In our program, we use SmartMusic for scale assignments, method book exercises, band music assignments, sight reading, solo accompaniments and for the practice tools. SmartMusic can assist the students with feedback on their playing, provide fingering information, allow adjustments in tempo and loop problem spots and can submit assignments to a teacher’s gradebook. The SmartMusic music recordings allow the student to play along with a quality professional ensemble, with or without their part, with or without a metronome and provide a highly motivating practice environment. Students actually “like” to practice! Student Growth Objectives (SGO’s) With the recent move to have a teacher’s evaluation be partially based on student growth (now 20%), there has been a lot of discussion among music educators about what kind of assessments to create, benchmark, document and report. For our high school instrumental program, it was a very clear and simple decision. All major scales. Our concert band curriculum has always been based on learning to play in all keys. Our method books contain scales studies, arpeggios and interval studies in all keys. Our lesson planning from Sept.-Dec. in each band level addresses a “key per week” as part of the learning targets and prepare all students to be competent playing all their scales by mid-year. SmartMusic assists us in benchmarking all students at five different times throughout the year collecting concrete data (and audio documentation) for each student. When comparing the October data to the May data… we have STUDENT GROWTH that is off the charts! This “Student Growth Objective” is addressing what we have always been doing, the only difference is that we now have clear and consistent data to back up what we and our students have always been doing. Here are five key points about SGO’s that I would like to share with you from the SGO Guidebook that can be found on the NJDOE Website. http://www.state.nj.us/education/ After reading the five points below, can anyone really say that we shouldn’t be tracking individual student growth? 1. Thoughtful goal-setting improves performance.
The TEACHNJ Act requires a measure of student achievement be included in the evaluation of teachers. In SGOs, student achievement is linked to a goal-setting process. Research consistently indicates that performance in a variety of activities can be improved by setting welldeveloped goals, and initial research indicates that this is also true for goals set by teachers for student learning. 2. SGOs help make teachers’ contributions to learning evident and concrete.
For all teachers, SGOs provide a method clearly demonstrate the impact of their practice on their students’ learning. 3. SGOs focus standards, instruction, and assessment for the benefit of students.
SGOs provide a powerful framework within which teachers must ask “What do I want my students to learn, what methods will I use to ensure they learn it, and how will I know they have learned it?” Teachers must choose standards by which they can and assessments at the beginning of the instructional period and ensure their instruction is focused on measurable student success. 4. Teachers track student progress more closely.
An advantage of any type of goal-setting is that it helps keep the individual focused on the ultimate desired outcome. Teachers found that they more closely watched and measured the progress of their students this past year. This extra attention helped teachers adjust their instruction as needed to stay on track. 5. Teachers differentiate instruction more effectively.
Through SGOs, a teacher can set differentiated targets for groups of students based on how well prepared the students are for the teacher’s course. This allows educators to set ambitious and achievable targets for more students. This practice also allows teachers to focus on the particular needs of students who warrant more attention to help them succeed in the course. - From the SGO Guidebook (NJDOE Website)
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JANUARY 2015