Judgmental Standard Setting: The Development of Objective Content and Performance Standards for Secondary-Level Solo Instrumental Music Assessment

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Wesolowski ◽  
Myriam I. Athanas ◽  
Jovan S. Burton ◽  
Andrew S. Edwards ◽  
Kinsey E. Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Standards ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Standard Setting ◽  
Partial Credit Model ◽  
Performance Levels ◽  
Performance Achievement ◽  
And Performance

The purpose of this study was to describe the development of content and performance standards for a rubric to evaluate secondary-level solo instrumental music performance using a modified bookmark standard setting procedure. The research questions that guided this study include (1) What are the psychometric qualities of a rubric to evaluate secondary-level solo instrumental music performance? (2) What is the quality of ratings obtained for the standard-setting panel of subject matter expert judges? (3) What cut scores best categorize secondary-level solo instrumental performances into four performance levels across the latent performance achievement variable? and (4) What content mastery of items best categorizes achievement in secondary-level solo music performance at each of the four performance levels? A panel of eight subject matter experts participated in the study. A 30-item rubric was used to collect the judging panel’s observed responses. The collected responses were transformed to linear measures using the multifaceted Rasch partial credit model. The bookmark procedure resulted in the setting of three cut points representing minimum pass levels on a latent continuum differentiating between four performance achievement levels (rudimentary, emerging, proficient, and exemplary) with clearly defined content standards. Implications for opportunity to learn are discussed.

scholarly journals Condensed Mastery Profile Method for Setting Standards for Diagnostic Assessment Systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy K. Clark ◽  
Brooke Nash ◽  
Meagan Karvonen
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Method ◽  
Performance Standards ◽  
Standard Setting ◽  
Diagnostic Assessment ◽  
Standard Errors ◽  
Performance Levels ◽  
Cut Points ◽  
Profile Method ◽  
Range Finding ◽  
Assessment Systems

The purpose of this study was to develop a standard‐setting method appropriate for use with a diagnostic assessment that produces profiles of student mastery rather than a single raw or scale score value. The condensed mastery profile method draws from established holistic standard‐setting methods to use rounds of range finding and pinpointing to specify cut points between performance levels. Panelists are convened to review profiles of mastery and specify cut points between performance levels based on the total number of skills mastered. Following panelist specification of cut points, a statistical method is implemented to smooth cut points over grades to decrease between‐grade variability. Procedural evidence, including convergence plots, standard errors of pinpointing ratings, and panelist feedback, suggest the condensed mastery profile method is a useful and technically sound approach for setting performance standards for diagnostic assessment systems.

Relationships Among Parental Involvement, Music Aptitude, and Musical Achievement of Instrumental Music Students

1992 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen F. Zdzinski
Keyword(s):  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Music Aptitude ◽  
Performance Achievement ◽  
Wind Instrumentalists ◽  
Musical Achievement ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Gender

This study examined relationships among selected aspects of parental involvement, music aptitude, musical achievement, and performance achievement. Subjects were 113 wind instrumentalists from four north-central Pennsylvania middle schools. Variables were defined through a researcher-constructed measure of parental involvement (PIM), the tonal and rhythmic imagery subtests of the Music Aptitude Profile (Gordon, 1965), selected sub-tests of the Music Achievement Tests (Colwell, 1969), and the Watkins-Farnum Performance Scale (Walkins & Farnum, 1954). Data were analyzed through correlation and MANOVA procedures. Results indicated (1) no significant relationship between parental involvement (as measured by student responses) and performance achievement; (2) a relationship of little practical significance between parental involvement and both musical achievement and musical aptitude; (3) a strong relationship between music aptitude and both musical achievement and performance achievement; and (4) a significant three-way interaction for performance achievement among parental involvement, music aptitude, and gender.

Effects of Certain Lateral Dominance Traits, Music Aptitude, and Sex Differences with Instrumental Music Achievement

1978 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley L. Schleuter
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Music Aptitude ◽  
Music Achievement ◽  
Performance Achievement ◽  
Executive Skills ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Limb Dominance

The effects of music aptitude, sex, handedness, eyedness, and footedness on music achievement and executive skills of elementary instrumental music students was explored. Handedness was defined for the present study as the observed preferred hand used for a specific set of familiar tasks; eyedness refers to sighting dominance; and footedness was defined as the observed foot preferred to perform selected familiar tasks. A five-way multivariate analysis (2×2×3×2×3) was employed to analyze the data. No conclusive evidence was found to show that combinations of eye and limb dominance, sex differences, and music aptitude variables affect music achievement or executive skill variables. Only music aptitude levels when considered alone strongly affected tonal, rhythmic, and performance achievement

Investigating rater accuracy in the context of secondary-level solo instrumental music performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Wesolowski ◽  
Stefanie A. Wind
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Performance Assessments ◽  
Rater Training ◽  
Solo Music ◽  
Rater Accuracy ◽  
Assessment Context

