Assessment Ideas for the Instrumental Classroom

As we discussed in an earlier post, assessment is very helpful and informative and should help to guide our teaching. Assessment of our students can help us as educators determine students strengths and weaknesses and can hopefully lead us to more focused, student centered, and relevant instruction. However, finding the time during class, the energy, the focus, and drive to assess can be difficult. In this post, I will strive to provide some ideas to help illustrate some ways assessment can be given to students in short, accessible ways.   

1. Short and Focused Formative Assessments

When preparing to give an assessment, there have been many times where I felt as if I needed to assess my students on several concepts all at once. I found that my assessments were too broad and overwhelming for me and my students and as a result, not very helpful. This was due in part because I wasn’t assessing often enough and I also felt as if I needed to assess multiple content areas at the same time, since those areas were being covered in class. That being said, it seems simple, but didn’t always occur to me, to simplify my assessments. In music, we are constantly teaching several concepts at once because a piece of music addresses all aspects of music making. We may be teaching about articulation, dynamics, phrase, intonation, balance, melody, and so many other concepts found in a piece of music.

However, a written assessment or even a playing assessment where students are asked to demonstrate their knowledge on all of these concepts at once, may be overwhelming to both teacher and students – the end result may not be focused. Therefore, I have found it helpful to simplify and assess one area at a time. For example, assess students on one concept such as articulation markings. Help students to master that concept, check their understanding, and help them to grow in their knowledge. These would be more along the lines of short and focused formative assessments which will help us as educators learn what students know and help us to tailor our teaching. A much bigger, broader, and all encompassing assessment can be given at the end of a unit or piece to help demonstrate all the concepts the students should have learned. However, during the learning of a piece or when dealing with less time, it’s helpful to assess content in small chunks and then use that information to shape and inform instruction of a piece of music.

2. “Hot Dog” and Duets, Trios, and Quartets

This idea for assessment is for use in a large group classroom setting or a small group lesson where a teacher is trying to assess students in a short amount of time and get a quick snapshot of their progress and understanding. This type of assessment would serve more as a formative assessment, although it could also be used as a summative assessment, as well.

Essentially, I have said to students within a large group classroom setting, “okay, who wants to be a hot dog and play solo?” I try to keep it really fun, light, and loose. Generally when I do this activity the kids get very excited and several kids will raise their hand. At that point I will have those students perform the excerpt or concept solo. If any of the students have difficulty, I generally don’t use this time to correct them, but applaud their efforts for sharing with the class and encourage them. I also get the other kids clapping and supporting them as well. A student playing solo is a huge risk for them and I always try to be cognizant of that and support them no matter how they may have performed. The idea is to hear the students perform solo or in a duet or trio in order to assess them and gain some information on how they are doing.

From that point I will announce, “okay, who would like to play a duet?!?” I will then have students perform as a duet, as a trio, and a quartet. It can be useful to have a small rubric and fill it out very quickly as you listen to each student perform.

This is a way to hear your students, gain some information on their playing, help them practice their performing skills, and have fun while assessing them in the process in a relatively short amount of time. Student also love demonstrating what they have learned and performing for one another!

3. Group Work and Individual Assessment

Another option for administering assessments within a short amount of time or within a large classroom setting might be to break students up into sections or with student leaders and then assess students individually while the others rehearse, practice, and focus on a section, concept, or music within their section or with a student leader. This idea for assessment would depend on your group’s maturity level and their ability to work independently.

4. Recordings

Technology has opened up a whole new avenue for assessment. Students are now able to record fairly decent quality recordings on a computer or smartphone. With that in mind, I know of colleagues who have students record on their phones or another device and submit their performances for assessment. This past year, my colleague and I had the chance to invest in MusicFirst, an online music classroom. Within the classroom teachers are able to create tasks and assignments and assign them to students in the ensemble. Throughout the year I assigned students playing assessments to record. The students would log in to the platform, review the assignment, and then record their performance of the assignment. I really enjoyed this method for administering assessments for a number of reasons. First, students were able to practice and perform the assignment as many times as they felt they needed to prior to submitting their final take. This hopefully meant more practice and increased mastery of the assignment or skills. Secondly, I was able to listen back to each students performance several times and get a more accurate view of their performance. Thirdly, I was able to access the performances at all times and wasn’t contingent upon assessing the student in real time in the classroom.  

I did note some challenges in administering assessments in this way. One is that not all of our students have equal access or opportunity. For example, a student may not have access to internet or a reliable hook up in their house. Additionally, their devices may not work or they may have issues with the recording feature. It’s important for access and opportunity to be equitable for all our students. To alleviate any barriers for success, I suggested kids come after school and record their assignments on a computer at school or on the computer located in the orchestra room during class and then submit their performances that way. In the district I teach in, the kids are fortunate enough to have a one to one initiative where each student has received a computer. However, some students did face issues with their microphones or the recording feature, for whatever reason. Again, it’s important to note that when dealing with technology – it won’t be perfect and may not always work, but I do feel it is important to try. Technology can be a useful pedagogical tool to enhance student learning all around.

5. Tech Assessment Tools

There are many digital tools that can be used within the first few minutes of instruction that can provide us as educators with valuable assessment information. One such platform is Kahoot which allows teachers to create quizzes and learning games where students can login on their own devices or a computer, answer questions in real-time, and the teacher can receive feedback on student knowledge, in real-time. It’s a fun, interactive, and a quick way to assess students and have them practice musical concepts. There are several other free educational assessment tools that work similarly to Kahoot. Consider checking out Quizlet, Socrative, and Nearpod. Each one is slightly different, but offers educators the ability to administer assessments and gain valuable student knowledge.  

6. Exit Ticket

The idea of an “exit ticket” from class is to have the students answer a question or provide you with feedback after you have delivered instruction. The “exit ticket” should provide you with information about what the students know after your instruction was given. For example, prior to class ending have students answer a question or write down one thing they are taking away from the lesson. Have them write it on a piece of scrap paper, index card, or submit it electronically prior to leaving the class. Again, this is a quick way to administer assessment and gain insight into student knowledge. Further ideas and ways to administer this type of assessment can be found here.  

Conclusion

Assessment is a valuable tool for informing instruction. Assessment should drive instruction because it tells us as educators what our students know and don’t know. However, given time constraints, concert deadlines, and so on it can be challenging to find the time to assess or even know how to build it into a lesson. Hopefully these ideas may help in determining how, when, and what assessment can look like within your ensemble.