Edtpa task 3 assessment commentary

K-12 Performing Arts Task 3: Assessment Commentary

TASK 3: ASSESSMENT COMMENTARY Respond to the prompts below (no more than 10 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Commentary pages exceeding the maximum will not be scored. Attach the assessment you used to evaluate student performance (no more than 5 additional pages) to the end of this file. If you submit a student work sample or feedback as a video or audio clip and you or your focus students cannot be clearly heard, attach a transcription of the inaudible comments (no more than 2 additional pages) to the end of this file. These pages do not count toward your page total.

1. Analyzing Student Learning a. Identify the specific learning objectives measured by the assessment you chose for analysis. [ The learning objectives measured by this assessment are: 1) Students will be able to identify the three elements of appropriate vocal tone, giving formal and informal terms and translations, 2) Students will be able to describe why each term is important in regards to good singing, 3) Students will be able to describe how to teach each element to a friend, 4) Students will be able to evaluate a recorded singing performance using the three elements as well as overall sound as criteria and justify their scoring, and 4) Students will be able to summarize the content of the unit through creation of a unit title.] b. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative that summarizes student learning for your whole class. Be sure to summarize student learning for all evaluation criteria submitted in Assessment Task 3, Part D. [

Formal Summative Assessment Scores (In Percentages) Student A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S

TOTAL 95.45% 93.18% 90.91% 90.91% 90.91% 88.64% 88.64% 88.64% 86.36% 86.36% 79.55% 79.55% 77.27% 77.27% 72.73% 61.36% 47.73% N/A N/A

Part I: The Student 87.50% 95.83% 87.50% 87.50% 91.67% 83.33% 91.67% 91.67% 87.50% 83.33% 70.83% 79.17% 79.17% 70.83% 54.17% 62.50% 33.33% N/A N/A

Q1 Part II: The Colloquial/ Q3 Teacher Q1 Formal Translation Q2 Explain Q2 Describe Comments 105.00% 100.00% 66.67% 77.78% 100.00% 91.67% 90.00% 100.00% 66.67% 100.00% 100.00% 83.33% 95.00% 100.00% 66.67% 88.89% 83.33% 91.67% 95.00% 100.00% 66.67% 77.78% 100.00% 91.67% 90.00% 100.00% 66.67% 88.89% 100.00% 83.33% 95.00% 100.00% 66.67% 66.67% 100.00% 91.67% 85.00% 100.00% 66.67% 88.89% 100.00% 75.00% 85.00% 100.00% 66.67% 88.89% 100.00% 75.00% 85.00% 66.67% 66.67% 100.00% 83.33% 75.00% 90.00% 100.00% 0.00% 88.89% 100.00% 91.67% 90.00% 100.00% 66.67% 100.00% 50.00% 75.00% 80.00% 100.00% 66.67% 77.78% 66.67% 66.67% 75.00% 100.00% 66.67% 66.67% 83.33% 66.67% 85.00% 100.00% 66.67% 77.78% 83.33% 75.00% 95.00% 66.67% 66.67% 33.33% 100.00% 83.33% 60.00% 66.67% 66.67% 77.78% 66.67% 50.00% 65.00% 100.00% 66.67% 0.00% 0.00% 66.67% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

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K-12 Performing Arts Task 3: Assessment Commentary

Of the 19 students in this class, 17 students were able to take this unit assessment. This assessment was out of 44 points. The scores ranged from a low of 21 (47.73%) to a high of 42 (95.45%). Mean score was 36.12 (82.09%), median score was 38 (86.36%), and mode scores were 39 (88.64%) and 40 (90.91%).

This assessment was divided into two parts. In Part I, students had to list the three basic elements of good singing and write the both the formal and informal/translated forms of each term, explain why each term is important in regards to good singing, and describe how they would teach each element to a friend. Each listed term would earn them one point, each complete explanation would earn them three points, and each complete explanation would earn them 3 points, for a total of 24 points for Part I. A complete explanation for the importance of embouchure used complete sentences and mentioned tone placement and used complete sentences, a complete explanation for the importance of soft palate mentioned oral cavity space and used complete sentences, and a complete explanation for the importance of appoggio mentioned a supported sound and used complete sentences.

