Assessment Practices of American Choral Music Educators

This chapter describes traditional and student-centered assessment practices used in American school choral settings. It presents choral assessment as a means for communicating expectations to students, improving teaching and learning, evaluating achievement with objectivity, and providing multiple sources of feedback toward improvement. Technology-assisted assessment, student-constructed portfolios, and Model Cornerstone Assessments are highlighted as efficient ways to demonstrate accountability of standards-based learning in the choral ensembles. The chapter provides a rationale for choral music educators to explore student-centered assessment practices, including student-developed rubrics, ongoing opportunities for reflection and revision, and use of multiple sources of feedback to promote critical thinking, problem-solving, and musical independence. It suggests that increased emphasis on emerging assessment practices in choral music educator preparation and professional development is needed to influence choral music educators’ practice of meaningful assessment.