Abstract
In music education, current assessment trends emphasize student reflection, tracking progress over time, and formative as well as summative measures. This view of assessment requires instrumental music educators to modernize their approaches without interfering with methods that have proven to be successful. To this end, the Longitudinal Scales Assessment is described and examined as a component of student evaluation that contributes to broader educational goals.
Keywords
Instrumental music teachers can use evaluation systems that help guide students toward becoming more independent musicians.
There is an increasing emphasis on meaningful assessment across all academic disciplines in American education. 1 Music educators are faced with the challenging responsibility of adapting their approaches to assessment without interfering with the tried-and-true teaching approaches that have proved effective. 2 Commonly used approaches to assessment include checking students’ mastery of performance repertoire and observing students in rehearsals and performances. One problem with these approaches is that they are largely informal, while today’s educational climate requires more formal assessments.
Some directors encourage their students to participate in large- and small-group performance evaluations or to audition for district and state honors events, but these forms of assessment do not necessarily involve every student enrolled in a class, nor do they take place at regular, recurring intervals throughout the course of an academic year. Under pressure to demonstrate their use of assessment, educators may resort to assessing their students using nonmusical factors, such as attitude, behavior, attendance, and effort. Of equal concern is the fact that some administrators may be satisfied with these kinds of assessments, but grades should ideally reflect the musical progress of the students. 3
This article describes how to use the Longitudinal Scales Assessment (LSA). This method of assessment is intended to measure technical ability; therefore, it is to be used in conjunction with other assessment methods that measure musical expression and knowledge. Ensemble directors want their students to be competent performers, but a broader goal is the production of students who are equipped to enjoy a lifetime of music-making. In other words, the student must eventually be able to succeed without the support of the teacher. Hence, the LSA incorporates goal setting and reflection with the intention of helping students become independent musicians who are capable of regulating their own learning.
Consider a common scenario in many instrumental music classrooms: A student comes to class and performs a scale or series of scales; the director listens and assigns a grade. This procedure assesses the student’s level of achievement on that scale or those scales on that particular day, and the director is able to determine a grade for the grade book. However, little else is accomplished. While the grade may indicate whether the student performed well or poorly, the student may not gain information for improvement, and little thoughtful reflection or critical thinking likely takes place before or after the assessment. Measuring student achievement is not the only responsibility of music educators; they must also teach students to take responsibility for their own learning. This requires helping students assess their own performances and identify areas for improvement, with the goal of helping students become self-reflective and critical-thinking individuals. How can instrumental music educators use traditional assessment tools (such as scales or other performance evaluations) in a more meaningful way? The LSA is a performance evaluation process that fosters student goal setting and reflection, tracks student progress over time, and provides both formative and summative assessments. Such a system contributes to a complete view of student achievement in the instrumental music class.
Longitudinal Scales Assessment
A comprehensive music program includes concepts, skills, and repertoire. 4 Therefore, a meaningful system of assessment should provide measurement and evaluation of concepts, skills, and repertoire. The LSA is primarily a measure of musical skill. As such, it is not intended to be the sole measure of student achievement; rather, it is one of many assessment tools that compose a comprehensive approach to assessment in the instrumental music classroom. To avoid an overweighting of technical skill in the final semester grade, the LSA should count for only one test grade each semester. Other test grades may include performance assessments that measure musical expression and written assessments that measure musical knowledge.
The LSA is designed to track students’ scale achievement over a period of time while also encouraging students to apply goal setting and reflection to their personal musicianship. The LSA is a process, so it should be administered at regular intervals as determined by the teacher. One assessment each semester is recommended. For each assessment, students are given two minutes to play as many scales as possible. The purpose of the time limit is to encourage students to work for greater speed. As students advance through the process, the instructor may allow additional time so that more scales and/or octaves can be performed. Students may play major and minor scales. They may play the scales ascending, descending, or both. They may play as many octaves of each scale as they choose, and they may choose whether they play the arpeggios. The only specified parameter is the time limit. Since the scale performance format is not standardized, “units”—rather than whole scales—are counted. (A unit is defined as one octave in one direction or one entire arpeggio. The arpeggio counts as one unit regardless of octaves or direction and should match the octaves and direction of the scale.) Hence, one scale played two octaves ascending and descending with arpeggio would equal five units. Depending on the size and the instrumentation of the class, the instructor might choose to modify the requirements by section (e.g., units may be weighted differently for clarinets, for which more octaves are possible, than for trombones, for which fewer octaves are possible).
If the LSA is administered each semester, a student who participates in high school band or orchestra all four years will experience the evaluation process a total of eight times. As a result, students view the evaluation not as a onetime event to determine grades or chair placement but rather as an ongoing process. After each evaluation, the students receive records of their achievements that detail how many scales they played as well as how many units (ascending and descending octaves and arpeggios) they attempted and played correctly per scale. Students then have a clear picture of how they can improve for the next evaluation.
Assessment Procedures
Prior to each performance evaluation, each student is required to set a personal goal for how many units can be played accurately within the time limit. Returning students must set a goal that exceeds their previous level of achievement by at least one unit. Students may play the same set of scales as in their previous assessments, either adding additional scales or correcting previous errors to reach a new goal. The record of achievement given to students after the evaluation not only details the number of units attempted and played correctly; it also reports how students achieved compared to their goal and compared to their previous level of achievement. The record of achievement is used for self-reflection as the students consider how they have improved since the previous evaluation and how they would like to improve before the next evaluation. When students have participated in the assessment process two or more times, it is useful to compare all records of achievement to see if errors were made randomly or if any trends arise. If possible, the instructor should meet individually with each student to advise the individual about the goal-setting process. As students become more experienced with the process, they should also become more capable at identifying their goals.
