Jennifer Rodriguez

Muse375s2
2/6/16
Summary/ Reaction Assignment
Feldman and Contzius: Chapter 8

After reading chapter 8, Curriculum, Assessment, and Grading, I chose to answer questions
regarding the spiral curriculum, different forms of assessment, what defines a rubric, and how individual
students can be assessed in an ensemble rehearsal. The following paragraphs address these specific areas
in question.
First, I have answered how musical curriculums relate to Jerome Bruners spiral curriculum
concept. In todays music curriculums, students start by learning the basics of playing their instruments
through learning notes and how to create a proper tone. Building off of this, students learn how to use
these notes and good tone to play simple pieces of music and warm ups, expanding their range of
repertoire as they get older. In relation to Jerome Bruners spiral curriculum, music curriculums build off
of smaller aspects of music and incorporate these small aspects into situations, minimal and complex. An
example of this relation to spiral curriculums is the overall implication of music standards; though we set
music standards in grades kindergarten through high school, these standards are consistently applied more
in depth as students musicianship progresses.
Further, I addressed the question of what formative and summative assessments are and how we
can use both in the classroom. When comparing types of assessments, formative is considered a regular
and individual assessment, whereas summative is considered a detailed and systematic assessment.
Specifically, formative assessments are usually informal and not graded. This form of assessment relates
to how students can answer procedural and conceptual questions about the music during class periods, as
well as how they are applying themselves in rehearsals. Summative assessment, on the other hand, is a
formal approach to evaluation. In this form of assessment grades are usually assigned and test students to
see if they understand the concepts of certain subjects. Ways that summative assessments are approached
may be through live playing, recorded playing, or computer-aided evaluations.

Jennifer Rodriguez
Muse375s2
2/6/16
Summary/ Reaction Assignment
Feldman and Contzius: Chapter 8

Continuing, I answered the question of what a rubric is. A rubric is an evaluation tool through
which students are graded and assessed. When building a rubric, it is important for teachers to make their
descriptions of requirements specific in order to allow consistent evaluations between students. Within a
rubric, a grading system is applied and described for what is required of each section, ranging from what
isnt acceptable, to what is highly acceptable and sets the standard. When utilizing a rubric, it is possible
for the same rubric to stay consistent with different grade levels of musicians, as long as they are analyzed
in the context of difficulty for each group. Generally, a rubric would be an explicit listing of how a
teacher would already consider grading, which the students can use to set their expectations for said
assignments.
Last, I have determined ways in which we can assess individuals during an ensemble rehearsal. In
order to assess individual students during ensemble rehearsals, directors can use tools such as exit tickets,
or asking specific questions for individual students to verbally answer. Which students participate
regularly in these kinds of conversations, or can be pointed out and answer the question accurately, will
give a good assessment of who is understanding the information and paying attention. As well, from a
performance perspective, the director can break the students up into sections or small groups. This way,
individual playing can be easily distinguished and assessed. Last, students can be assessed indirectly. This
option could include having students leave one at a time to record playing tests, or directors could have
stand partners do a summative evaluation of how their partner is playing.
Overall, I have seen all of these strategies and parts of music applied in previous music settings.
Specifically, my high school director would assess us through both formative and summative assessment.
She utilized summative assessment through having playing tests during midterm and finals, and had us
collect concert attendance in which we had to attend four different musical events in a semester. As for
formative assessment, she had us break into small sectionals at times, but mostly assessed us as an overall
group, giving suggestions to specific sections when needed.