In any performance-based musical assessment context, construct-irrelevant variability attributed to raters is a cause of concern when constructing a validity argument. Therefore, evidence of rater quality is a necessary criterion for psychometrically sound (i.e., valid, reliable, and fair) rater-mediated music performance assessments. Rater accuracy is a type of rater quality index that measures the distance between raters’ operational ratings and an expert’s criterion ratings on a set of benchmark, exemplar, or anchor musical performances. The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of ratings in the context of a secondary-level solo music performance assessment using a Multifaceted Rasch Rater Accuracy (MFR-RA) measurement model. This study was guided by the following research questions: (a) overall, how accurate were the rater judgments in the assessment context? (b) how accurate were the rater judgments across each of the items of the rubric?, and (c) how accurate were the rater judgments across each of the domains of the rubric? Results indicated that accuracy scores generally matched the expectations of the MFR-RA model, with rater locations higher than the average student performance, item, and domain locations, indicating that the student performances, items, and domains were relatively easy to rate accurately for the sample of raters examined in this study. Overall, rater accuracy ranged from 0.54 logits ( SE = 0.05) for the most accurate rater to 0.24 logits ( SE = 0.04) for the least accurate rater. Difficulty of rater accuracy across items indicated a range of 0.91 logits ( SE = 0.08) to -1.83 logits ( SE = 0.17). Difficulty of rater accuracy across domains ranged from 0.25 logits ( SE = 0.08) to -0.68 logits ( SE = 0.17). Implications for the improvement of music performance assessments with specific regard to rater training are discussed.

scholarly journals Unraveling mysteries of personal performance style; biomechanics of left-hand position changes (shifting) in violin performance

PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Visentin ◽  
Shiming Li ◽  
Guillaume Tardif ◽  
Gongbing Shan
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Hand Position ◽  
Performance Style ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Violin Performance ◽  
Personal Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Teaching Learning

Instrumental music performance ranks among the most complex of learned human behaviors, requiring development of highly nuanced powers of sensory and neural discrimination, intricate motor skills, and adaptive abilities in a temporal activity. Teaching, learning and performing on the violin generally occur within musico-cultural parameters most often transmitted through aural traditions that include both verbal instruction and performance modeling. In most parts of the world, violin is taught in a manner virtually indistinguishable from that used 200 years ago. The current study uses methods from movement science to examine the “how” and “what” of left-hand position changes (shifting), a movement skill essential during violin performance. In doing so, it begins a discussion of artistic individualization in terms of anthropometry, the performer-instrument interface, and the strategic use of motor behaviors. Results based on 540 shifting samples, a case series of 6 professional-level violinists, showed that some elements of the skill were individualized in surprising ways while others were explainable by anthropometry, ergonomics and entrainment. Remarkably, results demonstrated each violinist to have developed an individualized pacing for shifts, a feature that should influence timing effects and prove foundational to aesthetic outcomes during performance. Such results underpin the potential for scientific methodologies to unravel mysteries of performance that are associated with a performer’s personal artistic style.

Evaluating the Psychometric Qualities of a Rating Scale to Assess Pre-Service Teachers’ Lesson Plan Development in the Context of a Secondary-Level Music Performance Classroom

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy J. Musselwhite ◽  
Brian C. Wesolowski
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teacher Effectiveness ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Lesson Plans ◽  
Partial Credit Model ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Content Specialists

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric quality (i.e., validity and reliability) of a rating scale to assess pre-service teachers’ lesson plan development in the context of secondary-level music performance classrooms. The research questions that guided this study include: (1) What items demonstrate acceptable model fit for the construct of lesson plan development in the context of a secondary-level music performance classroom? (2) How does the structure of the rating scale vary across items? and (3) Does differential severity emerge for academic administrators or music education content specialists across items? Using multiple teacher effectiveness frameworks, the lesson plans in this study were evaluated using a 4-point Likert-type rating scale (e.g., strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree) consisting of five domains: (a) instructional planning, (b) instructional delivery, (c) differentiated instruction, (d) assessment uses, and (e) assessment strategies. Secondary-level school administrators ( n = 8) and music education content specialists ( n = 8) rated 32 lesson plans using a balanced incomplete assessment network. The multifaceted Rasch measurement partial credit model was used in this study. Results suggest higher rater severity among administrators than music specialists. Of the 68 potential pairwise interactions examined in the study, 5 (7.4 %) of those were found to be statistically significant, which indicates that 5 raters demonstrated differential severity across at least one lesson plan. Implications for student teacher preparation, teacher effectiveness, and the validity of measures are discussed.

scholarly journals Unraveling mysteries of personal performance style; biomechanics of left-hand position changes (shifting) in violin performance

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Visentin ◽  
Shiming Li ◽  
Guillaume Tardif ◽  
Gongbing Shan
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Hand Position ◽  
Performance Style ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Violin Performance ◽  
Personal Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Teaching Learning

