Fresh perspectives on teaching and evaluating music performance in higher education are offered in this book. One-to-one pedagogy and Western art music, once default positions of instrumental teaching, are giving way to a range of approaches that seek to engage with the challenges of the music industry and higher education sector funding models of the twenty-first century. Many of these approaches – formal, informal, semi-autonomous, notated, using improvisation or aleatory principles, incorporating new technology – are discussed here. Chapters also consider the evolution of the student, play as a medium for learning, reflective essay writing, multimodal performance, interactivity and assessment criteria. The contributors to this edited volume are lecturer-practitioners – choristers, instrumentalists, producers and technologists who ground their research in real-life situations. The perspectives extend to the challenges of professional development programs and in several chapters incorporate the experiences of students. Grounded in the latest music education research, the book surveys a contemporary landscape where all types of musical expression are valued; not just those of the conservatory model of decades past. This volume will provide ideas and spark debate for anyone teaching and evaluating music performance in higher education.

Evaluating Teachers of Music Performance Groups provides a practical approach to evaluating teachers of music performance groups that can be used by supervisors, educators, and students. An effective evaluation system must define the teaching task and provide supervisors with the knowledge and skills to use the system. Part One of the book presents the basic documents for defining the teaching task. These include an evaluation calendar, an effective teacher profile, and five sample job descriptions. Part Two provides a review of the evaluation process with an emphasis on analyzing and evaluating music instruction. Included are sample forms for the different steps of the process, and a discussion of topics such as clinical supervision, setting goals and objectives, recording information during observations, the diagnostic/prescriptive process, and plans for assistance. The forms provided can be enlarged and copied for use by the purchaser. Those with supervisory responsibilities--both experienced and inexperienced--will find practical ideas and useful procedures readily adaptable to their professional needs. The materials presented may also serve as a resource for college subjects such as administration and supervision of school music and for courses in which undergraduates visit public school music classrooms to observe and analyze instruction.

With five newly written chapters and sizable additions to nine original chapters, this second edition of Teaching Music in Higher Education provides a welcome update to author Colleen M. Conway's essential guide. In the book's new chapters, Conway offers insights beyond music and cognition including gender identity, sexual identity, and issues of cultural diversity not addressed in the first edition. Conway also covers technology in instructional settings and includes new references and updated student vignettes. Designed for faculty and graduate assistants working with undergraduate music majors as well as non-majors in colleges and universities, the book is designed to fit within a typical 15-week semester. The book's three sections address concerns about undergraduate curricula that meet National Association of School of Music requirements as well as teacher education requirements for music education majors in most states. Part I includes chapters on assessment and grading in music courses; understanding students' cognitive, musical, and identity growth; and syllabus design. Part II focuses on creating a culture for learning; instructional strategies to facilitate active learning; and applied studio teaching. Part III addresses growth in teaching practices for the college music professor and focuses on the job search in higher education, feedback from students, and navigating a career in higher education. The book features highly useful templates including a departmental assessment report, forms for student midterm and final evaluation, a Faculty Activities Report for music professors, and a tenure and promotion materials packet. Each of the three sections of the book makes reference to relevant research from the higher education or learning sciences literature as well as suggestions for further reading in the various topic areas.

Teacher Evaluation in Music: A Guide for Music Teachers in the U. S. aims to help music teachers navigate the controversial terrain of teacher evaluation. Rather than entering the debate on policy divorced from practice, this book is intended as a pragmatic approach to help music teachers to thrive within teacher evaluation systems and as a way to improve practice. Using Shulman's concept of content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge, this book strives to help music teachers find a balance between advocating for themselves and their programs and for using teacher evaluation to improve their teaching. The book covers history of policy and law of teacher evaluation and the competing uses of teacher evaluation to rate teachers or as a professional development tool. The descriptions of policies, laws, and competing uses are approached in a way to help music teachers use teacher evaluation for their benefit to grow as professionals. This book has chapters devoted to giving detailed and specific strategies in key areas that research has suggested music teachers struggle to implement: questioning, literacy, differentiated instruction, and assessment. Complimenting these key areas are sample lesson plans which apply the strategies of questioning, differentiation, literacy, and assessment discussed in each chapter. These lessons serve as a resource and guide for teachers to develop their own lessons and improve their practice. The final chapter gives guidance on how music teachers may talk to administrators and evaluators to make teacher evaluation productive. Through these detailed descriptions of understanding teacher evaluation, talking to evaluators, and improving practice, music teachers may not just survive but thrive in these systems of accountability.

Assessment is central to ensemble music. Yet, teachers do not always have the expertise to harness its potential to improve rehearsals and performances, and promote and document student learning. Written specifically for band, choir, and orchestra teachers at all levels, this book contains all of the information necessary to design and use assessment in a thriving music classroom. The first section addresses foundations such as learning targets, metacognition, and growth mindset. Assessment jargon such as formative assessment, summative assessment, Assessment for Learning, self and peer assessment, and authentic assessment is clarified and illustrated with music examples. Readers will learn practical strategies for choosing which concepts to assess, which methods to use, and how to use results to provide accurate and effective feedback to students. The second section brings assessment fundamentals into the music room. Filled with practical advice, each chapter examines a different facet of musicianship. Sample assessments in all performance areas are provided, including music literacy, fundamentals and technique, terminology, interpretation, evaluation and critique, composition and improvisation, beliefs and attitudes, and more. There is an entire chapter devoted to tips for applying assessment and feedback strategies in rehearsals, which can result in a fresh and effective approach to performance preparation. The final section is an examination of grading practices in music classes. Readers will gain information about ensemble grades that communicate what students know and are able to do, rather than whether they remembered their black socks. A variety of approaches, including Standards-Based Grading, are evaluated in light of music teachers' unique situations. The book concludes with ways for music educators to take their first steps toward implementing these strategies in their own teaching, including the use of instructional technology. Assessing like an expert is possible, and this book is just what teachers need to get started.