In Part II, students had to evaluate a recorded singing performance using each element as criteria and justify their scores given, and then create a title for this unit. For the evaluation, each listed criterion would earn them one point, each score given would earn them one point, and each complete justification would earn them three points. A complete justification would specify both what the evaluator saw and heard to justify the score given. The title was worth two points, one point for the creation of a title and one point for relevance to the content of the unit, with two additional extra credit points possible to be earned for creativity.] c. Use evidence found in the 3 student work samples and the whole class summary to analyze the patterns of learning for the whole class and differences for groups or individual learners relative to applying the following within music/dance/theater:

 knowledge/skills (e.g., tools/instruments, technical proficiencies, processes, elements, organizational principles)

 contextual understandings (e.g., social, cultural, historical, personal reflection)  artistic expression (e.g., interpretation, creativity, exploration/improvisation, individual choices) Consider what students understand and do well, and where they continue to struggle (e.g., common errors, weaknesses, confusions, need for greater challenge). [ As displayed in the table above, students generally performed fairly well on this assessment, with most scores sitting above 75%. Students were mostly able to identify “embouchure”, “soft palate”, and “appoggio” as the three basic elements of good singing, as well as give the colloquial terms “peach-face” and “hootiness”, though not a single student was able to give the translation “to lean” for “appoggio”. Many students struggled with giving complete explanations for the importance for all of the terms, though the terms that students struggled with varied. For example, Focus Student 3 was not able to link tone placement to the importance of embouchure or space to the importance of soft palate. Students generally performed better on the section asking them to describe how to teach each element of singing to a peer, though not everyone was able to give complete descriptions. Students who missed points on this section generally struggled with the description for appoggio, neglecting to mention expanding the ribs while implementing the concept in performance.

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K-12 Performing Arts Task 3: Assessment Commentary

Students also struggled with receiving full marks for the evaluation portion of the assessment.

While they had had some practice evaluating performances, evaluation was still a relatively new skill that students had yet to fully develop. Students generally lost points for not being specific enough with what they saw and what they heard in their evaluation commentary, as evidenced by the feedback I gave to all three Focus Students, telling them to specify more and asking them questions such as “What did you hear?” and “How could you tell?” in reference to what they wrote.

The Focus Students help represent the varying levels of achievement in this class. Focus Student 1 was an anomaly, as they were the only student who did not even attempt to answer Q2 regarding explaining and describing each term, indicating that they require further assistance with the concepts covered in this unit. Focus Student 2, who was the student with an IEP, displayed an average performance on this assessment, as they answered all of the questions but lost points on common pitfalls such as not completely describing how to teach appoggio and not giving specific enough commentary on the evaluation. Focus Student 3 is an example of a student who performed very well, mostly because they were able to give more complete commentary on the evaluation than many others, though this student also lost points in common areas such as giving complete explanations for embouchure and soft palate. ] d. If a video or audio work sample occurs in a group context (e.g., discussion), provide the name of the clip and clearly describe how the scorer can identify the focus student(s) (e.g., position, physical description) whose work is portrayed. [ N/A ] 2. Feedback to Guide Further Learning Refer to specific evidence of submitted feedback to support your explanations. a. Identify the format in which you submitted your evidence of feedback for the 3 focus students. (Delete choices that do not apply.)

 Written directly on work samples or in separate documents that were provided to the focus students If a video or audio clip of feedback occurs in a group context (e.g., discussion), clearly describe how the scorer can identify the focus student (e.g., position, physical description) who is being given feedback. [ N/A ] b. Explain how feedback provided to the 3 focus students addresses their individual strengths and needs relative to the learning objectives measured. [ For Student 1, I gave checkmarks for each correct answer or portion of an answer. Because they were not able to give the translation for appoggio, I wrote “Appoggio=”to lean” in that area of the assessment. For the unanswered explanations, I wrote leading questions, and for the unanswered descriptions, I gave hints to possible answers. For the evaluation portion, I wrote “Appoggio” where they wrote “posture”, and I gave comments asking for more specific answers for the incomplete justifications. For the unanswered unit title, I posed the question, “What did you learn over the past couple of weeks?”

