Standard #6

As a music teacher, I will use my professional experience to assess students’ musical knowledge and skills when they are required, both objectively and subjectively. I have taught ear training, french horn lessons, and an instrumentation class that required different ways of approaching assessment. My ear training class required a subjective way of grading sight singing. In order to compensate for this challenge, I created a rubric to make sure that my grading was fair and to give students individual feedback on their progress. In my private french horn studio, my assessment is more informal. There is not a grading system so my assessment on the students’ progress is based on my notes after every lesson. I comment on tone production, reading skills, and musical accuracy. I am then able to adjust my lessons accordingly. Lastly, my instrumentation class is a bit more subjective like the ear training classes. The challenge with this class was grading a student's creative work. This assessment required more flexibility and sensitivity. Points were given out based on set criteria that students were aware of ahead of time. Additionally, I provided lots of feedback from my own experience as a composer to assist students in future arranging endeavors. I found that this type of feedback is much more helpful to students than just receiving a grade. 

Students will benefit from my assessment because I am willing to go the extra step to give individual feedback on every assignment. Students will receive grades and ratings in my class, but everything will be supplemented with an explanation and suggestions on how to move forward. Students are developing musicians and the journey to mastery never really ends. There is always room for improvement.