Assessment in Music Education: Relationships between Classroom Practice and Professional Publication Topics.

Introduction Assessment and teacher professional development are two areas currently receiving considerable attention from the many and varied stakeholders in the field of education. One area of professional development that is inexpensive, easily accessible, and considered relevant by practicing educators, is the publications of their professional organizations (Hughes & Johnston-Doyle, 1978; Littman & Stodolsky, 1998). The importance of these publications has long been understood by members of the educational community with master teachers often identified by characteristics that include continued participation in professional development, active membership in their area's professional organization, and current knowledge of research and ideas as presented in the latest educational publications. From this, it could be expected that such publications would reflect the current practice, trends, issues, and concerns of the active classroom teacher. However, little is known about the relationship between many of the pressing issues addressed in these periodicals and the actual practices of the readers they target. In fact, research addressing the relationships between teachers and their professional publications is primarily limited to professional reading habits and how to increase the small amount of time educators are able or willing to devote to it (Cogan & Anderson, 1977; George & Ray, 1979; Stopper, 1982; Womack and Chandler, 1992; VanLeirsburg & Johns, 1994; Eicher & Wood, 1977; Sanacore, 1995). Given its prominence in the educational and political spotlight, assessment is one of the leading issues of concern to all educators. Classroom teachers and school administrators across all disciplines are currently engaged in the study, planning, and implementation of assessment practices of all types and scopes. Schools, districts, states, and regional bodies are all at different levels of training and experience in assessment with many in need of additional professional development resources. The result is opportunities in assessment that are wide and varied in both content and delivery with professional publications having the potential to serve as one of those valuable resources. Nevertheless, a better understanding of the various relationships between active educators and their professional publications could be of benefit to the profession. Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the actual assessment practices of elementary music teachers and the assessment topics and techniques published in the literature aimed at those teachers. Specifically, this study sought to: 1) Identify the current assessment techniques utilized by elementary music teachers; 2) Identify the types of assessment techniques included in the current music teacher literature; 3) Identify any relationships between the assessment techniques that are most frequently utilized by teachers and those that are most frequently included in teacher-focused music education publications. Method The researchers first examined data collected from the 100 elementary general music educators from the Northwestern United States who participated in the Washington Music Assessment Participant Survey (WMAPS) (McQuarrie, 2008). The WMAPS includes items designed to identify background information, current assessment practices, changes in assessment practices, teacher perceptions of assessment practices, and teacher attitudes regarding statewide assessment in music. The survey consists of 25 closed response items, one open response item, and 17 closed response items with optional open response for additions and clarifications. The WMAPS is divided into five sections and includes questions in the forms of multiple choice, rating scales, and open-ended prompts. Of specific interest to this study were the questions related to current assessment practices. Common forms of assessments were identified and participants were asked to classify them as: Frequently Used; Sometimes Used; Almost Never Used; or Not Used. …