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OPDI-103

Foundations for Assessments in Dance

Male ballet teacher talking to 4 male ballet students

Professor: Dr. Rima Faber

Tuition: $550 member / $625 non-member

12 Weeks; 3 NDEO-Endorsed PDCs

Consider the following:

1) Grants are now requiring assessment procedures that are academically sound

2) Most dance educators have never been trained to clearly determine student achievement nor learned how to foster improvement through assessments techniques

3) For teachers who received certification a good while ago, assessment procedures have changed greatly in the past decade, especially for dance educators

4) New teacher evaluation systems being considered by many states are based on proof of student learning.

This course is based on authentic assessment experiences that you can use in your dance classes. Some questions explored are: What is assessment? What functions do assessments serve? How are different types of assessment tools developed and used? How can assessments measure student learning and growth?

This course helps teachers understand their students using formative, summative and authentic assessments. Students will use a wide variety of assessment techniques, tools, and instruments to support their learning process, build their own assessments in dance, and construct traditional educational testing instruments. Previous understanding of national, state, or district dance standards is helpful.

Two Books Required:

1) Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know, 9th ed. by James Popham (2019). USA: Available on Amazon. Electronic available from Pearson

2) How to Create and Use Rubrics by Susan M. Brookhart (2013) Alexandria, VA: Available on www.ASCD.org. . 

Questions about this Course?  Email opdi@ndeo.org

Past Student Testimonials

"Learning about official requirements for teachers in schools opened my eyes to many dynamics that were not clear to me prior to taking this course. The primary value for me, however was to become far more systematic about how I perceive dancers while they are learning and to now have many strategies for providing feedback to dancers that were far less organized before. The adaptations I now see fit for my teaching will take some time to assimilate, but I consider this course's learning a significant positive change for the way I teach."

"This course provided me with a deeper understanding of assessments and of implementation of assessments. I really like this course because it was relevant in real time to my work as a dance educator."

"I really liked the amount of interaction between me and Dr. Faber with the comments and feedback she gave. I tried to give back, but I was definitely receiving much more than I was giving."

"This course helped give an incredible boost to my teaching tool belt. It gave practical ways to write and utilize assessments, and has given me so many new resources and ideas that I'll revisit over and over again."

"The professor was thorough yet encouraging with feedback. The “forced” interaction with other students through discussion boards was a great way to help bounce ideas off each other and actually open up topics for discussion."

"I wasn't sure whether this course would benefit me as a teacher, but I discovered that it certainly will. Even though I teach in a private studio setting, I believe that I can apply much of what I have learned in this class."

Professor Bio

DR. RIMA FABER, PhD, MA, BA - Rima returned to academia after a full career as performer, choreographer, director of several performing companies, and founder and director of the Primary Movers Dance School and Company (1979-2000). Her thesis focused on kinesthetic learning for primary school age children and centered on cutting edge research in cognitive and brain development. Her dissertation researched the philosophic and pedagogical principles of the National Standards for Dance Education. She taught in DC Public Schools from 1980-1997. In the mid- and late 1990s, Rima worked with National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on developing, facilitating, and implementing the national assessments in arts education. Rima is the founding President and Interim-Executive Director of the National Dance Education Organization, where she served as Program Director for 12 years. At NDEO, she led the development of Standards for Dance in Early Childhood, the NDEO 2005 Standards for Dance Education in the Arts, and chairs the Dance Task Force for Dance for the National Core Arts Standards in Dance. She served as Research Director in NDEO’s research initiative Research in Dance Education and was co-editor for Priorities for Research in Dance Education: A Report to the Nation. She has presented her research regularly at conferences since 1996. She founded and was President of Capital Region Educators of Dance Organization (CREDO) before it morphed into the Maryland Dance Education Association (MDEA), served on the Advisory Boards of a number of prominent local and national dance organizations, and is actively on the Advisory Board of Dance Teacher+ magazine. Her teaching in higher education includes Montgomery Community College, American University, New York University, and is entering her seventh year in a summer residency at the University of Northern Colorado. In 2002, she received the NDEO Visionary Award, in 2004, was admitted into the American University Performing Arts Hall of Fame, presented the DanceMetro DC Dance Educator Award in 2006, and honored by a Lifetime Achievement Award from NDEO in 2014. Faber developed her first online distance learning course in 2010 and has taught for Rutgers University, George Washington University, and consistently in OPDI. Faber continues to create numerous innovative curricula and professional development programs that can inspire and promote the full depth, scope, and joy of dance!

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