For Student 2, I gave checkmarks for each correct answer or portion of an answer. For the unanswered informal terms/translations, I wrote the correct answers. For the incomplete embouchure explanation, I drew an arrow to their explanation and posed the leading question, “Why is this important?”. For their incomplete embouchure score justification, I posed the Copyright © 2016 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

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K-12 Performing Arts Task 3: Assessment Commentary

question, “Is space the important aspect of embouchure?” For their irrelevant unit title, I posed the question, “How does that relate to embouchure/soft palate/appoggio?”.

For Student 3, I gave checkmarks for each correct answer or portion of an answer. For the unlisted translation, I wrote “Appoggio=”to lean”” in that area of the assessment. For their incomplete embouchure explanation, I posed the question, “How else does it affect your sound?”, and for the incomplete soft palate explanation, I posed the question, “What does lifting your soft palate do in your throat?”. For their incomplete embouchure score justification, I underlined part of their answer and wrote “specify”. For their creative unit title, I wrote “Love it!”.

In giving feedback to each of the Focus Students, I affirmed correct answers with positive feedback such as checkmarks or writing “Good job!”. For areas that they struggled with, I mostly framed my feedback in the form of guiding questions such as “How else does it affect your sound?” or “How can you tell?” in order to elicit a deeper level of thinking and effort from the student in order to come to the correct answer, rather than just simply giving them the answer.] c. Describe how you will support each focus student to understand and use this feedback to further their learning related to learning objectives, either within the learning segment or at a later time. [ For Student 1, I will ask them why they left so many blanks on their assessment and try to ascertain if I need to give them an alternative form of assessment. The results of this student’s assessment indicate that they struggled with understanding the importance of each concept as well as with applying the concepts to performance. I will meet with this student individually in order to find out exactly why they are struggling with the unit content in the hopes of being able to develop alternative instructional strategies that better serve this student’s needs.

For Student 2, I will ask them why they were not able to give the informal terms/translation for the elements of good singing and offer alternative strategies for learning the informal terms. I will also review the concept of embouchure with them, as they lost points both in the explanation of significance and evaluation commentary portions regarding embouchure, indicating conceptual misunderstandings with this particular element.

For Student 3, I will challenge them to elaborate their explanations for the significance of embouchure and soft palate by answering the guiding questions that I gave to them as feedback. Additionally, this student tends to be quiet and shy during class but has demonstrated that they know the content, so I will challenge this student to both participate in class discussions more and to participate in peer mentoring. Doing these things will both build this student’s self-confidence and be beneficial in aiding peer performance. ] 3. Evidence of Language Understanding and Use When responding to the prompt below, use concrete examples from the clip(s) and/or student work samples as evidence. Evidence from the clip(s) may focus on one or more students.

You may provide evidence of students’ language use from ONE, TWO, OR ALL THREE of the following sources:

1. Use video clips from Instruction Task 2 and provide time-stamp references for evidence of language use.

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K-12 Performing Arts Task 3: Assessment Commentary

2. Submit an additional video file named “Language Use” of no more than 5 minutes in length and cite language use (this can be footage of one or more students’ language use). Submit the clip in Assessment Task 3, Part B. 3. Use the student work samples analyzed in Assessment Task 3 and cite language use. a. Explain and provide concrete examples for the extent to which your students were able to use the

 selected language function,  vocabulary/symbols, AND  syntax or discourse to develop content understandings. [ As shown in the table above, students were generally able to demonstrate proficiency in describing how to perform each vocal technique concept. The work of Focus Student 2 and Focus Student 3 is indicative of this, as they both received full marks for this portion because they were able to link embouchure to biting into a peach, soft palate to creating space in the back of the throat, and appoggio to expanding the ribs.

Students best demonstrated their understanding of vocabulary in their responses to Q2. As shown in the table above, most students displayed proficiency in explaining the importance of at least two of the three concepts, and most could describe how to teach at least two, if not all three, of the concepts to a peer or novice singer. Focus Student 2 was an example of a student who was able to fully explain the importance of two of the three terms, as they were able to write about appoggio promoting a “more energized sound” and about soft palate creating space, but lost points on the explanation of embouchure because they neglected to write about its significance on tone placement. In contrast, Focus Student 1 was an anomaly, as they were the only student who was not able to write anything of substance regarding the importance of each concept or how to teach each concept to a peer.

