Assessing Music Performance

Book excerpt: In ¿Assessing Music Performance¿A Valid System for Measuring Student Achievement and Growth,¿ Kevin McNulty, Sr. brings together his many years teaching band and orchestra and his professional judging career that spans over forty years. This breakthrough work gives instrumental and choral directors a solid philosophical basis for assessing performance students, using a performance-based system as the primary means of grading rather than systems used on other subjects, including general music. McNulty contends that only way to accurately measure the desired outcomes of music performance is through the prism of a music-performance teacher¿s background and experience as a musician, and not simply against a list of criteria or an extraneous written exam. Furthermore, while other disciplines in schools use rating almost exclusively, his system supports the notion that rating and ranking are required in music performance evaluation. Ranking not only establishes program standards but also provides distinction, fine-tunes teacher tolerance, provides data for seating and ensemble placement, allows for program measurement, and facilitates the escalation of performance standards year-to-year. ¿Assessing Music Performance¿A Valid System for Measuring Student Achievement and Growth¿ is a ¿must have¿ for all music directors seeking a valid way to grade students and answer the call for all subjects to measure what they teach.