Incoming freshmen and students new to the class set goals that are their best estimates of their abilities. Freshmen will likely be familiar with the scales required for middle school all-state auditions, and learning the additional scales and octaves required for ninth grade is a good place to start setting goals. Again, the instructor should be available to assist students until they become independently capable in the goal-setting process.
During the performance evaluation, the teacher records how many units each student attempts as well as how many units each student plays correctly. Each unit is either correct or it is not; no partial credit is given. Scales are judged in this manner for the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) All-State Band auditions. 5 Figure 1 shows the GMEA All-State scale grading criteria.
Georgia Music Education Association (GMEA) All-State Scale Grading Criteria
Sample Student Performance
As each student performs the scales for assessment, the instructor tracks the units played correctly or incorrectly using a score sheet like the one shown in Figure 2. The score sheets are constructed according to each student’s submitted goals to accurately display which scales will be performed. Figure 3 displays a sample student performance that corresponds to Student A on the Sample Student Score Sheet in Figure 2. First the student performed the G-major scale, but a mistake in the arpeggio resulted in four units played correctly out of the five attempted. The second scale, C major, was performed only one octave with arpeggio for a possible total of three units. The last two scales, F major and B-flat major, were performed two octaves each with arpeggios for a total possible of five units each. For the entire evaluation, the student performed fourteen correct units out of the eighteen attempted.
Sample Score Sheet
Sample Student Performance
Sample Record of Achievement
Figure 4 shows a sample score sheet that each student receives after the evaluation. Again, the sample score sheet corresponds to the samples in Figures 2 and 3. Each score on the Record of Achievement represents a different component of the assessment.
Sample Record of Achievement
Using LSA Results
Once the playing evaluation has been completed, the results can be used for both formative and summative assessment. Improving student learning has been identified as the single most important reason for assessment. 6 The LSA has the potential to improve learning as students use the information that they receive to set goals for their next playing evaluation—did they make mistakes that need to be corrected? Do they need to work for greater speed to play more scales in the time allotted? A second purpose of assessment is to improve teaching. 7 The teacher uses the information for instructional planning—are there any trends arising that might show weaknesses across the class? If so, perhaps specific scales need to be incorporated into ensemble fundamentals. Perhaps performance repertoire and class exercises in specific keys need to be selected. These uses of the evaluation results by students and teachers are examples of formative assessment. Summative assessment takes place when the teacher uses evaluation results to assign grades. Criteria for summative assessment include amount of improvement demonstrated by students and the number of units performed correctly. Instrument ranges should be considered when determining the criteria for each section. The criterion-referenced grade becomes one component of the overall grading system, along with other performance evaluations, listening assignments, music theory work, and class participation.
A third purpose of assessment is to inform stakeholders (such as parents/guardians and administrators). 8 The documentation created by the LSA provides tangible artifacts that are useful for advocacy. When parents/guardians see student feedback reports, they have opportunities to be involved in the learning process by staying informed of their children’s progress. Administrators appreciate the paper trail that demonstrates how music teachers are assessing their students.
In a traditional assessment scenario, students may not give much thought to the process at any time other than while the assessment is taking place. The LSA requires students to engage in self-assessment before (goal setting) and after (reflection) the playing evaluation takes place. Since students are required to submit goals prior to the evaluation, they must carefully consider their levels of achievement in formulating their goals. Setting goals too low will adversely affect their norm-referenced scores, whereas setting goals too high will adversely affect their goal scores. Knowing how to set goals is an important component of independent learning and effective practice, so ideally, students will be able to transfer this skill to practicing material other than scales. 9 Reflection takes place after the playing evaluation and results when students consider how best to demonstrate improvement (eliminating mistakes from their previous performance, learning new scales, or working for faster speed to play more scales in the time allotted). As students participate in the process, they learn to value the opportunity to self-reflect. One student commented, “Normal scale tests give you a grade, and that’s about it. With LSA, I am able to see how well I did as compared to my personal goal and the rest of our class. All of these factors are important each time I prepare myself for the next test.” Another student’s comments reflect the value of opportunities for continuous improvement: “This method of testing/grading allows me as a student to see how I have progressed and where I will need to work for the next assessment. It also helps to be able to analyze my score and set my goals according to my progress.”
Teaching Independence
In an effort to help their students master essential performance skills, instrumental music teachers seek measures of student assessment that will reinforce such skills while also helping students to become independent learners. Few instrumental music teachers would question the importance of playing scales in the development of technique on all instruments. 10 The LSA serves this role—while fostering student goal setting and reflection, and tracking student progress over time. While the LSA is designed for the instrumental music classroom, music teachers in all levels and areas should consider how to apply these benefits to their assessments. For example, choral teachers might modify the student record of achievement and use it to track student progress in the areas of singing specific intervals, increasing vocal range, sequential sight-singing at increasing levels of difficulty, or even mastery of selected repertoire. General music teachers might adapt the method to measure musical knowledge in addition to musical skill. The important tenets are the inclusion of goal setting/reflection and the longitudinal tracking of student progress.
Assessment can be summative (assessment of learning) or formative (assessment for learning and assessment as learning), and the LSA can be used to address all three areas of assessment. 11 Many music educators may be using scales as a part of their assessments; however, many are not using their assessments to document student learning and developmental progress or to provide students with a clear indication of their individual achievement. 12
While traditional assessment focuses only on assessment of learning, the equal weighting of norm-referenced, goal, and improvement scores in the LSA moves some of the emphasis to assessment for learning and assessment as learning. 13 Thus, the process has the potential to facilitate a paradigm shift whereby students will be increasingly empowered to take ownership of their own learning.
