Molly Rohde

 Discuss: Why do we need them?  Discuss: What issues arise from an ensemble full of dependent musicians?

 Independent student musicians : Take ownership in music making Practice effectively and strategically Listen critically Set clear goals Show confidence and persistence

 Example: A 7 th grade instrumentalist’s 20 minute practice time.

 One key goal of music teachers is to develop lifelong musicians by emphasizing independent, self-regulated learning (MENC, 1994).

 To develop independence, music teachers must intentionally teach students how to self-assess their progress.

 Teaching self-assessment, however, is not as simple as handing out a rubric and expecting students to accurately evaluate their ability and plan strategies for improvement.

 Learning to self-assess has many benefits for students (Hood, 2012)  It engages them in the learning process  It ensures that they understand the goals or criteria for assessment  It builds their confidence  It gives them ownership and responsibility for learning  It helps them become more self-critical  It makes class more enjoyable

 However, studies also reveal several challenges in using self-assessment in music:  Students often overrate their ability, leading to inaccurate assessments ( Hewitt, 2002 )  Students are sometimes negatively influenced by peer discussion ( Bergee & Cecconi-Roberts, 2002 )  Students are not aware of what to focus on when they evaluate themselves ( Hewitt, 2002 ).  Students do not hear themselves as their instructors do ( Bergee & Cecconi-Roberts, 2002 )

 Despite student inaccuracies, teachers can use self- assessments to :  gauge student understanding ( Hewitt, 2005 )  identify areas of weaknesses ( Hewitt, 2005 )  Reviewing and discussing self-assessment tools with students can also help inform instruction by giving teachers a clearer picture of what students are thinking.

More Opportunities to assess Greater understanding of goals More critical thinking  Some studies show that students’ tendencies to be inaccurate decrease with age and experience (Hewitt, 2005 ).  Students who have regular opportunities to reflect and assess can grow in this skill.

 Moss and Brookhart (2009) suggest student independence is achieved when they understand “where they are and where they are heading” ( para. 1)  The first step in teaching students to self-assess, then, is to make sure that students understand the learning goals. Develop knowledge of goals Scaffold assessment experiences Engage in self- assessment

 How do you share learning targets with students? ( How often? Each day? For each piece of music?)  Do you give students the chance to discuss learning targets? How might this help them?

 Defining the learning targets helps students to know where they are going.  Teachers should display, discuss, and model learning targets.  Students should also discuss learning targets in their own words  Ex: Student-developed rubrics

 Develop a group rubric—discussion of criteria will help students :  Understand criteria in their own words  Understand levels of proficiency  Practice using rubric as a class  Assess and discuss a professional recording  Assess and discuss a recording of the group  Offer opportunities for personal assessment with the rubric  Pair up and perform an exercise with a peer  Use recording equipment

 Which of these scaffold assessment opportunities is possible in your class setting?  How might you tailor this to meet the needs of elementary students? High school students?

 Group assessment can give way to self-assessment, once students are comfortable with the goals and the assessment tools.  Self-assessment can take many different forms, depending on the age and abilities of the group  Give students opportunities to record and playback their own singing for self- assessment (iPad, Zoom H1, 2, 4)  Create personal learning logs to track student growth

 Use questioning techniques:  Questions are a great way to guide critical thought  Questions give students a chance to practice using appropriate musical language to describe themselves or the choir  Questions get the students involved, and applying their answers can be a great motivator!

 For elementary students, begin to develop evaluative thinking with questions:  “Did everyone match as we clapped the rhythm, or was there a disagreement?“  "Was everyone silent on the rests?"  "How can we improve our performance?” (Hale & Green, Section 4, para. 2).  After group-based evaluative questions, allow students to write down self-assessments of the same questions.

 Create Personal Learning Logs  Teacher can plan how often students visit the logs and assess progress  Log can be one documentation of progress throughout year  Log can serve to keep students focused on goals

 Student Self-Assessment and Intentional Learning Guide (handout)  Self-Assessment : My Progress in Sight-Singing Using the Solfege (handout)  Self-Assessment: Where Am I Now? (handout)  Guiding Questions for Student Involvement (handout)

See workshop handout packet

 Which of these tools might you use to encourage students to think carefully about their skill level and areas for improvement?  What obstacles may arise in implementing such strategies?  How might teachers overcome these obstacles?

 Merge self-assessment with repertoire study to encourage critical thinking while driving home key concepts in the music  Students will internalize musical points to remember about specific pieces

 Focus self-assessment on one skill or ability at a time (Oare, 2011)  i.e. melodic accuracy, rhythmic accuracy, expression, etc  Utilize recordings (of students or professionals) to model high-quality work (Scott, 2012)  Invite student-led discussion of recordings to help them process what they hear  At all age levels, give students many chances to think strategically by using questions

 Once self-assessment and reflective thinking becomes established in your music room, consider the next steps:  Modeling specific strategies for practice or improvement  How do you teach students to reach goals once they have identified their weak areas?

 Scott (2012) states “individuals extend their musical understanding by engaging actively with teachers and peers in collaborative communities of practice” (p. 31).  By being intentional in teaching self-assessment skills, music teachers can use assessment as learning and develop more independent musicians.  Both learning and assessing are active processes that require a partnership between teacher and student.

 Discuss: Could you allow your students to determine an end of the year project based on their goals for improvement from the year? (goals discovered through self-assessment…)  Discuss: How could you help students put their assessment into practice (beyond making music with the whole group)? Just as self-assessment is personalized, could you provide a final opportunity to demonstrate personalized growth?

 Bergee, M. J., & Cecconi-Roberts, L. (2002). Effects of small-group peer interaction on self-evaluation of music performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50(3), 256.  Bingham, G., Holbrook, T., & Meyers, L. E. (2010). Using self-assessments in elementary classrooms. Phi Delta Kappan, 91(5),  Gregory, G. & Chapman, C. (2013). Differentiated instructional strategies: One size doesn’t fit all. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.  Hale, C. L., & Green, S. K. (2009). Six Key Principles for Music Assessment. Music Educators Journal, 95(4), Retrieved from: a d- a197f68289d7d06%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&A N= http://web.a.ebscohost.com.vproxy.cune.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=14&sid=8bb289a4- a d- a197f68289d7d06%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&A N=  Hewitt, M. P. (2002). Self-evaluation tendencies of junior high instrumentalists. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50(3), 215. Retrieved from: 38cec21d83e3%40sessionmgr115&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN= cec21d83e3%40sessionmgr115&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=

 Hewitt, M. P. (2005). Self-evaluation accuracy among high school and middle school instrumentalists. Journal of Research in Music Education, 53(2), Retrieved from: 38cec21d83e3%40sessionmgr115&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3 d#db=aph&AN= cec21d83e3%40sessionmgr115&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3 d#db=aph&AN=  Hillier, E. (2011). Demystifying differentiation for the elementary music classroom. Music Educators Journal, 97(4), Retrieved from: 031e-4ebf922a7d140b690878%40sessionmgr4005&vid=8&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3 QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN= http://web.a.ebscohost.com.vproxy.cune.edu/ehost/command/detail?sid=b08bb9e3- 031e-4ebf922a7d140b690878%40sessionmgr4005&vid=8&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3 QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=  Hood, A. (2012). Whose responsibility is it? Encouraging student engagement in the learning process. Music Education Research, 14(4), doi: /  Music Educators National Conference. (1994). Opportunity-to-learn standards for music instruction: Grades preK-12. Reston, VA: MENC.  Scott, S. (2012). Rethinking the roles of assessment in music education. Music Educators Journal, 98(3), DOI: /