Adapted by Denise Cummings-Clay
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Chapters derived from:
https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/education-textbooks/3/
By Michelle Bonczek Evory
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
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Chapter Summary: This chapter is divided into two parts. The first section addresses the role of assessment in education. The second section addresses personal assessment in relation to your professional development and career goals.
Regardless of which field you find yourself in, you will more than likely be responsible for implementing a plan of goals and assessment. In business, education, science, and so forth, most productivity is determined by an evaluation of employees or students, and funding is often allocated based on that assessment.
As mentioned in Chapter 1, education assessment for all subjects and the arts has undergone significant change over the past 30 years, from No Child Left Behind to the Common Core State Standards Initiative. In this section, we will examine various discipline and national standards for the arts, particularly music.
Beginning in the 1990s, a “Standards and Accountability” movement resulted in states writing goals for what students should know. This movement fueled the Common Core Standards Initiative, which produced the Common Core Standards that most states have adopted as of 2014. The Common Core Standards, however, are only written for English Language Arts and Mathematics, with no further intent to include other subject areas. However, this chapter will introduce the National Core Arts Standards for Music, while the Common Core standards in ELA and Math can be used when creating integrated lesson plans as introduced in later chapters.
The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) is the organization responsible for creating standards for music, dance, theatre, and visual art. Below is an excerpt from the “National Core Arts Standards: A Conceptual Framework for Arts Learning,” which explains some of the background in their creation.
The standards movement emerged with the 1994 passage of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Title II of that act established a National Education Standards Improvement Council, which was charged with finding appropriate organizations to write standards. In doing so, there were three goals for the process: (1) to ensure that the standards reflect the best ideas in education, both in the United States and internationally; (2) to ensure that they reflect the best knowledge about teaching and learning; and (3) to ensure that they have been developed through a broad-based, open adoption process. The standards themselves were to define what students should “know and be able to do” to the end that “all students learn to use their minds well, so that they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our nation’s modern economy.”
Standards for arts education are important for two fundamental reasons. First, they help define what a good education in the arts should provide: a thorough grounding in a basic body of knowledge and the skills required both to make sense and to make use of each of the arts discipline—including the intellectual tools to make qualitative judgments about artistic products and expression.
Second, when states and school districts adopt the standards, they are taking a stand for rigor, informed by a clear intent. A set of standards for arts education says, in effect, “an education in the arts means that students should know what is spelled out here, reach specified levels of attainment, and do both at defined points in their education” (NCCAS, 2014, p. 4).
The completed National Core Arts Standards include dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts. The common Core Standards in the arts addresses some of the 21st-century goals in education as well. Goals in the Core Standards focus on the 4 Cs: Creativity, Communication, Cooperation, and Collaboration. Below is a section from a College Board study entitled “The Arts and the Common Core: A Review of Connections Between the Common Core State Standards and the National Core Arts Standards Conceptual Framework” (2012), which addresses the connections between the two sets of standards.
The standards are based on assessing four areas of artistic process (creating; performing, presenting, producing; responding; and connecting), with each artistic process supported by several anchor standards. In each subject, the anchor standards are broken down further into individual goals and objectives for each grade level. These goals and objectives are used in lesson planning to focus the lesson, and to aid in effective assessment.
Artistic Processes |
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Creating: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work. |
Performing/Presenting/Producing
Performing: Realizing artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation. Presenting: Interpreting and sharing artistic work. Producing: Realizing and presenting artistic ideas and work |
Responding Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning. |
Connecting Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context. |
Anchor Standards |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Students will: | Students will: | Students will: | Students will: |
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1. Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. 2. Organize and develop artistic ideas and work. 3. Evaluate and refine a complete artistic work. |
4. Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation. 5. Develop and refine artistic work for presentation. 6. Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work. |
7. Perceive and analyze artistic work. 8. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work. 9. Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work. |
10. Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art. 11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding. |
The National Core Standards for music takes the details from each of these anchor areas and breaks them down into specific, individual standards for use by each grade level.
Because the Common Core Standards in the arts or music are quite new, in many organizations the National Standards in Music from 1994 are still in use
Standards in the Arts: Music, Grades K-4 |
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|---|---|
Content Standard 1 |
Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music |
| Achievement Standard 1 |
|
Content Standard 2 |
Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music |
| Achievement Standard 2 |
|
Content Standard 3 |
Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments |
| Achievement Standard 3 |
|
Content Standard 4 |
Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines |
| Achievement Standard 4 |
|
Content Standard 5 |
Reading and notating music |
| Achievement Standard 5 |
|
Content Standard 6 |
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music |
| Achievement Standard 6 |
|
Content Standard 7 |
Evaluating music and music performances |
| Achievement Standard 7 |
|
Content Standard 8 |
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts |
| Achievement Standard 8 |
|
Content Standard 9 |
Understanding music in relation to history and culture |
| Achievement Standard 9 |
|
For a summary of the 1994 K–12 standards in dance, music, theater, and visual arts, see The Kennedy Center’s easy to navigate overview.
