Patrick Hait
Philosophy of Assessment in Music

            As an educator, it is my obligation to do the best I possibly can to make sure my students succeed in the outside world.  Furthermore, as a music educator it is my responsibility to impart as much knowledge onto my students and assure their long-term understanding of the material.  It is my belief that as my students assimilate the musical knowledge and skills that I have to offer them into their minds, they will become more attentive and critical to their surroundings in academia and in their daily lives.  One of the key elements of musical instruction that must not be overlooked is assessment.  This component of the educational process is essential because it provides a measure of how well the teacher communicated the material and of how well the students retain it.

As an educator in such a subjective field, it is important to remain objective with a strong focus on a sequential, standards based learning process.  A clear philosophy on the necessity and approach to assessment in music can do many things to bolster the strength of a program.  If an assessment strategy is employed correctly, it can aid the teacher in finding long term learning difficulties in particular students.  If some students are having particular difficulties in developing a particular skill, a solution may be identified through consultation with other teachers who have contact with this student.  Furthermore, an assessment strategy paired with good record keeping can also allow the teacher to track a students’ progress on a weekly basis.

            I am currently teaching fourth grade beginning band in two different elementary schools in Central Islip, New York.  Over the past year, I have found it necessary to design and implement a comprehensive assessment plan that allows me to keep detailed records regarding student growth and achievement.  The assessment plan that I derived focuses on three areas of the beginning musicians’ development: Tone Quality, Technique (Tonguing, Breathing and Fingering) and Reading Music.  The scoring rubric that was developed contains scores from 1 (well below expectations) to 5 (above expectations).  These scores generally mirror those found in elementary school report cards and New York State tests.  A copy of the rubric may be found at the bottom of this document.

            The criterion that was devised for each particular grade within the rubric is a work in progress.  One of the difficulties that I have encountered in its development has been exactly how to distinguish between the different levels of mastery on a consistent basis.  It was also difficult to decide on whether to grade a student on improvement, skill or effort.  Through some research in the subject of assessment, combined with my own thoughts, I feel that it is necessary to grade the students based upon their skill level.  As a teacher, it is my job to be sure that the students are learning and can retain the information from week to week.  As I teach the students a physical skill such as breathing or fingering, I expect them to master this learned behavior in a given amount of time.  It is clear that some students take longer to learn and master a particular technique, however in order to score a 4 or 5 on that section of the lesson grade, they must have prepared and practiced appropriately.

            I feel that it is important that the students know exactly how they are being assessed.  If the students know that they are graded on tone quality, technique and note reading, they will work diligently in those areas to strive to achieve a good grade.  In my experience, I have found that some students will ask for their grades every week or so to see if they have improved.  At that time, I will be able to have a short conversation with the student about his or her improvement and suggest a plan for further development.  This method of record keeping also allows me to track the students who struggle from week to week.  If I notice an improvement in a particular area, such as note reading, I can give the student positive feedback in that particular area and try to push him to succeed in other areas.

Patrick Hait's Philosophy of Assessment in Music can be opened or saved as a Microsoft Word document by clicking or right-clicking on this link.

This is the rubric that is used for each students' weekly assessment.

Three grades per student are recorded on the following chart in my grade book.  One grade for Tone Quality, one for Technique and one for Reading Music.

Each week the students fill out a practice journal.  This journal is also signed by their parents.  This allows me to see how much time the student spends practicing each day.  It also allows me to communicate to the parents about how well their child is doing in lessons.

The following hyperlinks are documents that I found to be of interest.
http://www.pz.harvard.edu/Research/PROPEL.htm
http://www.theatreinmotion.com/resources.htm
http://www.artsobservatory.org/Educational Theories 2004/1.5 Multiple Intelligences Educ.pdf

QCP 6 KSD NYSSTEP vii INTASC 8

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