Assessment Practices of Secondary Music Teachers

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua A. Russell ◽  
James R. Austin
Keyword(s):  
Music Teachers ◽  
Sampling Error ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grading Practices ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Administrative Guidance ◽  
Letter Grades ◽  
Course Grades ◽  
Secondary Music

The purpose of this study was to survey assessment and grading practices employed by secondary music teachers throughout the southwestern region of the United States. Three main research questions guided the study: (1) What types of school district frameworks and classroom contexts are secondary music teachers operating within? (2) Which specific assessment and grading practices are employed most commonly by secondary music teachers? (3) Do any contextual or individual difference variables influence secondary music teachers’ assessment and grading practices? Two mailings yielded 352 total usable questionnaires (36%) with a sampling error of +/—5%. Participants reported that their school districts emphasized letter grades and that music course grades were equally weighted with other course grades in calculating student grade point averages and generating credit toward graduation. Yet, music teachers seldom received administrative guidance or altered assessment approaches due to standards-based curriculum adoption. Participants based grades on a combination of achievement and non-achievement criteria, with non-achievement criteria receiving greater weight in determining grades. Although instructional time, number of students taught, and number of concert performances prepared/ given had no substantive relationship with assessment decisions, grading practices were influenced by teaching level and teaching specialization.

Technology in Music Initial Teacher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 568-574
Author(s):  
Marina Gall
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Secondary Music ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Compare And Contrast

This chapter draws upon the work of Gena Greher and Jay Dorfman, teacher educators working in Massachusetts, to compare and contrast the music initial teacher education in the United States with the system in England. This includes discussion of the structure of the teacher education programs, the impact of the differing school curricula on teacher education in each country, novice teachers’ opportunities for using technology when on school placements, and continuing professional development for practicing schoolteachers. The chapter also reflects on the English system of ITE for secondary music teachers presented by Jonathan Savage in chapter 52, raising issues related to gender, and new forms of initial teacher education that have emerged of late.

scholarly journals A Short History of Grading Practices at Dalhousie University (1901-2021)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean P. Mackinnon ◽  
Shazia Kashif
Keyword(s):  
Point System ◽  
Grading Practices ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
The Past ◽  
Letter Grades ◽  
Experimental Teaching ◽  
Common Grade ◽  
Grade Scale ◽  
History Of ◽  
British System

Grading practices at Dalhousie University have changed considerably over the past 120 years. From 1901 until the early 1970s, Dalhousie used a variant of the British system. Initially, a grade of 65% or higher was required for distinction. In 1937, Dalhousie moved to a 2-category system (Distinction vs. Ordinary Pass) and in 1942 the distinction grade cutoff was lowered to 60%. By the late 1940s, the British system returns, “Second Division” was subdivided into Seconds and Thirds, and First Division required an 80% or higher. By the late 1960s, there were conversions between American letter grades (A, B, C, D), divisions, and percentage grades. Moreover, there was a 4pt “merit point” system that served as a prototype to Grade Point Averages (GPA). Experimental teaching and grading practices were explored in the 1970s. Officially, percentage grades were abolished and replaced with an 11-point letter grade scale from A+ to F. Unofficially, most professors and departments continued to use percentage-to-letter conversion schemes that were highly idiosyncratic, though they were eventually standardized within (but not across) departments. In the 1990s, the 4.3 GPA system was standardized university-wide largely because it was thought to give students a competitive advantage for federal scholarships. In the 2010s, Dalhousie standardized percentage conversion schemes across all departments into one unified Common Grade Scale, partially due to GPA requirements for scholarships and graduate schools. Overall, most grading changes in the past 120 years were implemented for the external communication value of grades rather than for their pedagogical value.

“I Know I'll Get an A”: Confident Overestimation of Final Course Grades

1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Prohaska
Keyword(s):  
Grade Point Averages ◽  
Grading Practices ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Course Grades ◽  
Final Grades ◽  
Confidence Ratings ◽  
Advanced Courses

Undergraduates enrolled in advanced courses in psychology estimated their final course grades at the beginning of the semester. Estimates were collected before students received information about instructors’ requirements and grading practices. Students were grouped by their cumulative grade point averages (GPAs) from the previous semester. Differences were observed in estimated and actual grades earned. Low-GPA subjects showed the greatest overestimation of their final grades. Although high-GPA students did not significantly overestimate their grades, almost 50% of their estimates were over estimations. Confidence ratings were also collected. High-GPA students were significantly more confident about their estimates than were low-GPA students, perhaps indicating that low-GPA students possessed some awareness that their estimates were inaccurate.

scholarly journals What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 333
Author(s):  
Kerstin Hamann ◽  
Maura A. E. Pilotti ◽  
Bruce M. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Causal Attribution ◽  
The United States ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Course Grades ◽  
Success In Higher Education ◽  
And Gender