Infants
The National Music Education Pre-K Standards are intended for ages two to four. However, guidelines are given below for infant and toddler music experiences. These guidelines include:
By age four, children should be prepared to learn music at the kindergarten level when they enter school. Guidelines for musical experiences for two-, three-, and four-year-olds are:
a. Use their voices expressively as they speak, chant, and sing
b. Sing a variety of simple songs in various keys, meters, and genres alone and with a group, becoming increasingly accurate in rhythm and pitch
c. Experiment with a variety of instruments and other sound sources
d. Play simple melodies and accompaniments on instruments
a. Improvise songs to accompany their play activities
b. Improvise instrumental accompaniments to songs, recorded selections, stories, and poems
c. Create short pieces of music, using voices, instruments, and other sound sources
d. Invent and use original graphic or symbolic systems to represent vocal and instrumental sounds and musical ideas
a. Identify the sources of a wide variety of sounds
b. Respond through movement to music of various tempos, meters, dynamics, modes, genres, and styles to express what they hear and feel in works of music
c. Participate freely in music activities
a. Use their own vocabulary and standard music vocabulary to describe voices, instruments, music notation, and music of various genres, styles, and periods from diverse cultures
b. Sing, play instruments, move, or verbalize to demonstrate awareness of the elements of music and changes in their usage
c. Demonstrate an awareness of music as a part of daily life
Complete National Arts Standards are available on the National Association for Music Educators website, as well as a comparison between the 1994 standards and the most recent revision.
Because information on state policy in education changes continuously, the Arts Education Partnership has made available a searchable state policy database. This site allows you to track any changes regarding teaching and learning in the arts.
As you begin to develop the professional goals for yourself and your career, it is crucial to be able to assess these goals in relation to who you are, the people you work with, and the students you teach. Knowing who you are and being able to assess your abilities, strengths, and weaknesses is critical to your success in any field. As you learn to master the core material for your career, you might also be ready to find your moorings in terms of your professional self. This will require the maturity to self-assess and thoughtfully apply criticism towards self-enhancement and development as a professional in your field. Below are some materials to help you create a vision of your “professional” self that will serve you throughout your career and lifetime.
Right now, you are a “professional student,” so as you read the material below, apply the criteria to your behavior and professional as a student.
Below, you’ll find a definition of what a professional is, as well as a chart explaining the top 10 dimensions of what it means to be professional, and a professional assessment rubric to determine where you fall on the spectrum of “professionalism.”
Professionals follow through on each commitment and organizational role in a way that exceeds the expectations of others. Professionals are positive, action oriented, opened minded, poised, adaptable, respectful, self-regulated, empathic, organized, prepared, and collaborative. Professionals perform effectively in teams and communicate effectively to individuals and groups through various means. They have special expertise and contribute to a range of challenging disciplinary areas. Life-long learning and self-growth are valued, practiced, and mentored in others. They take care with appearance, language, and productive behaviors to create an image of success. Professionals encourage and support environments that produce trust by demonstrating integrity through ethical and inclusive decision-making.
Professionals Are: |
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|---|---|
| Accountable | Professionals take full responsibility before, during, and after each effort or decision; share credit for positive results with others; and readily accept consequences when things don’t go as expected. |
| Reliable |
Professionals can be counted on doing what they say within the allocated time and committed resources; they are ready to help others when needed. |
| Self-assessors | Professionals set criteria for each performance; make key observations; reflect and analyze on these observations, behaviors, and actions; and consistently make improvements without being prompted by others. |
| Self-aware | Professionals understand the implications of their behaviors and actions on others and adapt appropriately for each changing situation. |
| Self-motivators | Professionals are energetic, passionate, and invested in living their daily values. |
| Risk-takers | Professionals achieve success by taking risks that others may consider to be unpopular, and are willing to deal with temporary failure and resistance so long as it is in the best interest of the project or activity. |
| Experts | Professionals actively advance disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge with every learning opportunity to remain current on relevant innovations, methodologies, and practices in their own and related areas of expertise. |
| Communicators | Professionals effectively express informally and formally through a range of modes and refined interpersonal skills their expertise, expectations, and means to both large groups and individuals. |
| Ethical | Professionals place a high and consistent focus on aligning decisions and actions with quality individual, disciplinary, and organizational values. |
| Presentable | Professionals represent themselves in a manner that is above reproach at all times in their appropriate dress, language, and behaviors. |
Even though you may not have officially begun your “professional” career, you are, in a sense, practicing the behaviors that you will perform in your jobs right now. How you organize your time, how you present yourself, and most importantly the type of attitudes you have towards your responsibilities as students, are all harbingers of how you will comport yourself in your future career.
Although you may still be a student, you can begin to develop the personal goals that you will need to succeed. Being honest with yourself is the best policy when assessing. As you read through the section below, try to imagine your behaviors in different circumstances (e.g., behavior as a student alone or in a group, or as a colleague or worker) to see where you are excelling or where you need to apply yourself. Remember, self-assessment is only for your benefit to develop and grow as a person, and is not punitive.
Take a moment to read the rubric below and see where you fit in. Now is the time to grow and develop, so keep in mind where you are, where you want to be, and how you might get there.
A. Polished Professionals |
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B. Professionals |
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C. Inconsistent Professionals |
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D. Pre-Professionals |
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E. Unprofessional People |
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Activity 3A Try this Go through the Professional Assessment Rubric in a group. Discuss what types of behaviors fall under each of the five categories. What does an unprofessional person do? A Pre-Professional person? An Inconsistent Professional? Give specific examples. Now assess yourself as a “student.” Go through the Professional Assessment Rubric, and honestly appraise yourself in terms of how you behave currently as a student in your classes. Where do you fit in? Do you see yourself near the top of the list or towards the bottom? What behaviors do you engage in? What skills and attitudes do you need to work on? |
National Association for Music Educators. (1994). National Standards for Arts Education: What Every Young American Should Know and Be Able to Do in the Arts. Content and achievement standards for dance, music, theatre, and visual arts; grades K-12. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference.
National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. (2014). Conceptual framework: National Core Arts Standards: A conceptual framework for arts learning. Retrieved from http://nccas.wikispaces.com/Conceptual+Framework