2a). 

5. Evaluate and discriminate among various ideas, making the most effective 

choices for specific artistic purposes or design uses. 

C. Select and Use Form, Media, Techniques, and Processes To Achieve Goodness 

of Fit With the Intended Meaning or Function of Works of Art and Design 

1. Experiment, select, and employ form, media, techniques, and processes and analyze what makes them effective or ineffective in communicating ideas (1a). 

2. Utilize knowledge of characteristics of materials and visual, spatial, and temporal structures to solve specific visual arts and design problems. 

3. Interpret the way that others have used form, media, techniques, and processes 

and speculate how these produce meaning or function. 

D. Experiment With Ideas (Sketches, Models, etc.) Before Final Execution as a 

Method of Evaluation 

1. Evaluate, discriminate, and articulate differences among various ideas and 

forms, making the most effective choices for specific artistic purposes or design 

uses. 

2. Simulate and articulate new insights and changes in direction that result from 

representation or simulation of ideas. 

3. Employ organizational structures and analyze what makes them effective or ineffective in the communication of ideas (2b). 

E. Create a Product That Reflects Ongoing Thoughts, Actions, and New 

Directions 

1. Use media, techniques, and processes and analyze what makes them effective or 

ineffective in communicating ideas (1a). 

2. Integrate visual, spatial, and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in their art works (3a). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

97 
 

3. Use subjects, themes, and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics that communicate intended meaning in art works (3b). 

4. Evaluate ideas and artwork throughout the creating process, making the most 

effective choices for specific artistic purposes or design uses. 

F. Reflect Upon and Evaluate Their Own Works of Art and Design (i.e., students 

judge the relationship between process and product; the redefinition of current ideas or problems; and the definition of new ideas, problems, and personal directions) 

1. Evaluate final compositions for use of compositional and expressive features. 

2. Demonstrate knowledge of the various purposes and reasons for works of visual 

art and design based on people’s experiences (cultural backgrounds, human 

needs, etc.). 

3. Propose how works in the visual arts and design affect the way people perceive 

their experiences. 

4. Compare and evaluate the characteristics of works in two or more art forms that 

share similar subject matter, historical period, or cultural context (6a). 

5. Describe new insights that have emerged from process and products of art and 

design that are meaningful to daily life. 

II. Responding 

A. Describe Works of Art and Design in Ways That Show Knowledge of Form, 

Aesthetics, and Context (Personal, Social, Cultural, Historical) 

1. Compare and describe the characteristics of materials and visual, spatial, and 

temporal structures in their works and the works from various eras and cultures 

(4a). 

2. Describe and place a variety of art objects in historical and cultural contexts 

(4b). 

3. Compare and describe multiple purposes for creating works of art and design 

(5a). 

4. Describe contemporary and historic meanings in specific art works through cultural and aesthetic inquiry (5b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

98 
 

5. Describe and compare multiple critical responses to their own art works and to 

art works from various eras and cultures (5c). 

6. Compare the characteristics of works in two or more art forms and arts disciplines that share similar subject matter, historical period, or cultural context 

(6a). 

B. Analyze and Interpret Works of Art and Design for Relationships Between 

Form and Context, Form and Meaning or Function, and the Work of Critics, 

Historians, Aestheticians, and Artists/Designers 

1. Compare and analyze the characteristics of art and design works in various eras 

and cultures (4a). 

2. Analyze and place a variety of art and design objects in historical and cultural 

contexts (4b). 

3. Analyze how factors of time and place (such as climate, resources, ideas, and 

technology) influence the visual characteristics that give meaning and value to a 

work of art and design (4c). 

4. Compare and analyze a variety of purposes for creating works of art and design 

(5a). 

5. Analyze contemporary and historic meanings in specific art works through cultural and aesthetic inquiry (5b). 

6. Compare and analyze multiple critical responses to their own art works and to 

art and design works from various eras and cultures (5c). 

7. Compare and analyze the characteristics of works in two or more arts disciplines that share similar subject matter, historical period, or cultural context 

(6a). 

