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Burrack, Frederick. Assessment & the Common Core: How Do the Common Core Standards Relate to Music?. Kansas Music Review 76.3 Fall 2013-14. URL: http://kmr.ksmea.org/?issue=201314f&section=articles&page=core_music
Assessment & the Common Core: How Do the Common Core Standards Relate to Music?
Frederick Burrack
Director of the Office of Assessment
Chair of Graduate Studies in Music Education
Kansas State University
There has, at times, been legislation that appeared to devalue music in the context of schooling and diminish music teachers' ability to teach. This article is presented to make evident that the Common Core was intended and should be implemented by music teachers to reflect the learning expected in music programs. Assessments authentic to music learning can and should be represented in the Common Core.

Teachers in general music or performance classes are consumed with challenges of large classes, insufficient instructional time, and a multitude of administrative duties. Since the Common Core Standards will require assessments to measure student progress, the expectations for a music teacher integrating the Common Core Standards into their courses seems overwhelming. The key is to identify and assess what we already do or can do that will authentically contribute to Common Core learning within the music curriculum.

What are the Common Core?
The Common Core Standards are educational standards designed to help teachers ensure that students have the skills and knowledge they need to be successful beyond primary and secondary school, no matter what discipline they pursue as a career.1 The intent is for students to receive a consistently high quality education in the foundations of learning, which is important for any discipline from school to school and state to state.2 They are not content standards of a particular discipline thrust upon unassociated content areas. The standards define the areas of competency required of all students as a foundation for entrance level success in higher education as well as the workforce.3 The Common Core Standards should not be viewed as a checklist of skills, nor as content area standards. The intentional design of the Kansas Common Core Standards is meant to stimulate cross-curricular, cross-grade-level connections in reading, writing, listening, communicating, and problem solving in order to facilitate learning in all disciplines.4

The Common Core English Language Standards are designed for literacy in communication valuable for any discipline. The model of literacy includes four strands: reading, writing, speaking and listening. These strands are intended to be integrated, just as they interact together in real life situations. The Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice explains processes and proficiencies in problem solving processes such as reasoning, communication, representation, and connections,5 which are all essential in music learning, creation, and performance.

Translating Common Core to the Music Classroom
Literate musicians must be able to do more than perform music. They must be able to find resources to study about their music, understand the relevance of resources, and transfer new-found knowledge into their music. A literate musician must be able to communicate through their craft, but also must communicate about their music, promote its value, and share valuable information to expand culture.

The following is a quote from the preface of the Kansas Common Core with a few words replaced with musical terminology. It clearly communicates the purpose of the Common Core for music classes:
A musician must be able to read, write, speak, listen, and effectively use all appropriate means to communicate their depth of musical understanding, responsiveness, and creativity. Literacy skills are an important facet to success in music programs, as well as success as a musician beyond educational training.
The Common Core standards are not meant to replace music content standards but rather to help students achieve a deep understanding and relationship with the music they experience. The Common Core should be considered a tool to develop and refine skills of observation and interpretation.6 Kansas' focus for reading, writing, speaking, listening, communication, and problem solving is a shared responsibility across all programs in our schools. All music students, whether they continue in music or another discipline, will need skills in these areas in order to succeed beyond secondary school.

A music teacher can address the literacy skills in the Common Core through the content area of music to develop educated musicians. The Common Core reflects arts research that has suggested that analytical and interpretive skills can be strengthened in the arts equally as well as by literary arts and mathematics. One of our greatest advocacy tools is to be proactive in demonstrating how music fulfills the mission of educating youth through the Common Core.

The following is a short summary of each Common Core area with examples of what it might look like in music education with a few suggestions of possible assessment strategies. These suggestions provide examples from which you can generate a reasonable assessment plan for your own course or program. It is important to recognize that the notions presented are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive. As you consider which of these standards can be addressed in your class and across your music program, think about how these skills are developed and authentically demonstrated by students in music.

The English Literacy Common Core
The English Literacy Common Core8 is divided into the strands of writing, reading, listening and speaking. The texts that students read in music occur in various formats: english language, iconic, and/or notational formats.9 Writing in a music class may be through notation, written language, and/or symbolic means.10 The authors of the Common Core define literacy as the ability to listen and communicate through language. In music, communication is enhanced through highly developed listening skills and expressed through musical performance, composition and improvisation, oral description, and a variety of technology-based formats.11

Each English Literacy Common Core area is presented as a sequence of 10 progressively more complex levels of student involvement.

Reading Standards
The Common Core Standards for Reading12 must be recognized in the framework of how a musician learns music. Although reading about music is an important and essential part of becoming a literate musician, another basic consideration is the reading of notational symbols and the associated terminology. The reading skills that reading music enhances are 1) print awareness—the skill of scanning and following print from left to right; 2) Phonemic awareness—the ability to hear and understand how the sounds work together for meaning; 3) Vocabulary—listening, speaking, reading, and writing words that we must know in order to communicate effectively; 4) Fluency—the ability to read accurately and quickly; 5) Comprehension—the ability make meaning.13 This includes reading on sight, analyzing the theoretical construction of a composition, audiating notational systems, and musically interpreting the symbols that represent musical sound. But notational competence alone does not define a literate musician. There is much for students to learn about music through history, culture, society, theoretical and analytical descriptions of music, and critical reviews. Our students need a comprehensive music education to be considered fully literate musicians. The ten sequential standards for the reading Common Core are useful in designing instruction toward a comprehensive music education and can be seen in figure 1.

