I have to get this off my chest , I just had a ridiculous experience with the scam company Pearson. The last time I took the CSET Art 1 I failed by 2 points, so I decided to study my butt off and crush the test in this go. So the Art Cset 1 is 40 multiple choice and 3 essay/drawing questions. So i feel pumped and ready for the multiple choice, this is where i've done the best. However what kind of questions did they ask? Out of the 40 questions ONE was about a painting, and only one other was about a Roman statue. that's 2/40. I spent Months learning about all the major painting and works of art throughout history, The names of famous artist, when they were alive, their works, the names of each respective art movement and details about each movement, and I get TWO questions about Art. Not ONE question about the Elements of Art or Principles of Design. Instead I get questions about "What's the job of a museum curator, what is the jobs of someone setting up a arts and crafts fair, what is the duty of someone setting up and Art exhibit. What is the name of the tool used to restore old paint, what is the best camera lens for X ". I honestly thought there was a mistake and maybe I got the wrong exam. As for the 3 essay questions, One was about writing about how i would create a art piece based of another art piece and the last two were drawings I had to make. I felt like Pearson just rugpulled months of my hard work. i really wish there was another option besides this scam company that his been in litigation for their fail for profit model. All this crap I learned for absolutely no reason.
That is one of the issues with a single test for a broad topic. It’s darned near impossible for you to predict exactly what will show up on the test. I’ve also worked for Pearson vetting test questions, and I was amazed at some of the absolute crap test questions that made it through the prior checkpoints. One of the reasons that I never bothered to study for standardized tests is because I didn’t feel like it was the best use of my time. I just relied on what I learned in my classes to get me through.
So many test answers never seem to apply to our job anyways. I have talked to several other teachers and we just laugh about all the stuff we learned about Piaget, Bandura, etc.. and how we can't remember jack about these guys none of it has helped us in the classroom. Like taking an art test with a question about the parts of a Gutenburg press. WHAT school would have a museum piece like this in the classroom? Wouldn't it be better to get a question about Adobe software? I smoked the art Praxis but one type of question always bothered me. Something like: "Juan, Leticia, and D'Wane are special needs students in your art class. What is the best way to teach them about Diego Rivera?" I chose a group mural. WRONG. The correct answer was "individualized instruction with accommodations recommended in their IEP". Sorry, but that just not me. I'm the kind of art teacher who wants to see them engaged, hands-on, working as a team, and inspired by their peers.