C. Articulate Judgments About Works of Art and Design That Reflect Attitudes 

and Prior Knowledge (Description, Analysis, Interpretation) 

1. Compare and describe attitudes implicit in their art and design works with the 

characteristics of art works of various eras and cultures (4a). 

2. Compare the characteristics of works in two or more art forms and arts disciplines that share similar subject matter, historical period, or cultural context 

(6a). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

99 
 

D. Apply Judgments About Works of Art and Design to Decisions Made in Daily 

Life, Developing a Personal Belief System and World View That Is Informed 

by the Arts 

1. Propose and articulate how works in the visual arts and design might reflect 

and influence the way people perceive experiences in their lives; and conversely, how people’s experiences influence the development of specific works. 

2. Use different responses to works of art and design to form, confirm, or change a 

personal belief system. 

VISUAL ARTS, GRADE 12 

I. Creating 

A. Generate Subjects, Themes, Problems, and Ideas for Works of Art and Design 

in Ways That Reflect Knowledge and Understanding of Values (Personal, Social, Cultural, Historical), Aesthetics, and Context 

1. Identify a variety of sources for subject matter, symbols, and ideas they wish to 

convey in works of art and design, and select the sources that are most appropriate for the meaning they want to express. 

2. Determine the origin of the ideas and images they have chosen, and explain how 

and why specific choices were made. 

3. Speculate upon multiple solutions to specific visual arts and design problems 

that demonstrate competence in producing effective relationships between intent 

and artistic choices (Adv–2e). 

4. Hypothesize, initiate, and define challenging visual arts problems independently 

using intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Adv 1–d). 

B. Invent and Use Ways of Generating Visual, Spatial, and Temporal Concepts 

in Planning Works of Art and Design 

1. Show development of ideas across time. 

2. Generate ideas for works of art and design that demonstrate an understanding of 

how the communication of ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes 

used (Pro–1b). 

3. Demonstrate skills with several media and processes sufficient to execute plans 

for specific works and reflect on the effectiveness of the result. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

100 
 

4. Create and use relationships among sensory elements, organizational principles, 

expressive features, and functions to solve specific visual arts and design problems (Pro–2c). 

5. Demonstrate the ability to form and defend judgments about the use of characteristics and structures to accomplish specific personal, communal, economic, 

intellectual, and other purposes in works of art and design (Pro–2a). 

6. Integrate subject matter and symbols, art forms, media, composition, and expressive qualities to define and convey their ideas. 

7. Create multiple solutions to specific visual arts problems that demonstrate competence in producing effective relationships between structural choices and artistic functions (Adv–2e). 

C. Select and Use Form, Media, Techniques, and Processes To Achieve Goodness 

of Fit With the Intended Meaning or Function of Works of Art and Design 

1. Demonstrate an understanding of how the communication of their ideas relates 

to the media, techniques, and processes used (Pro–1b). 

2. Communicate ideas effectively in at least one visual arts medium (Adv–1c). 

3. Integrate subject matter and symbols, art forms, media, composition, and expressive qualities to define and convey own ideas. 

4. Create multiple solutions to specific visual arts problems that demonstrate competence in producing effective relationships between structural choices and artistic functions (Adv–2e). 

D. Experiment With Ideas (Sketches, Models, etc.) Before Final Execution as a 

Method of Evaluation 

1. Simulate and analyze sketches, models, etc., for insight into own overall thinking about ideas and problems. 

2. Formulate and articulate changes in direction. 

3. Inform later decisionmaking through the synthesis of insight gained from analysis of previous sketches, models, etc., created in response to other problems or 

ideas. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

101 
 

E. Create a Product That Reflects Ongoing Thoughts, Actions, and New
 

Directions 

1. Apply media, techniques, and processes with sufficient confidence and sensitivity that their intentions are carried out in their art works (Pro–1a). 

2. Assess ideas and art works, making choices that are most effective for specific 

artistic purposes or design use. 

3. Create a series of multiple works in response to specific visual arts and design 

problems that demonstrates competence in producing effective relationships between structural choices and artistic functions (Adv–2e). 