FIGURE 1: Common Core Standards for Reading Show Figure 1

To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must read widely and deeply from among a broad range of high quality, increasingly challenging texts. For the music class, this includes printed music, literary texts in music, and informational sources. Through reading of information about diverse cultures and different time periods, students gain foundational knowledge of the music to which they listen to and perform. Students develop this knowledge when the music curriculum is intentionally and coherently structured to develop rich content knowledge within and across grades. They acquire habits of curiosity about music beyond performance skills.

In figure 2, you will see a re-phrasing the Common Core Reading Standards, describing how they can be demonstrated by music students. These descriptions assume grade-level appropriate adjustments for understanding, reading skills, and notational competence. It is important to view these standards in the paradigm of what a musician should know and be able to do in order to be an independent musician. This will require thinking about comprehensive music teaching extending beyond skill development.

FIGURE 2: Common Core Reading Standards in Musical Language Show Figure 2

A literate musician must be able to independently use a variety of information to support musical knowledge and enhance musical understanding in order to perform, compose, or listen to music. Many of the aspects described in the figure 2 above are currently included in many music programs' instruction. The challenge is how to authentically assess the variety of reading skills associated with music learning. Figure 3 shows a list of possible assessments progressing in level of complexity for students. It is the author's hope that some of the assessments presented will generate ideas that are appropriate and manageable for your program.

FIGURE 3: Examples of Possible Assessments for Common Core Reading in Music Show Figure 3

Writing Standards
The Common Core Standards for writing14, found in figure 4, are designed to build a foundation for college and career readiness of students using writing as a way of offering and supporting opinions, demonstrating understanding, and conveying real and imagined experiences and events. They should recognize that a key purpose of writing is to communicate clearly, sometimes to an audience with a lesser or different understanding than themselves. Writing about music is clearly an important mechanism for students to show what they have learned. Using written communication is an effective and essential mechanism through which students make sense of and clarify learning about music. These standards must include writing in a notational format, because the concepts of effective writing are reinforced, which include: 1) Audience and format; 2) Composition and style; 3) Structure; and 4) Proofing and revision.15 Conceptual understanding and development of organization and expressive communication through music composition reinforce formal skills expected in the Common Core. In music we want our students to develop the capacity to build knowledge of music through independent study and to respond analytically to a variety of musical, literary, and informational sources. To meet these goals, students must devote significant time and effort to writing and producing numerous pieces throughout the year. Figure 5 demonstrates how the Common Core Standards for Writing are expressed in musical terminology and demonstrated by music students.

FIGURE 4: Common Core Standards for Writing Show Figure 4

FIGURE 5: Common Core Writing Standards in Musical Language Show Figure 5

When assessing writing in music, the focus must remain on the musical learning that can effectively be assessed through written form. Written assessments are often more efficient and effective ways to assess students' comprehension of compositional structure, association of historical and cultural context with music being studied, and ability to critique music and musical performances. Many times these assessments occur through the use of English language, but sometimes through other forms of written communication such as symbolic patterns on a form map or through notation in a musical composition. Figure 6 shows a list of possible assessments for the Common Core writing standards that could be implemented in a music class progressing. They are presented in level of complexity and assume that adjustments must be made for grade-level appropriate vocabulary, word choice, sentence structure, context, grammar, and mechanics.

FIGURE 6: Examples of Possible Assessments for Common Core Writing in Music Show Figure 6

Listening and Speaking Standards
The Common Core Standards for listening and speaking16, as seen in figure 7, are designed to build a foundation for college and career readiness as students take part in a variety of rich, structured conversations about music. In music, these conversations can occur through multiple forms of musical communication, including verbal language, musical improvisation, and cooperative stylistic performance. Being productive members within these conversations requires that students contribute accurate, relevant information; respond to and develop what others have communicated; make comparisons and contrasts; and analyze and synthesize a multitude of ideas in various domains. New technologies have broadened and expanded the role of speaking and listening in music through the use of You Tube, blogs, discussions boards, videoconferencing, and other means of acquiring and sharing knowledge. Digital formats challenge students with the potential for continually updated content and dynamically changing combinations of words, graphics, images, hyperlinks, and embedded video and audio. Figure 8 demonstrates how the Common Core Standards for listening and speaking can be expressed in musical terminology and demonstrated by music students.

FIGURE 7: Common Core Standards for Listening and Speaking Show Figure 7

FIGURE 8: Common Core Listening and Speaking Standards in Musical Language Show Figure 8

The Common Core standards of speaking and listening are inherent in most music instruction. Figure 9 shows a list of ideas for assessments focused on listening and speaking, progressing in complexity. In music, learning through collaboration is not only foundational but also essential in many of the musical activities included in curricula.

