How Do I Get Graded?

Hello Parents:
I am Jennifer Heyser, your child's art teacher at Woodland. I would like to explain to you how your child is graded in art. Children will receive a subject grade and a conduct grade in art four times a year.

Art Education in Fulton County is based on an approach known as Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE). It is important to understand we do not grade children's artwork, rather, we grade art learning. Discipline-based art education draws its contents from four areas of instruction:
1) Art Production (making art)
2) Art History (exploring artistic heritage of many cultures)
3) Art Criticism (analyzing the qualities and features of art)
4) Aesthetics (thinking about art and making well-reasoned judgements about art)

Evaluating progress in art education is complex. Evaluating artistic growth in artistic expression, art knowledge, skills mastered, and attitudes enriched, as well as conduct and social behavior in the art class, can provide a profile of your child's total progress in art and help me guide him/her to further growth. A variety of ways are used to assess progress at the elementary level, such as quizzes, demonstration, discussion, sketchbooks, and my own observations.

It is important to keep in mind that it is not your child's artwork that is being graded, but your child's progress in art learning. If you have any questions about our art education program, please do not hesitate to contact me at school. Thank you! We are going to have an excellent school year!