F. Reflect Upon and Evaluate Their Own Works of Art and Design (i.e., students 

judge the relationship between process and product; the redefinition of current ideas or problems; and the definition of new ideas, problems, and personal directions) 

1. Identify intentions of those creating works of visual art and design, explore the 

implications of various choices, and justify their analyses of choices in particular works (Pro–5a). 

2. Describe the meanings and functions of works of art and design through analyses that incorporate knowledge of how specific works are created and structured 

and how they relate to historical, cultural contexts, and aesthetics (Pro–5b). 

3. Reflect analytically on various interpretations as a means for understanding and 

evaluating works of visual art and design (Pro–5c). 

4. Compare the materials, technologies, media, and processes of the visual arts to 

those of other arts disciplines (Pro–6a). 

5. Correlate responses to works of visual art with various techniques for communicating meanings, ideas, attitudes, views, and intentions (Adv–5d). 

6. Synthesize the creative and analytical principles and techniques of the visual 

arts and selected other arts disciplines, the humanities, or the sciences (Adv–6c). 

II. Responding 

A. Describe Works of Art and Design in Ways That Show Knowledge of Form, 

Aesthetics, and Context (Personal, Social, Cultural, Historical) 

1. Describe the function and explore the meaning of specific art and design objects 

within varied cultures, times, and places (Pro–4b). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

102 
 

2. Identify and differentiate among a variety of historical and cultural contexts in 

terms of characteristics and purposes of works of art and design (Pro–4a). 

3. Analyze and interpret art works for relationships among form, context, purposes, 

and critical models, showing understanding of the work of critics, historians, 

aestheticians, and artists (Adv–4d). 

4. Analyze common characteristics of visual arts evident across time and among 

cultural/ethnic groups to formulate analyses, evaluations, and interpretations of 

meaning (Adv–4e). 

B. Analyze and Interpret Works of Art and Design for Relationships Between 

Form and Context, Form and Meaning or Function, and the Work of Critics, 

Historians, Aestheticians, and Artists/Designers 

1. Differentiate and analyze a variety of historical and cultural contexts in terms of 

characteristics and purposes of works of art and design (Pro–4a). 

2. Analyze relationships of works of art to one another in terms of history, aesthetics, and culture, and justify analyses (Pro–4c). 

3. Analyze, evaluate, and defend the validity of sources for content and manner in 

which subject matter, symbols, and images are used in the students’ works and 

in significant works by others (Adv–3d). 

4. Analyze and interpret art works for relationships among form, context, and purposes, showing understanding of the work of critics, historians, aestheticians, 

and artists/designers (Adv–4d). 

5. Analyze common characteristics of visual arts evident across time and among 

cultural/ethnic groups to formulate analyses, evaluations, and interpretations of 

meaning (Adv–4e). 

C. Articulate Judgments About Works of Art and Design That Reflect Attitudes 

and Prior Knowledge (Description, Analysis, Interpretation) 

1. Identify intentions of those creating art works, explore the implications of various purposes, and justify their analyses of purposes in particular works (Pro– 

5a). 

2. Reflect analytically on various interpretations as a means for understanding and 

evaluating works of visual art and design (Pro–5c). 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

103 
 

3. Synthesize and judge the creative and analytical principles and techniques of the 

visual arts and design and selected other arts disciplines, the humanities, or the 

sciences (Adv–6c). 

D. Apply Judgments About Works of Art and Design to Decisions Made in Daily 

Life, Developing a Personal Belief System and World View That Is Informed 

by the Arts 

1. Use different responses to works of art and design to form, confirm, or change a 

personal belief system. 

2. Propose and articulate how works in the visual arts and design might reflect 

and influence the way people perceive experiences in their lives, and conversely, 

how people’s experiences influence the development of specific works. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

104 
 

APPENDIX B 

PUBLIC HEARINGS 

REPORT ON THE FEBRUARY PUBLIC HEARINGS: THE ISSUES PAPER 

SAN FRANCISCO NATIONAL HEARING 

February 4, 1993 

The first national hearing for the 1997 NAEP Arts Education Framework Project was 

held at the San Francisco Hilton and Towers in conjunction with a conference organized 

by the Getty Center for Education in the Arts. Notification for the hearing was disseminated through conference mailings and was timed to coincide with the publication and 

dissemination of the Issues paper that invited testimony at all three hearing sites. The 

press and electronic media in the San Francisco Bay area were informed through traditional media information releases from the public information office of CCSSO. The 

hearing took place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and 36 individuals provided oral testimony. A total of 354 individuals attended the program. 

