A Quartile Analysis of Selected Variables From the 2008 NAEP Visual Arts Report Card

Abstract

This article reports the results of a quartile analysis of the 2008 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Visual Arts Report Card. The analysis was made from original datasets supplied by the National Center for Education Statistics. It focuses on 8th-grade students who were currently taking art or recently had taken art. Fourteen Responding and Creating variables are reported in this article. Of the 14 variables, four Responding variables and four Creating variables were found statistically significant. Three Responding and Creating variables were mutually significant. Statistically significant results were found, including Painting and Drawing, Making Art from Clay, Weekly Homework, and Visiting a Museum or Gallery. The analysis suggests that studio production remains a strong component in the art curriculum, and homework assignments and museum visits also can contribute to students’ art education. Several areas where students never or hardly ever have experiences are also identified. Comparisons are drawn between the findings from the 2008 NAEP Visual Report Card (Keiper, Sandene, Perskey, & Kuang, 2009b) and the expectations of the 2014 NCCAS National Core Art Standards for the future.

Acknowledgment

The author thanks Dr. Edward Boone, Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, for his invaluable statistical and technical assistance.

Notes

¹ National Center for Education Statistics (2008), Instructions for a Creative Task in the 2008 NAEP Visual Arts Survey, state the following: “Now put your white drawing paper, oil pastels, a mirror, and your charcoal pencil in front of you. Think about how you could communicate something important about your personality by drawing your face and upper body (boldface in original). Using the materials in any way you choose, create a self-portrait that will communicate to a viewer something you think is important about your personality. You may use the mirror if you wish.” Retrieved from nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrlsx/search.aspx?subject=arts

² In 1995, the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations published Tomhave’s Opportunity-to-Learn: Standards for Arts Education. Opportunity-to-Learn lays out standards for dance, music, theater, and visual arts education that schools were encouraged to follow. Three main areas—curriculum and scheduling, staffing, and materials and equipment—were broadly outlined. While The 2014 NCCAS National Visual Arts Standards is more specific and prescriptive, there are some similarities between the two.

³ This is the only place in the entire NCCAS National Visual Arts Standards where the phrase “group identity” appears.