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High School Performance Model Cornerstone Assessments

A Model Cornerstone Assessment is a model of assessment with guidance for instruction which may be customized for use in your classroom.  Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs) are aligned to the National Theatre Standards and illustrated with examples of adjudicated student work.  MCAs have been created for high school in both performing and technical theatre tasks at three levels: proficient, accomplished and advanced. 

Advanced Acting Performance: High School Advanced Model Cornerstone Assessment

MCA Title:  Acting Performance
Grade: High School Advanced III
Artistic Processes:  Performing, Creating, Responding, Connecting

Task Description: Student will analyze the text of a published, scripted play, scene or monologue and apply performance skills to create a believable character in performance that might be presented to an audience. No more than five minutes of the performance will be video-recorded. The student will then receive feedback/critique from his or her peers and teacher before viewing the video and reflecting upon it and his or her work.

"Acting Performance" demonstrates ways to measure student learning in theatre using the development of a performance as a tool for instruction and assessment. This Model Cornerstone Assessment (MCA) is based on a unit which was piloted in a variety of classrooms across the nation. Although in an MCA the emphasis is on the evaluation tools, an MCA does offer enough information for any teacher to create a similar unit of their own. Click on "View the full MCA" below to see strategies for embedding in instruction as a guide for re-creating this unit and assessment customized for your classroom. 

MCAs model effective assessment practice and demonstrate that teaching theatre is specific, rigorous, and measurable by sharing a glimpse into one teacher's classroom. The MCAs on this website come packaged with a suggested strategy for assessing student learning, types of evidence to collect, model rubrics, and samples of student work demonstrating their process and learning. The samples of student work illustrate the unit in action by providing a snapshot of a moment in time showing student response to instruction.

View the full MCA

Illustrating the Process: Sample of Student Work

Illustrating the Process: Measuring Student Learning

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Additional Tools and Materials

View and download the MCA and any additional materials.

  • HS-III Acting Performance Model Cornerstone Assessment Unit
    This model cornerstone assessment document describes the unit and offers guidance for teaching and improvised performance pieces and assessing student learning. Use the rubric along with any student work samples and additional materials to understand how to use this unit.
    Download
  • HS-III Advanced Acting Student Reflection
    This student reflection accompanies the student performance as evidence of student learning.
    Download

Additional Model Cornerstone Assessments

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