Developing and Applying Assessments in the Music Classroom addresses the challenges faced by today’s K-12 educators and future music educators who are expected to utilize and incorporate assessment data as a hallmark of student learning and reflection of effective teaching. Highlighting best practices while presenting current scholarship and literature, this practical workbook-style text provides future music teachers with a framework for integrating assessment processes in the face of a certain lack of understanding and possible dissatisfaction with assessment tools and tasks. Each chapter is prefaced by an overview outlining learning expectations and essential questions, and supplemented throughout by an array of pedagogical features: Discussion prompts Activities and worksheets Learning experiences Expanded reference lists Citing examples across a range of musical settings—e.g. band, chorus, orchestra, jazz, and piano and guitar labs—Developing and Applying Assessments in the Music Classroom builds from the classroom assessment paradigm, encouraging teachers to create assessment tasks most appropriate to their curricula goals and planned student outcomes. Joined by fellow experts in the field Brian C. Wesolowski and Phillip Payne, the authors invite readers to explore and apply the material in authentic ways to inspire student learning through a comprehensive approach to educative assessment.

Assessment is central to ensemble music. Yet, teachers do not always have the expertise to harness its potential to improve rehearsals and performances, and promote and document student learning. Written specifically for band, choir, and orchestra teachers at all levels, this book contains all of the information necessary to design and use assessment in a thriving music classroom. The first section addresses foundations such as learning targets, metacognition, and growth mindset. Assessment jargon such as formative assessment, summative assessment, Assessment for Learning, self and peer assessment, and authentic assessment is clarified and illustrated with music examples. Readers will learn practical strategies for choosing which concepts to assess, which methods to use, and how to use results to provide accurate and effective feedback to students. The second section brings assessment fundamentals into the music room. Filled with practical advice, each chapter examines a different facet of musicianship. Sample assessments in all performance areas are provided, including music literacy, fundamentals and technique, terminology, interpretation, evaluation and critique, composition and improvisation, beliefs and attitudes, and more. There is an entire chapter devoted to tips for applying assessment and feedback strategies in rehearsals, which can result in a fresh and effective approach to performance preparation. The final section is an examination of grading practices in music classes. Readers will gain information about ensemble grades that communicate what students know and are able to do, rather than whether they remembered their black socks. A variety of approaches, including Standards-Based Grading, are evaluated in light of music teachers' unique situations. The book concludes with ways for music educators to take their first steps toward implementing these strategies in their own teaching, including the use of instructional technology. Assessing like an expert is possible, and this book is just what teachers need to get started.

Children are inherently musical. They respond to music and learn through music. Music expresses children's identity and heritage, teaches them to belong to a culture, and develops their cognitive well-being and inner self worth. As professional instructors, childcare workers, or students looking forward to a career working with children, we should continuously search for ways to tap into children's natural reservoir of enthusiasm for singing, moving and experimenting with instruments. But how, you might ask? What music is appropriate for the children I'm working with? How can music help inspire a well-rounded child? How do I reach and teach children musically? Most importantly perhaps, how can I incorporate music into a curriculum that marginalizes the arts?This book explores a holistic, artistic, and integrated approach to understanding the developmental connections between music and children. This book guides professionals to work through music, harnessing the processes that underlie music learning, and outlining developmentally appropriate methods to understand the role of music in children's lives through play, games, creativity, and movement. Additionally, the book explores ways of applying music-making to benefit the whole child, i.e., socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and linguistically.

This book presents an examination of the applied music studio as part of higher education. Applied music studios are where students learn an instrument or voice in one-to-one settings with high-level musician teachers. This book reconceptualizes this teaching model within higher education, and it provides a critical lens, seated in current research provided by a diverse and highly influential set of researcher authors. It provides expert suggestions for improved teaching and learning practices in the applied music studio for readers who may be teachers themselves. It may also provide direction for leaders, directors, and department chairs who oversee the quality of applied music studio settings in the respective higher education units. The key feature of this book is that each chapter will explore new and relevant research, bringing new knowledge to the reader. Each chapter will also suggest relevant applied music studio practices and opportunities based on this targeted research literature. The primary audience for this book would be applied music studio teachers who engage in teaching within the applied music studio, offering suggestions for higher education and private teaching. A secondary audience would be music education researchers at all levels and who have an interest in contemporary thinking relevant to the applied music studio, as well as those interested in the master-apprentice format for learning in any field. Additionally, directors and chairs of music units globally in higher education would find this book helpful in guiding practice in the applied music studio within higher education settings.

Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs), that were developed for the National Core Arts Standards in Music, are curriculum-embedded measures designed for music students to apply relevant knowledge and skills while demonstrating learning in the standards that define the artistic processes. They are meant to engage students in tasks authentic to a school’s curriculum and honor the intent of the Music Performance Standards. They are created as models to allow for usefulness in a variety of curricular contexts and demographics. The intent of each MCA is to provide research-based assessment tasks that is specifically focused on the expected learning for the performance standards with rubrics that has been tested for scoring consistency. Following substantial development and piloting in schools across the United States, this book provides a thorough background of the MCAs and the confidence measures administered to guide implementation by teachers, administrators, and the educational community.

Fertile Ground in Middle Level General Music guides music educators to inspire their middle level students (grades 5–8) to engage more deeply in the general music classroom, where students are given the opportunity to "try on" a range of roles: musician, composer, listener, and critic. The book outlines the Fertile Ground Framework, a teacher's aide for curricular decision-making that unites the middle level concept with the National Core Arts Standards while emphasizing the developmental needs and cultural identities of students. This resource-rich book provides teachers with an array of adaptable classroom support tools, including: Lesson sequences Activity ideas Teacher resources and worksheets "Do-Now" exercises Featuring the real-world perspectives of thirteen music educators, Fertile Ground in Middle Level General Music is both practical and theoretical, presenting methods for creating rich, inspiring learning environments in middle level general music classrooms of all shapes and sizes, and highlighting the unacknowledged strengths that already exist therein. Focused on the aim of motivating students to pursue lifelong music learning, this book helps instructors find joy and excitement in teaching a wide array of musical topics to diverse groups of middle level music students.

The Teaching of Instrumental Music, Sixth Edition, introduces music education majors to basic instrumental pedagogy for the instruments and ensembles commonly found in the elementary and secondary curricula. It focuses on the core competencies required for teacher certification in instrumental music, with the pervasive philosophy to assist teachers as they develop an instrumental music program based on understanding and respecting all types of music. Parts I and II focus on essential issues for a successful instrumental program, presenting first the history and foundations, followed by effective strategies in administrative tasks and classroom teaching. Parts III, IV, and V are devoted to the skills and techniques of woodwind, brass and percussion, and string instruments. In all, The Teaching of Instrumental Music is the complete reference for the beginning instrumental teacher, commonly retained in a student’s professional library for its unique and comprehensive coverage. This Sixth Edition includes: Streamlined language and improved layout throughout, making this edition more concise and accessible to students. Updated content throughout, including insights from current research for curriculum development, coverage of current law and policy changes that impact the classroom, contemporary motivational strategies, and more information on the history of African-American and all-female music ensembles. Updated references, photos, lists of artists, and online resources.