Assessment-informed arts leadership for global school contexts.
Meridian Institute for Arts & Inquiry advances rigorous, inquiry-driven arts education across international and American contexts. Grounded in pragmatic philosophy and global scholarship, the Institute partners with schools, educators, and emerging scholars to design programs that integrate studio practice, academic rigor, and international mindedness.
Services
Hybrid by design: school-facing advisory work and selective, premium student mentorship—grounded in rigorous studio evidence. Meridian supports arts departments seeking sustainable guardrails that enable routine internal calibration and evidentiary clarity across teams.
School advisory & program design
IB- and AP-aligned arts program development, assessment structures, and faculty coaching for international and U.S. contexts.
- Curriculum maps, unit architecture, portfolio expectations
- Studio documentation systems that demonstrate growth over time
- Department workshops: critique culture & evidence routines
Assessment-informed calibration coaching
Advisory support that strengthens internal reliability, clarity, and defensibility in studio assessment—without claiming “official scoring.”
- Rubric interpretation and scoring conversations
- Inter-rater consistency coaching (team-based routines)
- Evidence selection: what “counts” and how to document it
Anonymous third-party opinion (teacher-submitted)
A structured, anonymized submission pathway for teachers who want an external perspective to support calibration and student growth.
- Rubric-aligned narrative feedback (advisory)
- Strengths, growth levers, evidence/documentation guidance
- Team calibration questions to support internal consistency
AP / IB student mentorship (selective)
Premium coaching to strengthen inquiry, sustained investigation, documentation, and final portfolio coherence.
- Inquiry design, critique cycles, and revision strategy
- Process evidence planning (photos, writing, iteration)
- Final coherence review and exhibition/portfolio readiness
Approach
Meridian treats the studio as a laboratory: inquiry, iteration, critique, and reflection become defensible evidence of learning.
The Meridian studio cycle
We help schools and teachers move from “good work” to “clear evidence,” aligning artistic ambition with disciplined documentation and standards-informed assessment.
- Inquiry framing: questions that sustain a body of work
- Making & iteration: drafts, decisions, and revision
- Critique protocols: feedback that changes outcomes
- Evidence curation: documentation that demonstrates growth
What schools get
Clear artifacts and systems: documentation routines, rubric conversations, and a sustainable plan for internal calibration—without relying on isolated scoring decisions.
Leadership
Meridian Institute for Arts & Inquiry was formed in response to a recurring need voiced by teachers and school leaders across multiple continents: clear guardrails in studio assessment—structures that support routine internal calibration, evidentiary clarity, and team-wide consistency across international curricula.
Dr. Lorne Brandt, PhD, NBCT
Founder & Lead Consultant
Dr. Brandt is a National Board Certified Teacher and educational leader with more than two decades of experience in arts education across American and international school contexts. His work integrates studio practice, inquiry-driven pedagogy, and disciplined assessment design aligned with global educational frameworks, including IB and AP programs.
In addition to leading arts programs internationally, Dr. Brandt serves in national assessment leadership roles supporting assessor training and evidence-based evaluation practices. His professional focus centers on strengthening the internal systems schools use to interpret rubrics, document growth, and conduct routine calibration conversations across teaching teams.
Meridian reflects this integration of philosophy, practice, and assessment literacy—supporting schools in building sustainable, defensible studio assessment structures.
Contact
Request an advisory conversation. Netlify will capture submissions automatically.
Scope note: Meridian provides advisory feedback and program support. The Institute does not represent IB, College Board, National Board, or any official scoring body.