Instrumental music performance ranks among the most complex of learned human behaviors, requiring development of highly nuanced powers of sensory and neural discrimination, intricate motor skills, and adaptive abilities in a temporal activity. Teaching, learning and performing on the violin generally occur within musico-cultural parameters most often transmitted through aural traditions that include both verbal instruction and performance modeling. In most parts of the world, violin is taught in a manner virtually indistinguishable from that used 200 years ago. The current study uses methods from movement science to examine the “how” and “what” of left-hand position changes (shifting), a movement skill essential during violin performance. In doing so, it begins a discussion of artistic individualization in terms of anthropometry, the performer-instrument interface, and the strategic use of motor behaviors. Results based on 540 shifting samples, a case series of 6 professional-level violinists, showed that some elements of the skill were individualized in surprising ways while others were explainable by anthropometry, ergonomics and entrainment. Remarkably, results demonstrated each violinist to have developed an individualized pacing for shifts, a feature that should influence timing effects and prove foundational to aesthetic outcomes during performance. Such results underpin the potential for scientific methodologies to unravel mysteries of performance that are associated with a performer’s personal artistic style.

The Development of a Secondary-Level Solo Wind Instrument Performance Rubric Using the Multifaceted Rasch Partial Credit Measurement Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Wesolowski ◽  
Ross M. Amend ◽  
Thomas S. Barnstead ◽  
Andrew S. Edwards ◽  
Matthew Everhart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
School Level ◽  
Partial Credit ◽  
Rater Training

The purpose of this study was to describe the development of a valid and reliable rubric to assess secondary-level solo instrumental music performance based on principles of invariant measurement. The research questions that guided this study included (1) What is the psychometric quality (i.e., validity, reliability, and precision) of a scale developed to assess secondary-level solo music performance? (2) Do the proposed items fit the measurement model, and if so, how do the items vary in difficulty? and (3) How does the structure of the rating scale vary across individual items? The psychometric considerations in this study included calibrations of items, persons, raters, school level, musical instrument, and rating scale structure using the Multifaceted Rasch Partial Credit Measurement Model. A 13-member cohort of music content experts participated as raters in this study. A total of 75 video performances of secondary-level solo and ensemble performances were evaluated. The result was the development of the Music Performance Rubric for Secondary-Level Instrumental Solos (MPR-2L-INSTSOLO), a 30-item rubric consisting of rating scale categories ranging from two to four performance criteria. Implications for consequential validity, rater training, standard setting, and benchmarking are discussed.

Embodying Failure: Music Performance, Risk and Authenticity

Somatechnics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imogene Newland
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Charles Ives ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Interdisciplinary Practice ◽  
Musical Gesture ◽  
And Performance ◽  
A Site

Certain trends in the recital of Western art music composition and performance have embraced indeterminacy through an emerging sonic aesthetic that seeks to redefine the notion of failure. From Charles Ives' adoption of bi-tonality in the early twentieth century to the ‘glitch’ movement in contemporary computer music, this article traces ways in which musicians have sought to embrace the risk for failure in performance with special attention to virtuosic instrumental music ( Cascone 2006 ; Rodgers 2003 ; Godlovitch 1998 ; Rosen 2002 ). Drawing upon the author's recent interdisciplinary practice-led research ‘Woman=Music=Desire’ (2010) and adopting a choreographic approach to the re-appropriation of musical gesture, the author explores how the risk for failure contributes to live musical experience. This discussion is then extended to the process of corporeal acquisition necessary in rehearsing and performing a piece of music which, the author suggests, results in a degree of gestural self-simulation. In this way, the performer's personal authenticity is discussed as a potential locus of failure in which the physical manifestation of emotional expression helps to determine empathetic identification between performer, spectator and instrument ( Kivy 1995 ). Drawing upon Steven Baker's notion of ‘botched taxidermy’ (2000), the author suggests that this empathetic identification creates a space in which the potential risk for failure might be considered intrinsic to conceptions of corporeality in music performance. In this way, live musical experience is posited a site of risk in which the performer, as a desiring subject, emerges as the embodiment of failure. A short excerpt of the case study ‘Woman=Music=Desire’ may be viewed at: http://www.imogene-newland.co.uk/perf_women_md.php

Private and Quasi-Private Standard Setting

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Morrison ◽  
Naomi Roht-Arriaza
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Performance Standards ◽  
Standard Setting ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Private Standards ◽  
Technical Specifications ◽  
And Performance

A number of factors have made private and quasi-private standards increasingly important in international environmental law. However, dissatisfaction with the limits of private standard setting has also led to increasing calls for public oversight and participation in standards-setting processes and for their transformation into mandatory, public standards. This article examines who creates private and quasi-private standards and why. It then tackles the types of private and quasi-private standards, the implications of these for public policy, and the ways in which compliance with such standards is enforced. Finally, the article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of private standard setting as compared to public; the links between public, quasi-private, and private standards; the International Organisation for Standardisation and its sister organisations; non-state environmental and social certification and labelling programmes; cooperation between the international public sector and the private sector; technical specifications and performance standards; process and management system standards; measurement and reporting standards; proliferation of standards initiatives; superior performance and public sector use of private standards as incentives; and use of private standards in enforcement and securing compliance with regulatory measures.

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