The invitation to provide testimony was broad and relied on self-identification rather than 

soliciting specific individuals or organizations. The individuals providing oral testimony 

included artists, educators, parents, and administrators. Each was given 5 minutes for a 

presentation, which was scheduled through the project office in Washington, DC. The 

allotted time for the presentation was monitored fairly and adhered to strictly. 

The testimony provided could be classified in three categories of comments: advocacy 

for arts education, comments pertaining to the development of the National Standards, 

and comments that addressed the issues surrounding the development of NAEP. The 

hearings also demonstrated some of the difficulty on the part of those providing the testimony in clearly differentiating the roles of the standards development project and the 

assessment framework development project. 

In addition to the panelists representing the contractor, subcontractors, and the Governing 

Board, the panel invited members of the steering and planning committees who were present to join the panel on a rotating basis to hear the testimony and be recognized as part 

of the assessment framework development process. 

A complete list of individuals who provided the testimony in San Francisco and their 

affiliations, along with a complete transcript of the proceedings, is available from the 

project office. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

105 
 

ORLANDO NATIONAL HEARING 

February 9, 1993 

The second national hearing for the 1997 NAEP Arts Education Framework Project was 

held at the Orlando Marriott in conjunction with a conference organized by NCES and 

the Florida State Department of Education. The press and electronic media in the Orlando 

area were informed through traditional media releases from the public information office 

of CCSSO. Notification for the hearing was also disseminated through local arts education and other education leaders. In addition, project staff participated in local radio features discussing the hearings and the development of the assessment framework. The 

hearing took place from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and 29 individuals provided oral testimony. An effort was made to encourage classroom teachers, parents, and university students to attend and provide testimony. More than 60 individuals attended the program. 

The individuals providing verbal testimony included an international opera star, a representative from the Disney organization in charge of talent recruiting, 9 teachers, 5 parents, 11 students, and 2 administrators. Each was given 5 minutes for a presentation, 

which was scheduled through the project office in Washington, DC. The allotted time for 

the presentation was monitored fairly and adhered to strictly. 

The testimony could be classified in three categories of comments: advocacy for arts education, comments pertaining to the development of the National Standards, and comments that addressed the issues surrounding the development of NAEP. The hearings 

again demonstrated some of the difficulty in clearly differentiating the roles of the standards development project and the assessment framework development project. 

Many of the concerns voiced in Orlando were similar to those heard in San Francisco. 

The presence of 11 university arts education majors from Central Florida University added unique viewpoints from recent graduates of a K–12 educational system. The Florida 

hearings provide an interesting contrast to the broad, general nature of the San Francisco 

group and to the urban contributions from New York City. 

A complete list of individuals who provided the testimony in Orlando and their 

affiliations, along with a complete transcript of the proceedings, is available from the 

project office. 

NEW YORK CITY NATIONAL HEARING 

February 24, 1993 

The third national hearing for the 1997 NAEP Arts Education Framework Project was 

held at the corporate headquarters for New York Metropolitan Life Insurance. The press 

and electronic media in the New York metropolitan area were informed through 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

106 
 

traditional media releases from the public information office of CCSSO. Notification for 

the hearing was also disseminated through local arts education leaders, with help from 

the American Council for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. John 

Merrow from the Public Broadcasting System series “Education Matters” collected some 

interview material during the proceedings, which were aired on his program in March. 

The hearing took place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and 32 individuals provided oral testimony. 

The effort in New York was directed at attracting a broad spectrum of individuals and 

organizations to attend and provide testimony. More than 150 individuals attended the 

program. 

