Realistic Assessment in the Music ClassroomMaking it work for you and your students

TENNESSEE

THE HEART OF ARTS EDUCATION REFORM

Why Assess? To ensure that students are

meeting goalsData collection informs our

teachingTo provide feedback for students,

parents and other stakeholdersTo advocate for our programsBecause it may be required

Assessment v. EvaluationAssessment: Measure of the

learner’s performanceEvaluation: Description of that

performance in relation to other learners or according to a continuum of labels (grades)

Ways to assessFormative (ongoing; can be

formal or informal)Summative (end of unit, grade or

program; usually formal)

Changing the way we view assessmentCurriculum, instruction and

assessment/evaluation are inextricably woven

Teachers should incorporate information from assessment into their teaching IN THE MOMENT.

Changing the way we view assessmentAssessment should happen by

having students perform alone, provide explanations in class, and use the information and skills they are working on by applying them in ways that have not been explicitly taught. Often. (Duke, 2009)

Changing the way we view assessmentDay-to-day activities should

closely resemble the assessments themselves.

Objectives and assessment criterion should be the same thing! Objectives should be stated in observable behaviors

“Teaching to the Test” is fine, as long as it’s a good test!

Tools for assessmentChecklistsRubricsPortfolios

Obstacles to OvercomeOur evaluation based cultureTeacher timeStudent-perceived consequences

of the assessment (My GPA will suffer! I’ll be grounded! I’m embarrassed! I didn’t get first chair!)

Striking the “knowing v. doing” balance

Tools for assessment

ChecklistsUsed for assessing skills on a

“Yes” or “No” basis or a simple Likert scale

Simple and easy to collect. Can be tough to translate to a

grade.No middle ground.

Sample Checklistsfile://localhost/Users/jonathanves

t/Desktop/CHORAL MUSIC ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST.docx

file://localhost/Users/jonathanvest/Desktop/RECORDER ASSESSMENT.docx

Tools for assessment

RubricsUsed to give more detailed

feedbackGive students and teachers

specific things to target during the lesson

Easy to translate to a letter/number grade

Sometimes difficult to write. Can get complicated rather

quickly.

Sample Rubricfile://localhost/Users/jonathanves

t/Desktop/MS Band Rubric.docx

Portfolios

Arts Education Teachers are now being evaluated on student work. Teachers are to collect artifacts from a purposeful sampling of students to be evaluated by a team of trained music educators. Teachers must show evidence of that students are:

Creating PerformingRespondingConnecting

How will we demonstrate this? Video and audio data of group

and individual performancesWritten responses to music,

about music and about musical choices

Notated student musical work (compositions and arrangements.)

Technology in AssessmentSmart Musichttp://www.smartmusic.com/products/educators/

Audacityhttp://audacity.sourceforge.net/about/

Electronic Gradebookshttp://gradebookapp.com/

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For copies of this presentation or other questions, please email me!

Johnathan VestThe University of TN at Martin

jvest@utm.edu