Music Assessment for Better Ensembles

Music Assessment for Better Ensembles
Author: Brian P. Shaw
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2018-09-07
Genre: Music
ISBN: 019060316X

Assessment is central to ensemble music. Yet, teachers do not always have the expertise to harness its potential to improve rehearsals and performances, and promote and document student learning. Written specifically for band, choir, and orchestra teachers at all levels, this book contains all of the information necessary to design and use assessment in a thriving music classroom. The first section addresses foundations such as learning targets, metacognition, and growth mindset. Assessment jargon such as formative assessment, summative assessment, Assessment for Learning, self and peer assessment, and authentic assessment is clarified and illustrated with music examples. Readers will learn practical strategies for choosing which concepts to assess, which methods to use, and how to use results to provide accurate and effective feedback to students. The second section brings assessment fundamentals into the music room. Filled with practical advice, each chapter examines a different facet of musicianship. Sample assessments in all performance areas are provided, including music literacy, fundamentals and technique, terminology, interpretation, evaluation and critique, composition and improvisation, beliefs and attitudes, and more. There is an entire chapter devoted to tips for applying assessment and feedback strategies in rehearsals, which can result in a fresh and effective approach to performance preparation. The final section is an examination of grading practices in music classes. Readers will gain information about ensemble grades that communicate what students know and are able to do, rather than whether they remembered their black socks. A variety of approaches, including Standards-Based Grading, are evaluated in light of music teachers' unique situations. The book concludes with ways for music educators to take their first steps toward implementing these strategies in their own teaching, including the use of instructional technology. Assessing like an expert is possible, and this book is just what teachers need to get started.

Including Everyone

Including Everyone
Author: Judith Jellison
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2015-01-02
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0199358788

Many practical books for music educators who work with special needs students focus on students' disabilities, rather than on the inclusive classroom more generally. In Including Everyone: Creating Music Classrooms Where All Children Learn, veteran teacher and pedagogue Judith Jellison offers a new approach that identifies broader principles of inclusive music instruction writ large. As she demonstrates in this aptly-titled book, the perceived impediments to successfully including the wide diversity of children in schools in meaningful music instruction often stem not from insurmountable obstacles but from a lack of imagination. How do teachers and parents create diverse musical communities in which all children develop skills, deepen understanding, and cultivate independence in a culture of accomplishment and joy? Including Everyone equips music teachers with five principles of effective instruction for mixed special needs / traditional settings that are applicable in both classroom and rehearsal rooms alike. These five guidelines lay out Jellison's argument for a new way to teach music that shifts attention away from thinking of children in terms of symptoms. The effective teacher, argues Jellison, will strive to offer a curriculum that will not only allow the child with a disability to be more successful, but will also apply to and improve instruction for typically developing students. In this compelling new book, Judith Jellison illustrates what it takes to imagine, create, and realize possibilities for all children in ways that inspire parents, teachers, and the children themselves to take part in collaborative music making. Her book helps readers recognize how this most central component of human culture is one that allows everyone to participate, learn, and grow. Jellison is a leader in her field, and the wealth of knowledge she makes available in this book is extensive and valuable. It should aid her peers and inspire a new generation of student teachers.

Assessment in Music Education

Assessment in Music Education
Author: Martin Fautley
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2010-01-14
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9780193362895

This book discusses assessment and its role in teaching and learning music in the classroom. For improving learning and raising standards, it puts the case for formative assessment, day-by-day, rather than summative assessment at the end of key stages. The advice is relevant to classroom and instrumental teachers, and the academic community.

Developing and Applying Assessments in the Music Classroom

Developing and Applying Assessments in the Music Classroom
Author: Kelly A. Parkes
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2020-04-13
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0429510926

Developing and Applying Assessments in the Music Classroom addresses the challenges faced by today’s K-12 educators and future music educators who are expected to utilize and incorporate assessment data as a hallmark of student learning and reflection of effective teaching. Highlighting best practices while presenting current scholarship and literature, this practical workbook-style text provides future music teachers with a framework for integrating assessment processes in the face of a certain lack of understanding and possible dissatisfaction with assessment tools and tasks. Each chapter is prefaced by an overview outlining learning expectations and essential questions, and supplemented throughout by an array of pedagogical features: Discussion prompts Activities and worksheets Learning experiences Expanded reference lists Citing examples across a range of musical settings—e.g. band, chorus, orchestra, jazz, and piano and guitar labs—Developing and Applying Assessments in the Music Classroom builds from the classroom assessment paradigm, encouraging teachers to create assessment tasks most appropriate to their curricula goals and planned student outcomes. Joined by fellow experts in the field Brian C. Wesolowski and Phillip Payne, the authors invite readers to explore and apply the material in authentic ways to inspire student learning through a comprehensive approach to educative assessment.