KMR - Kansas Music Review

Notes from KCOMTEP 2012
Evaluation of Music Teachers

Music teacher evaluation is an important and timely issue for Kansas music educators. Music teachers, certainly not new to assessment and accountability, must both understand the challenges of evaluation of content areas not subject to standardized testing, and advocate with their building administrators for such evaluations to be based on accurate and complete information (Brophy, 1993; National, 2011; Raiber, 2012). The discussion of teacher evaluation spans close to 100 years. Raiber (2012) provides an historical review of varied models and especially the shift from teacher supervision to teacher evaluation. With this shift has come the call to link student achievement with teacher evaluation.

Brophy (1993) discussed the development of a music teacher evaluation model that included eight specific attributes: personal characteristics, musical competence and performance skill, effective use of both verbal and nonverbal strategies, classroom management, and effective planning. He challenged such evaluations to be an objective assessment of teaching style based on empirically supported criteria and relevant and appropriate professional development activities.

NAfME continues to provide leadership in teacher evaluation. The National Association for Music Education (2011) teacher evaluation position statement provides six concise recommendations for measures of student achievement that should be utilized in teacher evaluation. It also describes specific components of a music teacher evaluation process. The NAfME website (2012a) provides a solid collection of resources for additional study and recommendation. Also available on the NAfME website (2012b) are resources from the March 2012 NAfME conference on teacher evaluation including a discussion about value-added teacher evaluation in music as well as presenting several evaluation models for study. Other Teacher Evaluation links from the NAfME website include:

Teacher evaluation served as the topic of the recent state-level KCOMTEP/NAfME Collegiate conference. Presenters David Dennis, Chairman, Kansas State Board of Education, and Susan Helbert, Assistant Director, Kansas Department of Education, reviewed the State of Kansas KEEP (Kansas Educator Evaluation Protocol) model, now in its second pilot year. They encouraged conference attendees to become active at their building levels in encouraging the development of evaluation models that work for non-tested content areas.

KMEA continues to support and encourage discussion and active participation in developing appropriate music teacher evaluation processes. An open discussion session for community college, college, and university teachers is scheduled for Thursday afternoon February 21, 2013, as part of the KMEA In-Service Workshop. This discussion will focus on the direction of both our state SMTE (Society for Music Teacher Education) and the annual KCOMTEP (Kansas Conference of Music Teacher Education Professors) conference.

References

Brophy, T. (1993). Evaluation of music educators: Toward defining an appropriate instrument. Retrieved from www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED375029

National Association for Music Education. (2011). NAfME teacher evaluation position statement. Retrieved from smte.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/NAfME-Teacher-Evaluation-Position-Statement.pdf

National Association for Music Education. (2012a). Retrieved from smte.us/teacher-evaluation/general-resources-on-teacher-evaluation

National Association for Music Education. (2012b). Retrieved from smte.us/teacher-evaluation/resources-from-2012-nafme-conference

Raiber, M. A. (2012). Teacher evaluation: A national perspective. Kansas Music Review 75.3 Fall 2012-13. Retrieved from URL: kmr.ksmea.org/?issue=201213f&section=articles&page=eval_perspective