Existing research has identified gender as a driving variable of student success in higher education: women attend college at a higher rate and are also more successful than their male peers. We build on the extant literature by asking whether specific cognitive variables (i.e., self-efficacy and causal attribution habits) distinguish male and female students with differing academic performance levels. Using a case study, we collected data from students enrolled in a general education course (sample size N = 400) at a large public university in the United States. Our findings indicate that while students’ course grades and cumulative college grades did not vary by gender, female and male students reported different self-efficacy and causal attribution habits for good grades and poor grades. To illustrate, self-efficacy for female students is broad and stretches across all their courses; in contrast, for male students, it is more limited to specific courses. These gender differences in cognition, particularly in accounting for undesirable events, may assist faculty members and advisors in understanding how students respond to difficulties and challenges.

‘More Product, Less Process’ (MPLP): An early printed book project

2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110267
Author(s):  
Karen Attar
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Main Research Interest ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
19Th And 20Th Century

This article addresses the challenge to make printed hidden collections known quickly without sacrificing ultimate quality. It takes as its starting point the archival mantra ‘More product, less process’ and explores its application to printed books, mindful of projects in the United States to catalogue 19th- and 20th-century printed books quickly and cheaply with the help of OCLC. A problem is lack of time or managerial inclination ever to return to ‘quick and dirty’ imports. This article is a case study concerning a collection of 18th-century English imprints, the Graveley Parish Library, at Senate House Library, University of London. Faced with the need to provide metadata as quickly as possible for digitisation purposes, Senate House Library decided, in contrast to its normal treatment of early printed books, to download records from the English Short Title Catalogue and amend them only very minimally before releasing them for public view, and to do this work from catalogue cards rather than the books themselves. The article describes the Graveley Parish collection, the project method’s rationale, and the advantages and disadvantages of sourcing the English Short Title Catalogue for metadata. It discusses the drawbacks of retrospective conversion (cataloguing from cards, not books): insufficient detail in some cases to identify the relevant book, and ignorance of the copy-specific elements of books which can constitute the main research interest. The method is compared against cataloguing similar books from photocopies of title pages, and retrospective conversion using English Short Title Catalogue is compared against retrospective conversion of early printed Continental books from cards using Library Hub Discover or OCLC. The control groups show our method’s effectiveness. The project succeeded by producing records fast that fulfilled their immediate purpose and simultaneously would obviously require revisiting. The uniform nature of the collection enabled the saving of time through global changes.

Immigrant-Origin Students in Community College: How Do They Use Their Time on Campus?

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-48
Author(s):  
Edwin Hernandez ◽  
Carola Suárez-Orozco ◽  
Janet Cerda ◽  
Olivia Osei-Twumasi ◽  
Monique Corral ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Class Time ◽  
Generation Immigrant

Background Immigrant-origin students are the fastest growing new population in community colleges, making up nearly a third of the community college population. To date, little is known about how immigrant-origin students make use of their time on community college campuses. Purpose This study sought to understand in what ways and to what extent immigrant-origin students—defined as first-generation (foreign-born) or second-generation (born in the United States to immigrant parents)—used their out-of-class campus time at three urban community colleges. We examined the following quantitative questions: How much time do students report spending on campus doing what activities? What is the demographic variation in these patterns (according to immigrant generation, ethnicity/race, and gender)? What factors predict how much overall time immigrant-origin students spend on campus? What is the effect of academically productive time spent on campus on grade point average for immigrant-origin students? We also explored the following qualitative questions: What do immigrant-origin community college students say about the time they spend on campus? What insights do they have as to what impedes or facilitates their spending (or not spending) time on campus? Research Design The study proposed a new conceptual framework and employed an embedded sequential explanatory mixed-methods design approach. As part of a survey, participants (N = 644, 54.6% women; M age = 20.2 years; first-generation immigrant n = 213, 33%; second-generation immigrant n = 275, 43%) completed a series of items about the time that they spent on campus and their relationships with their instructors and peers. Qualitative response data were derived from an embedded interview subsample of participants (n = 58). Results Immigrant-origin students reported spending a considerable amount of out-of-class time—an average of 9.2 hours—on campus. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that peer relationships and time spent helping parents or commuting positively predicted the amount of time students spent on campus. Qualitative responses provided further insights into immigrant-origin community college student experiences and provided perspectives on issues contributing to their spending out-of-class time on campus. Conclusions This study has implications for research, practice, and policy, given that immigrant-origin students make considerable use of their campus spaces. Community colleges should strive to nurture positive spaces and design the kind of on-campus programming that will enhance the success of immigrant-origin students. Collectively, these services will not only enhance the experience of immigrant-origin students but also be beneficial to the larger campus community that uses the community college sector as a stepping-stone toward upward social and economic mobility.