Students were best able to demonstrate development of content understandings and application of knowledge to discourse in the evaluation portion of the assessment. While none of the students provided complete enough commentary to receive full marks, students generally demonstrated an ability to identify visual and aural characteristics within the recorded musical performance and use those observations to diagnose and correct perceived vocal faults related to the concepts of embouchure, soft palate, and appoggio. Focus Student 1 wrote that the singer in the recording “needs to lifte [sic] his soft palte [sic] and open his mouth more”; while not a complete piece of commentary, it provides evidence that this student was able to observe a fault related to proper soft palate usage and give a directive for how to fix it. Focus Student 3 provides more justified and specific commentary, writing that the singer’s “singing was very forward in some places, he needs to raise it [soft palate] some more.” This observation demonstrates this student’s ability to observe a specific characteristic of performance, use prior knowledge to identify which facet of vocal technique is affected by it, and give specific feedback related fixing it. ] 4. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction a. Based on your analysis of student learning presented in prompts 1b–c, describe next steps for instruction to impact student learning: Copyright © 2016 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

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K-12 Performing Arts Task 3: Assessment Commentary

 For the whole class  For the 3 focus students and other individuals/groups with specific needs Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/support (e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted students). [ Based on student performance on this assessment, some specific areas for additional instruction are made apparent. I need to implement some additional strategies for teaching the concept of appoggio; of the three concepts, appoggio is the most complex, and students’ inability to recall its translation (“to lean”) and struggles to describe how to teach it indicate an area for improvement. Reviewing the significance of each term would also be helpful, as many students were only able to completely explain the significance of two of the three concepts.

Finally, additional practice with evaluation and discourse in response to a musical performance is also needed. While students have demonstrated some ability in writing evaluation commentary, I need to help them refine their observation and evaluation process so that they can more completely evaluate and justify comments for observed performances.

To better support Focus Student 1, I will meet with them individually to find out why exactly they are struggling with understanding these concepts. I will then use that information to develop additional varied instructional strategies to better support this student’s learning, as well as that of the class as a whole. I may also enlist the help of a student who has exhibited proficiency with the unit content in order to peer mentor this student in order to better scaffold their learning, a strategy supported by Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development theory.

For Focus Student 2, I will work with them to develop additional instructional strategies for connecting the formal terms for each concept to the informal terms/translation that I will use both with this student and with the class as a whole. Because this student has an IEP, I will also continue to provide necessary accommodations, such as increased time on assignments and alternative assessments, should this student require them.

For Focus Student 3, I will encourage them to engage in a peer mentor role to help others better learn the unit content. I will also challenge this student to think about different strategies that can be used to teach each concept, and invite them to create a series of exercises designed to promote proper performance of facial embouchure, lifted soft palate, and appoggio breath support.

For the class as a whole, the next step will be to review the content of this unit and work on achieving more complete understandings of each of the concepts taught. Then, students will be given another assessment similar to this. Once the class displays mastery over the concepts covered in this unit, we will move on to a unit covering more deeply the aspects of appoggio breath support, which requires a more in depth knowledge on breathing and tone production.] b. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of students’ learning. Support your explanation with principles from research and/or theory. [ Given the results of the assessment, students have demonstrated a need to review the concepts within this unit. McKinney asserts that, because the concepts of tone placement (“embouchure”), oral cavity space (“soft palate”), and breath support (“appoggio”) are so foundational to healthy singing, students need to demonstrate proficiency over these concepts before moving on to more advanced elements of vocal technique. Asking students to review Copyright © 2016 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

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K-12 Performing Arts Task 3: Assessment Commentary

these concepts gives them more practice with new skills, such as evaluating performances, and allows them more opportunities for repetition with each concept. Research by Wogan and Waters indicates that repetition assists students in better understanding and retaining course content. Additionally, reviewing these concepts follows Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum theory, which asserts that revisiting and building upon prior knowledge helps students in their understanding of the full formal concept. ]

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