Maine Motif Maine Motif May 2017 Issue 3 Volume I | Page 11

the feedback only inspired him to try for a better grade instead of refining his skills.
Therefore, he was focused on the wrong result.
The desired results of the grading process should be to foster inspired, engaged and
motivated students. How do we teach our students to embrace assessment and grading
as a tool to get to this product? We must be creative. Our feedback should motivate
students to set goals and persevere to achieve them. Those goals need to be focused on
improving their musical behavior instead of just getting a better grade. Students should
understand that the function of the grade is merely a marker along their learning
journey. They also must realize that the function of assessment is to help the teacher
know how to help them. The function of the grade is a snapshot of where they are and
not of what they are. It is important to make certain that the grades are viable
reflections of desired musical behaviors. We must set clear goals and targets for students
to strive for. If they aren’t clear, how do they know where they are heading and why they
should care about working toward them?
According to Kruse (2016), “the key purpose of grading is to assess students’ musical
achievement, which can be separate from extra-musical elements such as participation
and concert attendance” (pg. 23). There are several ways to collect evidence of growth
and give useful feedback. I suggest separating assessment criteria into three areas to
reflect behavior, skill and knowledge. These areas are habits of work, performance and
comprehension. It is very important that students receive separate feedback in each of
these criteria since they are very different, and success or failure in one doesn’t
necessarily predict results in another. Dividing grading into these areas also helps set
clear expectations.
Documenting and grading habits of work is an important part of collecting evidence of
learning behaviors. This process also helps us equip students with employable skills by
instilling the importance of citizenship, participation and work completion. These
behaviors, however do not give us viable insight into an individual’s level of musical
understanding or musicianship. A virtuoso on trombone for example, could also be a
scatterbrain who loses her music and forgets to turn assignments in. It is important to
separate these learning behaviors from performance ability and knowledge. Holding
students accountable for their actions, effectively teaches behaviors necessary to become
self-directed learners.