scholarly journals Outcomes for Black Students in Team-Based Learning Courses

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Macke ◽  
James Canfield ◽  
Karen Tapp ◽  
Vanessa Hunn
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Academic Outcomes ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Course Grades ◽  
White Institutions ◽  
Team Based Learning ◽  
The Impact

Racial inequity in postsecondary education is a significant social problem. Black students’ academic success is often hindered by feelings of isolation, particularly at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Educators should ensure that their teaching strategies promote a sense of belonging. Team-based learning (TBL) is a small-group pedagogy that is being used at an increasing rate. The extant literature has not yet examined the impact of TBL on Black students. The current study compared the academic outcomes of White and Black students enrolled in TBL courses. In this study of 148 social work students, academic outcomes were operationalized as grade point average (GPA), course grade, and peer evaluation score. Findings indicate that although Black students had comparable GPAs and course grades, they scored significantly lower on peer evaluations. Implications are discussed.

scholarly journals PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM IN INCLUSIVE REGION GROWTH

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-171
Author(s):  
N.Ye. Letunovska ◽  
L.Yu. Saher ◽  
A.P. Nazarenko
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Regional Development ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
The United States ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Bibliographic Analysis ◽  
Main Research

The article explores the concept of inclusive development of regions, emphasizing the study of the formation and maintenance of a stable level of public health in the scientific literature. For bibliographic analysis, complex scientometric databases Scopus and Dimensions were used to analyze a set of publications formed according to specific criteria using the software tool VOSviewer. The visualization method was used to visualize the obtained results. The search in scientometric databases was carried out by the criterion of the title of the publication, the content of its annotation and keywords. The analysis showed that the main research clusters form groups of scientists' publications from the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. The small number of publications, but their growth dynamics and the increasing number of citations (according to Google Scholar) indicate a lack of study of inclusive growth in the region in the public health management system and the prospects for its exploration by scientists. According to the analysis, the interest of scientists in solving the problem of public health in ensuring regional development increased in 2020-2021. Much of the publications relate to such areas of knowledge as business, management and accounting. The main areas of research on public health in the development of the regions include the provision of medical services, the health care system, social determinants of health, and the population's state of health. Scientific clusters are gradually being formed around these keywords. The obtained results of the bibliographic analysis form the basis for a better understanding of public health issues, the search for gaps, the solution of which should be worked on in further research. Particular attention is paid to the issue of the COVID-19 pandemic as a crisis-forming factor that hinders the movement of regional development in a promising direction and ensuring the resilience of the system. It is substantiated that the health factor is essential in forming a robust human potential of the country and the growth of labor productivity.

Teacher Evaluation

2019 ◽  
pp. 11-28
Author(s):  
Cara Faith Bernard ◽  
Joseph Michael Abramo
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evaluation Systems ◽  
State Education ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Systems ◽  
Laws And Policies

This chapter provides a background on laws and policies related to teacher evaluation in the United States. This background might help music teachers navigate teacher evaluation systems and avoid misunderstanding evaluators’ motivations and pressures. First, the chapter provides a brief history of federal and state education law and education policy. This history is presented as a series of four phases, each aimed to standardize public education. These phases move from evaluating standards through student performance and standardized tests to teacher performance and quality through instructional practice. Second, there is an investigation of how history and policy have led to tensions, disagreements, and contradictions within teacher evaluation processes and policies. Finally, the chapter describes how these tensions have resulted in the common characteristics of teacher evaluation systems found throughout the country. By understanding this background and history, music teachers may begin to actively and constructively participate in teacher evaluation.

scholarly journals Imperfect physician assistant and physical therapist admissions processes in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Eugene Jones ◽  
Susan Simpkins ◽  
Jennie Alicea Hocking
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Physical Therapist ◽  
Physician Assistant ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grade Point Averages ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Grade Point

We compared and contrasted physician assistant and physical therapy profession admissions processes based on the similar number of accredited programs in the United States and the co-existence of many programs in the same school of health professions, because both professions conduct similar centralized application procedures administered by the same organization. Many studies are critical of the fallibility and inadequate scientific rigor of the high-stakes nature of health professions admissions decisions, yet typical admission processes remain very similar. Cognitive variables, most notably undergraduate grade point averages, have been shown to be the best predictors of academic achievement in the health professions. The variability of non-cognitive attributes assessed and the methods used to measure them have come under increasing scrutiny in the literature. The variance in health professions students’ performance in the classroom and on certifying examinations remains unexplained, and cognitive considerations vary considerably between and among programs that describe them. One uncertainty resulting from this review is whether or not desired candidate attributes highly sought after by individual programs are more student-centered or graduate-centered. Based on the findings from the literature, we suggest that student success in the classroom versus the clinic is based on a different set of variables. Given the range of positions and general lack of reliability and validity in studies of non-cognitive admissions attributes, we think that health professions admissions processes remain imperfect works in progress.

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