Painless Assessment in the Music Classroom

1. Quick and Easy Ways to Assess while Supporting, Not Interrupting, Your Performance and Rehearsal Agenda Painless Assessment in the Music Classroom

2. Assessment Fundamentals • What is assessment? • What are some examples? • Why do we assess? • Who uses the results of assessments?

3. Assess what you teach • Assess based on your daily musical objectives • Typical beginning band, orchestra, etc.: lines from a method book, scales • Typical ensemble with experienced students: assess the literature students are preparing, scales, rudiments, technical etudes • Jazz ensemble: improvisational skills

4. What do you assess? • Now that you have the material selected, what do you listen for? • Correct pitches and rhythm – what else?

5. Practice Assessment • Read your rating sheet • Listen to the recording • Assess what you heard • How did we rate our clarinettist? Please share your total score at the bottom.

6. Define your expectations • What might be good for a beginner might not be good for an experienced student! • Formative versus summative assessment • Summative – final ranking, trophy, medal, etc. No information provided, just results • Formative – informs the student of how they did, where they were strong, where they were weak

7. Formative Assessment • What do your numbers mean? • Formative assessment leads to positive growth – but how do you inform the student? • Write detailed feedback for each student • Record yourself giving commentary as they play • Use a rubric

8. Designing the Rubric • The criteria on the rubric should reflect your priorities • How many criteria? • What ratings do you use? • Letters (A, B, C, D, F) • Qualitative Descriptors (Superior, Excellent, Good) • Numbers (1-3, 1-5, 1-100)? • 1-3 doesn’t differentiate between students clearly • 1-100 is too much: what is the difference between an 84 and an 83?

9. What do the ratings mean? • 3-6 criteria, 5-10 ratings • For each criterion, define each level of rating. What exactly differentiates a “5” on intonation from a “4”?

12. Tone Quality 5- The tone is very full and obviously backed by good breath support 4- The tone is mostly good with a few spots that could be improved 3- The tone quality is okay but somewhat thin 2- The tone quality is thin or breathy 1- The tone quality is very unclear and thin Technique 5- Posture, embouchure, and the hold on the instrument are all very good 4- Posture, embouchure, and the hold on the instrument can be improved in several places. 3- Posture, embouchure, and the hold on the instrument needs overall work 2-Posuture, embouchure, and the hold on the instrument are poor 1-Very poor posture, incorrect embouchure, and impractical hold on the instrument Correctness of Pitch 5- All of the pitches were right and fingered correctly 4- Most of the pitches were right and fingered correctly 3- A fair number of the pitches were right and fingered correctly 2- Many of the pitches were wrong/ fingered incorrectly 1- Student obviously has no understand of the fingerings for the piece. Correctness of Rhythm 5- The piece is played at an appropriate tempo with correct rhythms 4- The piece is played at an appropriate tempo with occasional hesitations 3- The piece is somewhat slow with several hesitations 2- The tempo is inconsistent with many hesitations 1- The tempo is hard to find and rhythms aren’t correct at all

13. Strategies for Implementation • Now that you have it, how do you use implement it with a 50-piece ensemble? • Assess all 50 students in one day • In regular classroom setting • In sectionals • Assess a few sections each day • Takes relatively little time and doesn’t break your overall rehearsal momentum

14. Uses of Assessments • Now that you’ve done the assessment, what can you do with this information? • Student grades • Chair placement • Baseline data to set future goals • Determine where to concentrate greater attention during rehearsals