Assessment in German Music Education

Music assessment in Germany is marked by several distinct features. One is the predominance of a philosophy of “Bildung,” which is only partly compatible with the idea of assessment. Although the philosophical background and day-by-day teaching may not be as sophisticated as a long tradition may suggest, a dislike for standardized measuring and systematic assessment is widespread. In return, there is a strong research tradition modeling competencies up to psychometrical standards and using latent trait theory to describe them. A future task may be to link everyday assessment required by school administration to the procedures developed in research to develop systematic assessment for learning and implement this into practice.