Merging the Ideal with Reality: Reflecting on the NAEP 1997 Arts Assessment and Looking toward 2008.

Reviews the technical issues associated with item development and scaling that resulted from striving to provide the arts community with an authentic assessment of students' abilities in the arts. Purpose and design of the U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress 1997 Arts Assessment; Use of four-bar phrase performance-based items; Need for the music education community to determine whether measuring the music achievement of students who study music better informs instruction and shapes policy.