I have done a lot of exploration on assessment for, as, and of learning in the music classroom throughout my undergrad and the beginnings of my teacher education studies. In music education a huge part of my job is program advocacy and an important aspect of program advocacy is ensuring I am using authentic assessment. Sometimes those who are far removed from music education fail to see the benefits and importance of music in the lives of youth. Having clear cut assessment in music is a great way to show evidence of learning and therefore importance of musical learning to administrators, colleagues, stakeholders, parents, students, and the general public.

Photo by Wan San Yip on Unsplash

Here are some authentic assessment tasks in music for the following categories:

Assessment for Learning:

  • Standardized test for diagnosis reasons
  • During rehearsal: observation, assessments, comment, probing questions

Assessment as Learning:

  • Self Reflections
  • Reflecting on video and audio recordings
  • Practice journals/logs

Assessment of Learning:

  • Final juries
  • Playing tests
  • Final assignments
  • Exams

Clearly this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to assessment. But having some ideas of where to start and how to include the multiple roles of assessment in your classroom is a great place to start!

 

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash