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personal reflections. All forms of assessment help gath- course, I might give them a zero for the performance and
er information, provide opportunities to give meaning- let the grade be what it would be mathematically. On the
ful feedback, and empower one to grade effectively. other hand, if a student misses a performance but was
also generally unsatisfactory, those factors together will
work out to be a failing grade. My syllabus says, “Ab-
Additional Forms of Assessment: sence from a Performance Commitment is considered

grounds for failure of this course.” I have found that al-
• Students submit individual recordings of assigned lows me the flexibility to treat each case individually.
material in rehearsal while singing with the ensemble. Many choral conductors enter this vocation because
of the transformative musical experiences they were for-
• Students submit individual recordings of assigned tunate to have, and in turn want to share that with oth-
material. ers. Developing quality assessment practices can lead to
more frequent meaningful experiences because students
• Students submit a photo of a page of their marked are focused on mastery. The information in this article
score. and insights from the conductors may open a window
into new ideas for how we can grow to be a model of
• Short formative assessments identifying note names, assessment for the sake of our students, and for the sake
rhythms, IPA, etc. using a Google Form or the like. of the future students they will influence.

• Students submit responses about composers, style,
historical considerations, and personal reflections us- NOTES
ing a Google Form or the like.
1 Janet R. Barrett, “Developing the Professional Judgment of
Pre-service Music Teachers: Grading as a Case in Point.”
Journal of Music Teacher Education 15 no. 2 (Spring 2006):
Developing quality assessment practices 8-20.
can lead to more frequent meaningful 2 Ibid., 9.

experiences because students are focused 3 Brian P. Shaw, Music Assessment for Better Ensembles (Oxford
University Press, 2018).
on mastery. 4 William McConnell, “What Do They Know? What Can

They Do?” Choral Journal 50, no. 7 (February 2010): 45
-47.
5 Joshua Chism, “An Investigation of Collegiate Choral Direc-
Also, beyond what the interviews discussed, it is im- tors’ Assessment Practices and Beliefs” (PhD diss., The
portant to note that some colleges use the “Credit/No University of Oklahoma, 2022), xii.
Credit” system. Packwood mentioned wanting such a 6 Ibid., 160.
system. Even in that situation, I believe the forms of
assessment discussed above are still useful and tran-
scend grading systems.
Invariably a student will miss a performance. Tra-
ditionally, if a student missed a concert, they failed the
course. Perhaps in our current climate of pervasive
mental health challenges, a more individualized ap-
proach is appropriate. For example, if a student missed
a performance but the student generally excelled in the

CHORAL JOURNAL February 2024 Volume 64 Number 6 41