Standards Based Assessments

Last week I was at the National Art Education Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. I went to as many sessions as I could about standards based assessment. There are many art teachers out there using standards for their assessments, and the goal is to document growth. In early childhood everything we do with children is about growth. Oh the places we go and the things they are learning! It is amazing what these little people  learn.  Everything I teach is based on the art standards.  Those are important, but more important  are the experiences in art class, working on skills and problem solving. I have been having discussions with my administrator on giving a grade for student work in first and second grade based on standards. I am afraid it will take me a lot of convincing to accept this whole graded report card concept for little kids.