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Notably, the body of assessment research and re- tional Core Arts Standards: (1) Creating, (2) Perform-
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sources available for non-music classes is much broad- ing, (3) Responding, and (4) Connecting, and should
er. For meaningful evaluation and growth in musical be applied or adapted to meet the individual needs of
knowledge, choir teachers should consider exploring each class and student. The strategies presented here
more effective and efficient methods for individual- are those I have successfully implemented in public
ly assessing students on musical content rather than school choral classrooms. Asterisks (*) are included
non-achievement skills. Rather than create systems next to select sample assessments in the provided tables
from whole cloth, the following existing resources could to indicate tools that could be used as teaching plans
be adapted for effective use in music education settings: for substitute teachers. Additional supplemental ma-
terials—including reading recommendations, sample
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• The Classroom Assessment Scoring System. This grading rubrics, and assignment templates mentioned
system assesses the quality of teacher-student interac- in this article—are available by scanning the QR code
tions using a 1–7 scale in three domains: (1) emotional at the end of this article or visiting acda.org/choral-
support, (2) classroom organization, and (3) instruc- journal and clicking the link on the October 2025 issue
tional support. page.

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• Heidi Andrade’s contributions to self-assessment,
which is a formative feedback process that promotes Assessments in Creating
learning and enables students to adjust and improve Assessments in Creating do not need to be difficult or
their performance. stressful. Example content in the creating strand often
includes tasks associated with composition or improvi-
• Agnes Smale-Jacobse and colleagues’ systematic re- sation, though they look different depending on the ex-
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view on differentiated instruction, or tailoring instruc- perience of the students, the experience of the instruc-
tion to students’ diverse learning needs within the same tor, and the interests of both (Table 1 on the next page).
classroom. A sample assessment in composition that my students
enjoyed was a daily melody or rhythm journal as a class
• Sherri Scott’s headings of assessment: (1) assessment starter option during a particular timeframe, such as a
of learning, (2) assessment for learning, and (3) assess- four-week unit or between two concerts. Students were
ment as learning. 8 asked to document musical ideas in a digital journal
using a simple and accessible cloud-based program like
• Brian Wesolowski’s work of meaningfully connecting Google Docs or Google Slides. Google Slides can be
district-suggested student learning objective frame- particularly helpful because each slide can represent a
works with music classrooms. 9 different day or idea.
Students’ compositional brainstorming can be guid-
The purpose of this article is to provide choral ed- ed by providing a slide template that includes conve-
ucators with strategies to evaluate their students by nient “drag and drop” notation symbols. Providing the
providing meaningful, specific, and research-based ap- notation for students to drag where they want proves
proaches to assess musical content knowledge instead helpful for many inexperienced students, while also
of non-achievement skills. Some suggestions will in- allowing the instructor to introduce new concepts as
volve technology while addressing potential limitations. they see fit to best cater to the scaffolding of each class.
Some technology tools are mentioned multiple times to If students are still at the beginning stages of learning
highlight that teachers do not need to learn a myriad how to read music, consider using shapes, letters, or
of new technology in order to implement these ideas. pictures instead of traditional music notation. Students
All content in this article aligns with the four strands should submit their journal periodically for feedback
of the National Coalition for Arts Standards with the and grading, which is made easier by having them all
accompanying Anchor Standards found in their Na- digitized. Physical journals work if technology is not as

40 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2025 Volume 66 Number 3