Chapter 14

 Informal Assessment: Informal assessment is an unplanned evaluation, or observation of your students. I am giving my high school Men's Ensemble a piece to sight sing, and notice that the tenors are struggling to keep up with the rhythm in a particular section of the song. Now when I go back and break down the piece by section, I know that the tenors will need some extra help with their rhythm in that particular part.

Paper-Pencil Assessment:  Paper pencil assessment evaluates students through written assignments. In my middle school general music class, we have been studying composers from the Romantic Era. I have created a multiple choice test to asses their knowledge of the composers lives and impact on the world of music. The multiple choice test will allow me to see if the students have a general working knowledge of the Romantic Era and it's most influential composers.

Teacher-developed Assessment: Teacher-developed assessment allows the teacher to use their own method to test their students knowledge. In my elementary music class we have been studying the Circle of 5ths. I want to see who understands how it works, so I created a blank chart of the pattern for each student to fill out. If the student can fill out the chart correctly, it will show me that they understand how it functions within musical key signatures.

Authentic Assessment: Authentic assessment tests the student's abilities to apply their knowledge to the real-world. In my high school musicology class we are talking about music within cultures and how it is active within communities. I assign the students to groups and together, and they choose a group of musicians somewhere within the community to interview. I have them use recordings and videos to document the musician's stories and how their music is relevant within our area.

Criterion-Referenced Assessment: Criterion-referenced assessment allows the teacher to see if their students have, or have not mastered a topic. My third graders just got finished learning about the break down of notes and their values. On Friday they will have to draw the diagram of how the notes break down for their quiz.

Criterion-Referenced Assessment vs. Norm-Referenced Assessments
Criterion Referenced assessments are a great way for a teacher to see if their students are mastering the concepts that are being taught in the classroom. These assessments also serve as a great tool for teachers to see where they can adjust their curriculum, and maybe even their teaching styles to help struggling students improve. Criterion Referenced assessments help teachers target which students may need extra help, and even more specifically where they are struggling. Norm-Referenced assessments are geared toward comparing student's progress to that of their peers, such as standardized testing. This testing can be good to see where a student lies amongst all their peers, but these standard test can only assess certain skills, and learning abilities. Also, teachers can not get feed back from these test and see where a student may need extra help in certain subjects.