With its inevitable dependency on the essential, and often contested, nature of art, the subject of assessment or evaluation in art and design education remains a matter of continuing controversy. This collection of essays examines the principal issues as they relate to the main phases of formal education, from primary to post-compulsory. Together, the papers provide an historical and philosophical analysis of the present state of assessment in art and design in our schools and colleges, and significantly, they map out some possible directions for reform.

| Due to the inevitably subjective nature of art, the issue of evaluating the work of art students will always be controversial. In The Problem of Assessment in Art and Design, a distinguished group of art educators and experts examine this divisive topic across the educational spectrum, from elementary schools to university campuses. This volume analyzes the present state of art and design assessment from both historical and philosophical perspectives, pointing the way toward possible directions for reform and reconciling the conflict between objective evaluation and individual creativity. "The chapters provide an historical and philosophical analysis of the present state of assessment in art and design in England where assessment in art and design is considered to be essential, but where the assessment procedures are controversial and vehemently contested. Without providing any practical, definitive answers the authors map out some possible directions for reform."—Teresa Eça, Apecv, Portugal