STANDARD 6: Assessment
The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
Just as there are more than one way to teach and to learn, there are also multiple forms of assessments. Many instructors rely upon the tried and true written test as the sole form of assessment. That assessment, although traditional, is not always effective. In a musical environment, a written test is not always the best form of assessing the student knowledge of the material. A more effective form of assessment may be various playing tests. Through physical demonstration of skill, the instructor is best able to assess the ability of the student. Also, by playing or singing, the student is physically more engaged in the learning process of the assessment than if he/she were just taking a standard written assessment.
​As a future music educator, I believe that I am well versed in the various forms of assessment. Throughout my peer teachings in my music education courses, I've used a myriad of assessment from formal and informal to written and aural. The most widely used assessment form is simply informal by the instructor walking around and listening to the students’ playing and/or response to questions. That is a simple form of assessing where the students’ understanding of the material lies. That said, those forms of assessment are not transferable for grading. In those cases, the instructor can use tests, worksheets, playing/practice videos, assignments, exit tickets, and quizzes as alternative forms for formal assessment for grading purposes (as well as evaluating the students’ understanding and comprehension of the material). There are all means of assessment that I have learned throughout my courses and career at Ball State University.
After graduation, as a music educator, I will continue to implement these means of assessment for my students in my classroom. That said, I will also seek opportunities to grow and improve and learn of other means of assessment that could prove more efficient and beneficial for my students. Especially as more and more schools incorporate technology into their classroom, I will seek out and/or create alternative forms of assessment that can incorporate the technology factor into my classroom as well.
MUSE 470: Student Teaching
The largest form of assessment I utilize is informal. As a band director director, I move around the classroom and observe what my students are doing and jump in a fix/make corrections for them as needed. This is the most common form of assessment where I observe day to day to see where my students are skill and knowledge wise.
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Assessment Rubrics
This artifact is an example of a rubric I would use for my formal assessments, such as tests, worksheets, and quizzes.
MUSE 355: String Methods
In a string orchestra setting, assessment can take a variety of forms. It can be playing tests to assess the playing skills of the students, theory/knowledge tests that test what the students know about terminology and theory, etc. But the largest form of assessment is informal. As a string orchestra director, I move around the classroom and observe what my students are doing and jump in a fix/make corrections for them as needed. This is the most common form of assessment where I observe day to day to see where my students are skill and knowledge wise.
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HAT Journal #8: Pellegrino,
Assessment in Performance-Based Ensembles
This artifact is a HAT Journal that is my thoughts and reflections regarding assessment in the article Assessment in Performance-Based Ensembles by Pallegrino.
MUSE 375: Band Methods
In a band rehearsal setting, assessment can take a variety of forms. It can be playing tests to assess the playing skills of the students, theory/knowledge tests that test what the students know about terminology and theory, etc. But the largest form of assessment is informal. As a band director director, I move around the classroom and observe what my students are doing and jump in a fix/make corrections for them as needed. This is the most common form of assessment where I observe day to day to see where my students are skill and knowledge wise.
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Curriculum Project Assessment
This artifact is an outline of formal and informal assessments for a band program over the course of spring semester.