FIGURE 9: Examples of Possible Assessments for Common Core Listening and Speaking in Music Show Figure 9

Mathematical Practice Common Core
The thinking skills associated with all Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice17 , as see in figure 10, describe ways students use problem solving throughout the elementary, middle and high school years. Though the Common Core titles this set of standards "Mathematical Practice," other disciplines such as music are also capable of teaching the balanced combination of procedure and understanding necessary for problem solving. When students develop sufficient foundational knowledge, they can represent problems coherently, justify conclusions, apply strategy to practical situations, use technology mindfully, explain the problem accurately to other students, step back for an overview, or deviate from a known procedure to find a more effective way of achieving results. In short, development of understanding effectively allows a student to critically engage in music. To better understand how the Common Core for Mathematical Practice intersects with music, figure 11 provides clarity for how each category of the standard can be experienced and demonstrated by music students.

FIGURE 10: Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice with clarifying descriptions Show Figure 10

FIGURE 11: Common Core for Mathematical Practice in Musical Language with clarifying descriptions Show Figure 11

The primary element in music that is mathematically based is rhythm, although other formal elements in music require logic, abstractions, reasoning, and critical thinking. Many of the decisions a student makes in musical practice and performance are focused on identifying and solving problems. Identifying instructional strategies that develop thinking processes that support the Common Core for Mathematical Processes is easy in the field of music since these processes are the foundation of music making. Figure 12 provides many examples of possible assessments, although there are many more opportunities to observe and document student achievement.

FIGURE 12: Examples of Possible Assessments for Common Core Mathematical Practice in Music Show Figure 12

FIGURE 13: Additional Resources on Music and Common Core, the following links may be helpful Show Figure 13

Conclusions
Whether your school is asking you to contribute to instruction and assessment in the Common Core areas or political factions choose to move in a different direction, teaching music and assessing student learning through these educational principles is simply good and comprehensive music teaching. A successful musician embodies these skills and a literate musician recognizes the value. If the Common Core does not place expectations on music education to embrace a comprehensive structure of student learning, music teachers should exhibit this focus regardless. It is just GOOD MUSIC TEACHING!
  1. "Common Core Standards Initiative," http://www.corestandards.org/ (December 2012).
  2. "About the Standards." http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards (December 2012).
  3. "A Cautionary notes about Unpacking, Unwrapping, and Deconstructing the Kansas Common Core Standards." http://www.ksde.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=6-dMtO0Q0oE%3d&tabid=4754&mid=12664 , p.3 (December 2012).
  4. "The Arts and the Common Core: A review of connections between the Common Core State Standards and the National Core Arts Standards framework" http://nccas.wikispaces.com/file/view/Arts+and+Common+Core+-+final+report1.pdf (December 2012)
  5. "Standards for Mathematical Practice," http://www.ksde.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=NrF2sZEzKQI%3d&tabid=5276&mid=13067, p.6 (December 2012).
  6. Coleman, D. (2011). Guiding principles for the arts: Grades K-12. Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/docs/guidingprinciples-arts.pdf.
  7. Zuckerman, S. (2012).How the Arts Can Lead in Implementing the Common Core. Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://blog.artsusa.org/2012/09/10/how-the-arts-can-lead-in-implementing-the-common-core/.
  8. "English Language Arts Standards" Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy
  9. "Some of the new media classroom activities that I've observed focus on helping students gain practice in a key skill advocated by the Common Core standards: the ability to read texts closely-to be text detectives. As students enter a world in which they will do much of their reading and writing on a screen, it makes sense to start by looking at nonprint texts, such as in the genres of video, music, and visual art." Kist, W. (2013). New literacies and the Common Core, Educational Leadership:Technology-rich learning,70(6), 38-43.
  10. "The Anchor Standards call for students to 'interpret words and phrases as they are used in text.' Assuming music is a language, notation is seen as words that can be interpreted for both instrumental and choral students. The musical purpose of phrases or sections of music can be deconstructed under this Standard as well, and performance choices made based on individual or contextual analysis." Found in Common Core State Standards Affect Music Education, retrieved Aug. 1, 2013 , from http://www.rolandmusiced.com/spotlight/article.php?ArticleId=1603.
  11. What a College & Career Ready Student Looks Like found in "Common Core State Standard For English Language Arts & Literacy In History/Social Studies, Science, And Technical Subjects: Introduction, p. 7 retrieved Aug. 1, 2013, from http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf.
  12. "English Language Arts Standards: Reading: Literature" Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/R.
  13. "Foundational Skills for reading: Nonverbal Reading Approach" Retrieved Aug. 1, 2013 from http://education.gsu.edu/PhysicalDis/strategies/foundation.html.
  14. "English Language Arts Standards: English Language Arts Standards " Writing" Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/W.
  15. "Writing Skills: Getting Your Written Message Across Clearly" found in MindTools, retrieved Aug. 1, 2013, from http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/WritingSkills.htm.
  16. "English Language Arts Standards: Speaking & Listening" Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/SL.
  17. "Mathematics: Standards for Mathematical Practice" Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice.

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