In the past few days I’ve had several conversations about assessment that I think are really interesting. This is one of my favorite topics for two reasons.
I love teaching in a way that actually works, and that drives learning forward. We can’t have forward motion and growth without assessment.
I think this is a topic that is commonly misunderstood. So when we can talk about assessment in the real world, not assessments that we take for our grad or undergrad professors, or assessments that we take for our principals, that’s exciting to me.
I had planned to talk about recorders in the curriculum, but that will wait till next episode.
We’ll talk about assessment questions and then I have a discount on my own assessment course for you if you’re interested. It’s something I’m really proud of because I worked really hard on it, and in my opinion it bridges some of the gaps between assessment in teacher training courses, and assessments in real life. The underlying foundations of all these questions are addressed in the course so if this topic is fun and helpful, you might enjoy the course.
Grading Young Musicians
I hate grades so much, especially for 1st grade. Especially when so much of their progress is dependent on their development. I wish we didn’t have to give grades for the littles. What are your thoughts?
What if the grades aren’t the problem? What if it’s the meaning we give to grades that’s the problem?
What if we make grades mean more than they do?
What if we had a more realistic picture of what grades tell us?
Grade: Documented quantitative data that show achievement, usually documented for a report card or administrator.
Shows: objective score of achievement
A single final grade for music does not show:
Effort
How much the student enjoys music
The extent to which they light up the music room when they walk in
The growth in singing voice the student has shown from the beginning of the year (depending on how things are scored / averaged - this goes into a conversation about standards-based grading)
Is can be true that a student doesn’t keep a steady beat. And it can also be true that their unsteady beat doesn’t say a single thing about their musicianship development, or their value as a human. It just means they don’t keep a steady beat right now.
But if we never notice they don’t keep a steady beat, we’re not setting ourselves up to help them.
With all that said, I don’t have a problem giving a kindergartener or a 1st grader a grade for music. Because I have a clear picture of what the grade can tell me….. which is…… not that much.
It’s a tiny picture of overall musicianship. A snapshot of achievement. So I view it as what it is: a tiny freeze-frame, not the whole movie.
similar to other quantitative measurements of so-called success, like the number on a scale.
Contentment vs Resilience
Dr. Becky Kennedy - What if our jobs as parents are not to make our kids feel happy all the time? What if our jobs are to teach kids resilience?
What if our jobs are not to make students feel happy all the time? What if our jobs are to teach students how to learn?
When we avoid data that drives learning forward, we send the message that there’s something to fear in a bad assessment outcome, or in a bad grade.
Assessment and Student Motivation
If you could speak about how to keep student motivation and confidence regardless of the assessment outcome, that’d be super helpful.
Do you tell students when they’re being assessed?
Assessments vs grades
Students don’t always need to know they’re being assessed. This comes back to our definition of assessment.
What’s the role of self-assessment?
Students can take ownership of their own learning. They can make their own observations and come up with their own solutions.
How often do assessments take place?
If we assess every class because we need to know what students need next, assessments are just another part of singing, playing, speaking, and moving.
What is the emotional meaning we give assessments in the classroom?
Assessments don’t necessarily need to carry a weight. They’re an embedded part of the learning process.
Who are assessments for?
Assessments are how we know what students need next. If an assessment makes a student shut down, lose confidence, or lose motivation, that may be an indication that I need to reevaluate how assessments are presented.
Are we using grades as leverage for good behavior or musical motivation?
Grades are an effective way for some students to meet our expectations. But if the threat of a grade is our primary behavior strategy, it’s time to reevaluate.
Is a grade the only way parents, students, and administration see the progression of learning? (consider an informance or other advocacy pathway)
Assessing Active Music-Making
Can you talk about organizing assessments (strategies for assessing active music making)?
Is it possible we make this harder than it is?
Start with an observable outcome - something you can clearly see and hear. Be in the room when students show the observable outcome.
The activity is the assessment.
This leads to a question about the documentation of the data, which is a different question.
One of my favorite strategies for active data collection is floating. Students are (for example) singing and playing the game to Bow Wow Wow. As students play, I may be listening for pitch-matching mi re do in the context of a singing game.
This is the question that the whole entire assessment course is about.
Assessing Effort
Why don’t you recommend giving a grade for effort?
Assigning motivation
I cannot see the amount of effort you put into something.
How do we know the amount of effort someone is giving? We need to ask, and use their self-reported data.
Self-Assessment: I did my very best today
Example: Partner leaves the kitchen dirty
We don’t know how much effort the student is giving, and what obstacles to external performance they’re working through.
Recall that student musicians are not short adult musicians - there is a specific trajectory of developmental challenges they work through every day that we might take for granted.
Suggests a level of omnipotence I don’t have.
I can assess that this student does not keep a steady beat. But I don’t confuse that assessment outcome with a value on the student themselves.
Assessment course discount code
There are some changes to this course I’m making in the next month, and part of the changes will be lowering the price. If you’ve already purchased at the original price point in the past, don’t worry! I have some gifts coming your way that I think you’ll like.