Legislative mandates such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have shaped an educational paradigm shift- effective teaching is defined by demonstrating student growth within a content area. Data is gathered and analyzed yearly, with results potentially impacting teacher evaluations, teacher pay, and hiring and firing decisions.
Standardized testing is one of the most common ways of assessing students. Test results give clear and coherent views of student growth over a specific period of time, but rely heavily on quantitative measures. There are numerous other means to assess student growth however, and to achieve the most efficient and effective evaluation, multiple assessments should be considered that consist of qualitative measures as well.
Non-tested subjects, such as music, are also under the same requirements to measure student growth to evaluate teacher effectiveness. There is no national or state-wide assessment that is currently recognized and accepted for measuring music student growth. Music teachers are responsible for teaching “knowledge”- a belief or consensus of fact; and “skills”- the aptitude for performing a specific task.
This thesis specifically examines the following questions:
1. How should the growth of music students in the state of Ohio be effectively assessed?; and
2.How should the effectiveness of music teachers in the state of Ohio be determined?
Utilizing multiple, standards-based assessments, such as portfolios, performances, observations, and pretest/posttest models, student growth in music can be effectively and efficiently measured for music students in the state of Ohio. Music teacher assessments in the state of Ohio should include evidence of a music teacher's capacity to plan lessons, establish a healthy learning environment, utilize best teaching practices, and create and maintain opportunities for professional growth. Thus, a new evaluation tool was created for assessing music teachers. This tool, created after reviewing available literature, establishes four domains of teaching, similar to the Charlotte Danielson domains, and conforms to recent Ohio legislative mandates.