The individuals providing oral testimony included 19 people representing arts organizations and associations and 8 arts educators. The rest of the testimony was provided by 

people representing special interest groups, from arts education organizations to special 

learner needs. Each was given 5 minutes for a presentation, which was scheduled through 

the project office in Washington, DC. The allotted time for the presentation was monitored fairly and adhered to strictly by A. Graham Down, the moderator for the 

hearing. 

As in the previous two hearings, the testimony could be classified in three categories of 

comments: advocacy for arts education, comments pertaining to the development of the 

National Standards, and comments that addressed the issues surrounding the development of NAEP. The testimony in this hearing again demonstrated the difficulty in clearly 

differentiating the standards development project and the assessment framework development project. 

A complete list of individuals who provided the testimony in New York and their 

affiliations, along with a complete transcript of the proceedings, is available from the 

project office. 

REPORT ON THE OCTOBER PUBLIC HEARINGS 

NATIONAL REVIEW OF THE ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK DRAFT 

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, HEARING 

October 1, 1993 

The first national hearing to gather public input on the draft of the assessment framework 

was held at the Seattle Art Museum, with assistance from the Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction for the State of Washington. The hearing was also held in conjunction with a meeting of the Superintendent’s Arts Education Advisory Commission 

and a statewide meeting of the Washington Alliance for Arts Education. The press and 

electronic media in the Seattle area were informed through traditional media information 

releases from the public information office of CCSSO. The hearing took place from 2 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

107 
 

p.m. to 6 p.m., and 30 individuals provided oral testimony. A total of 67 individuals attended the program. 

The invitation to provide testimony was included in the mailing of the draft framework 

document to approximately 3,500 individuals and organizations and was supplemented 

by a special distribution by Gina May, arts education specialist for the Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction. Individuals providing verbal testimony included artists, educators, parents, and administrators. Each was given 5 minutes for a presentation, 

which was scheduled through the project office in Washington, DC. The allotted time for 

the presentation was monitored and adhered to by the chair of the hearing panel, Ramsay 

Selden of CCSSO. The panel also included Deborah Brzoska from Vancouver, Washington, member of the NAEP planning committee; Barbara Wills from Seattle, Washington, 

and Kelvin Yazzie from Flagstaff, Arizona, members of the NAEP steering committee; 

Joan Peterson, representing the College Board; Gina May from the Office of the State 

Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Frank Philip, the NAEP project coordinator 

from CCSSO. 

The hearing began with a welcome from Judith Billings, the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

A complete list of individuals who provided testimony in Seattle and their affiliations, 

along with a complete transcript of the proceedings, is available from the project office. 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, HEARING 

October 5, 1993 

The second hearing to gather public input on the draft of the assessment framework was 

held at the Art Institute of Chicago, with assistance from the Office of Museum Education (Ronne Hartfield, executive director). The press and electronic media in the Chicago 

area were informed through traditional media information releases from the information 

office of CCSSO. The hearing took place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 25 individuals provided oral testimony. A total of 61 individuals attended the program. 

The invitation to provide testimony was included in the mailing of the draft framework 

document to approximately 3,500 individuals and organizations and was supplemented 

by special invitations from the project staff and the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education 

(Nadine Saitlin, executive director). Individuals providing verbal testimony included 

artists, educators, parents, and administrators. Each was given 5 minutes for a 

presentation, which was scheduled through the project office in Washington, DC. The 

allotted time for the presentation was monitored and adhered to by the chair of the 

hearing panel, A. Graham Down, president of the Council for Basic Education and 

cochair of the NAEP steering committee. The panel also included Jerry Hausman, Ronne 

Hartfield, and Adrienne Bailey, members of the NAEP steering committee from Chicago; 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

108 
 

Laurel Serleth, Laura Salazar, and Ruth Ann Teague, members of the NAEP planning 

committee; Carol Myford, representing the Educational Testing Service and the College 

Board; and Frank Philip, the NAEP project coordinator from CCSSO. 

The hearing began with a welcome from Ronne Hartfield and an explanation of the process by Frank Philip before being turned over to the chair, A. Graham Down. 

A complete list of individuals who provided testimony in Chicago and their affiliations, 

along with a complete transcript of the proceedings, is available from the project office. 

