Essay Tests in Music Education

Most music education testing is performance based or objective multiple choice tests.  However, when studying music as an undergraduate student, my music history tests were often essay tests.  I think essay tests can be effective in the music discipline because they require students to analyze, interpret, and synthesize the knowledge they've accumulated throughout the course.  Effective essay tests call for the transfer of the knowledge that one has learned through the communication of his or her thoughts and ideas about the topic. By regurgitating information within the framework of one's own thoughts and ideas, the student can demonstrate mastery of content at a deeper level than simply memorizing facts for a multiple choice test.  The end of the year final in my high school music classes incorporates short answer portions in addition to the multiple choice questions so that I can get a glimpse into my students minds and see if they have really mastered the musical concepts we've covered in class.

Performance Assessment Rubrics

Figure 1

Recently my high school instrumental students completed a performance assessment that judged their current skill level at playing our Christmas concert music.  They complete these assessments once every three to four weeks and receive feedback on a variety of criteria.  The rubric expands as we cover more and more aspects of performance technique throughout the year. Figure 1 is the first rubric in the series and evaluates students on their ability to play the correct notes and rhythms with appropriate stylistic expressivity.  They are also evaluated on their contribution to the ensemble.  Students perform this assessment in small groups of four to six members so that I can hear and provide accurate feedback for individual students.  This performance assessment not only provides feedback for students, but it also guides my instruction immediate following the test as I respond to the concepts and techniques that need further improvement (Shermis & Di Vesta, 2011).  Moreover, students are able to better understand  the elements of a quality performance and strive for excellence if they have a rubric that identifies these criteria.  I know for my students, rubrics have given them the ability to see beyond the score or grade, and to focus on the real-life application of performance techniques within the music discipline.

Formative & Summative Assessment in Practice

Formative assessment is a natural part of the daily music rehearsal process, while summative assessment is usually the end of quarter concert.  However, after taking classes this summer I decided to incorporate more summative assessment and see if that helped students take more ownership of their learning.  One example of this is a recent lesson plan in which choir students learned about blending and tone quality.  They completed a formative pre-assessment where they were asked to verbally brainstorm words and ideas associated with blending and tone quality.  Then I recorded the students singing one of our a cappella pieces before launching into the lesson. Formative assessment continued as I listened to students blend and tonal quality during the lesson activities.  I then recorded the students singing the song again at the end of the lesson. Then the students listened to both recordings and made observations and answered targeted questions using the concepts and vocabulary they learned during the lesson. This summative assessment allowed students to see the progress they made and analyze their own performance.  I found that the students enjoyed this assessment and they were excited about what they had accomplished in their performance technique.

Thoughts on Statewide Standarized Testing

Mention statewide standardized testing among a group of educators and you'll immediately hear groans and grumbles.  Teachers are caught between a rock and a hard place in when it comes to standardized tests.  We know assessment is necessary to ensure students are learning and progressing, but we are skeptical about one test's ability to effectively track student understanding.  We look at our classes and see the individual abilities, knowledge, skills, and needs of thirty different kids and we think...how are we going to ensure each of these students does well on this one important test?  Anxiety builds throughout the year as we realize certain students are falling behind in reading, math, or science.  We reteach, scaffold, and tutor these students in order to help them succeed.  We do everything in our power to ensure all our students are prepared and then, when testing begins, we pray they perform to the best of their ability.  And then we wait to face judgement day.  Will our students' scores indicate we are effective teachers or will this be the year our administrators call us in to talk about an "improvement plan"? Frankly, this is a terrible way to measure teacher effectiveness and it causes a serious amount of anxiety for educators.  There is never going to be a standardized test that provides adequate (and comprehensive) evidence of student progress or teacher effectiveness because every student is unique.  So cue the groans and grumbles, because until we come up with a better system, educators and students will continue to be at the mercy of standardized tests.