Maia Anna Chapter 9 Notes 03/11/25

Notes
The functions of assessment in music education
-​ Diagnostic assessment allows teachers to determine a starting point for teaching and
learning
-​ Formative assessment provides feedback to students and teachers during instruction
-​ The assigning of an index or description of a students level of attainment upon the
completion of an assignment or unit or semester is considered to be summative
assessment
-​ Feedback that describes the strengths and this is our performance or paper, such as
comments written in the margins of a paper, is more likely to help students develop an
understanding of the processes that lead to good work
-​ To maximize music education, Effective communication about diagnostic, formative,
and summative assessment is imperative
Assessment versus measurement versus evaluation
-​ Assessment is most often used to all activities and processes that result in generating an
understanding of student learning, both informal and formal
-​ Measurement, which may be considered a subset of assessment, narrowly refers to the
assignment of numbers to qualities
-​ Evaluation includes judgment. Evaluation as being the combination of assessment and
judgment
Objective versus subjective
-​ Objective measures are those that strive to eliminate houses that may be part of the
measurement tool
-​ Different scores for the same essay suggest that the teachers were being subjective
-​ Subjective assessment might not be equitable
-​ Approach to assessment that would emphasize context, individualism, and a reduction
of the power dynamic between teachers and students
Reliability
-​ Reliability is really an end of how much error is part of the measuring process
 -​ Multiple measurements is a strategy for eliminating inconsistencies that creep into the
measurement process
-​ Hearing students perform the same work several times over a few weeks should likely
improve the accuracy of teachers assessment of students performance
-​ Test-retest reliability is concerned about the consistency or stability of measures
overtime
Validity
-​ Validity answers the question, does an assessment measure what it claims to measure?
-​ Content validity may be the most important. It examines whether an assessment covers
a particular area of content it is designed to measure
-​ Criterion related validity examines the relationship between a test other typically
established measures of the same characteristic or quality
-​ Construct validity examines how well assessment fits with a psychological or social
construct or theory
Relationship between curriculum, instruction, and assessment
-​ Assessment criteria are arguably the most communication of an individual teachers
philosophy of learning
-​ Traditional approaches to classroom assessment as fitting well with a behavioristic
model of instruction: tightly sequenced, hierarchal, proceeds in small eteps, employs
external positive reinforcement, and is driven by explicitly stated behavioral objectives
-​ Constructivist instructional strategies demand brought a range of assessment tools that
go beyond objective tests.
Traditional measures of the outcomes of musical instruction
-​ Cognitive outcomes include recalling of information, applying knowledge to new
situations, analyzing, and evaluating materials and information based on specific
criteria
-​ Major criticism of traditional objective achievement test is that they may focus on
lower level learning such as the simple recall of facts
-​ Traditional performance assessments focus on strategies to improve both the reliability
and the validity of the judges ratings
Approaches to assessing outcomes of music instruction
-​ We should not stop instruction to assess, instead the assessment process should be a
natural part of instruction
-​ Alternative assessments and music should include authentic tasks for students to
demonstrate their understandings and skills
-​ An important aspect of reconceptualizing assessment is that students are well
informedAbout the tasks they are undertaking and about the criteria that will be used to
evaluate the task
Scoring rubrics
-​ By providing evaluate of criteria, students become more independent learners
-​ Scoring Rubik's also help help students understand the target, standard, or goal that
they're striving for
-​ Effective rubrics should use rich descriptive language to specify quality levels of each
criterion
-​ Teachers often say that pure evaluations must be manage carefully, so that constructive
recommendations are generated
Reconceptualizing assessment assignments
-​ A musically literate student should be able to play, listen critically, improvise,
compose, Essentially skills and understandings that are part of a comprehensive music
educational experience
Portfolios
-​ Portfolios can be used to help students keep track of student learning
-​ A music process portfolio is likely to include evidence of authentic music performance
-​ There are several ways to include evidence of perception and reflection, such as written
reflections on rehearsals or tapes of rehearsals
Journals
-​ Journals can be places where he reflect about their working music, their ideas for
composing, or they can be tied to evaluating performances, rehearsals, or lessons
-​ Teacher should consider the degree to which these personal reflections should be a part
of an evaluation system
Model cornerstone assessments
-​ MCA Provide a series of tasks that illustrate classroom learning in the three areas of
performing, creating, and responding to music
-​ Focus on classroom student learning specifically in relation relation to the 2014 music
standards
-​ Include self and peer reflection and assessment activities, which further illustrates the
educative nature of these assessments
Standardized testing in music
-​ A standardized test is one that is typically developed by development company with
both content and testing experts
-​ If an app two test result indicates that a young student has a high aptitude for a
particular field such as music, it would be expected that the student would perform well
a music classes in the future
-​ Standardized achievement tests are used to measure what the students have learned in a
particular discipline
State and national assessments of achievement music Education
-​ The national assessment of educational progress that was first administered in the
1970s included music as a subject starting in the academic year 1971-1972
-​ The 2016 NAEP assessment measured responding and creating with multiple-choice,
short constructed response, and extended constructed response items
-​ Many states develop their own achievement for music, partly in response to the teacher
accountability pressures
Teachers and their music programs
-​ The evaluation of teachers and should include evidence of student learning
-​ Since education is organized locally, it is useful to examine the effectiveness of
instructional programs at the local level
-​ Opportunity to learn standards for music education provides benchmarks curriculum
scheduling, staffing, materials and equipment, and facilities for an effective music
program
-​ Thorough evaluation of a music program should include exam students work produced
 at all levels of instruction, in a wide range of music classes

Summary
I’ve had a decent amount of opportunities to learn about assessment in my MUED foundations
and methods classes, however it’s always been kind of a scary thing for me to think about.
Growing up in a school orchestra, the assessment material was always a playing test,
performance, or practice log of some sort. In my private teaching, I set dates a couple weeks in
advance when my students will play through their entire solo and do some sight reading, where
I would then give them feedback after they had finished.

I haven’t used any rubrics or score sheets in my private teaching, I haven’t seen much of a
need for it. I always communicate with my students and their parents (if applicable) as to how
they are doing, what they are doing well and/or struggling with. When I am teaching in a
school I will likely employ a scoring rubric, as I feel it is an effective way to go about
assessment in the music classroo.