WASHINGTON, DC, HEARING 

October 7, 1993 

The third and final hearing to gather public input on the draft of the assessment framework was held in Washington, DC, at the American Film Institute Theatre at the John F. 

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with assistance from the Alliance for Arts Education and the Arts Education Partnerships Working Group. The hearing coincided with a 

national meeting of state representatives for the Alliance for Arts Education that was held 

in Washington on October 7–9, 1993. The press and electronic media in the Washington 

area were informed through traditional media information releases from the public information office of CCSSO. The hearing took place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., with 14 individuals providing oral testimony. Apparently due to a musicians’ strike at the Kennedy 

Center, many of the individuals who originally signed up decided not to cross the picket 

line. A total of 73 individuals attended the program. 

The invitation to provide testimony was included in the mailing of the draft framework 

document to approximately 3,500 individuals and organizations and was supplemented 

by special invitations from the project staff and the office of the Alliance for Arts Education at the Kennedy Center. Individuals providing oral testimony included artists, educators, parents, and administrators. Each was given 5 minutes for a presentation, which was 

scheduled through the project office in Washington, DC. The allotted time for the presentation was monitored and adhered to by the chairs of the hearing panel: A. Graham 

Down, president of the Council for Basic Education, and Ramsay Selden of CCSSO, who 

also cochairs the NAEP steering committee. 

The panel also included members of the NAEP steering committee: Harry Clark from 

Pittsburgh; Ed Gero, Tom Hatfield, Rebbecca Hutton, and David O’Fallon from the 

Washington, DC, area; Claudette Morton, a member of the NAEP planning committee 

from Montana; Michael Sikes, representing the National Endowment for the Arts; Mary 

Crovo, representing the Governing Board; Ruth Mitchell, a consultant to the project; and 

Frank Philip, the NAEP project coordinator from CCSSO. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

109 
 

The hearing began with a welcome from David O’Fallon from the Arts Education Partnerships Working Group and an explanation of the process by Ramsay Selden before beginning the testimony. 

A complete list of individuals who provided testimony in Washington, DC, and their 

affiliations, along with a complete transcript of the proceedings, is available from the 

project office. 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

110 
 

APPENDIX C 

PLANNING: SCHEDULES AND TIMELINES 

SIGNIFICANT DATES FOR THE STEERING AND PLANNING COMMITTEES 

STEERING COMMITTEE MEETINGS 

Dates Location Notes 

January 19–20, 1993 Baltimore, MD Organizational Meeting 

•	 Receive overview and charge 

•	 Formulate guidelines 

•	 Meet with planning committee 

August 9–10, 1993 Washington, DC Mid-Project Meeting 

•	 Review draft of framework for 

national review and public hearings 

•	 Provide suggestions for drafts of 

framework and review progress of 

documents for specifications, 

background variables, and reporting 

formats 

•	 Meet with planning committee 

January 11–12, 1994 Washington, DC Final Meeting 

•	 Review final draft of framework and 

other documents 

•	 Provide suggestions for drafts and 

conditional approval 

•	 Meet with planning committee 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

111 
 

PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETINGS 

Dates Location Notes 

January 20–21, 1993 Baltimore, MD Organizational Meeting 

•	 Meet with steering committee 

•	 Receive overview and charge 

•	 Formulate structure for working 

March 9–11, 1993 Crystal City, VA Second Meeting 

•	 Initial development of framework 

•	 Working group sessions 

May 21–23, 1993 Washington, DC Third Meeting 

•	 Draft development 

August 10–12, 1993 Washington, DC Mid-Project Meeting 

•	 Meet with steering committee 

•	 Review suggestions for refinement 

•	 Finalize framework for national 

review and public hearings 

November 1–3, 1993 Washington, DC Fifth Meeting 

•	 Review input from the public 

hearings 

•	 Refine draft of framework 

•	 Review and refine drafts of the 

specifications, background 

variables, and reporting formats 

January 12–14, 1994 Washington, DC Final Meeting 

•	 Meet with steering committee 

•	 Finalize all documents for final 

approval or acceptance by 

the Governing Board 

NAEP 2008 ARTS FRAMEWORK 

112