EXPLORING CHANGES TO THE 2021 OHIO MUSIC STANDARDS Heather Marsh A new version of the Ohio Music Standards is on the horizon, and I am very excited to share some information about the changes and updates that are forthcoming. I had the privilege of being a member of the working group for the new standards and hope to provide some insight on the modifications that were made to the 2012 standards. If you were not aware, a draft of the standards was released last spring, and this document is available on the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) website. It is important to note that 2021 standards are still in draft form and have not yet been approved. UPDATE ON THE NEW STANDARDS TIMELINE We began the task of revising the standards in early 2019, and the original plan was to have the new standards in place for the current school year. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 and a myriad of other challenges we have faced the past year, the standards are now slated to be released for the 2021-2022 school year. In addition, in July 2020, the Ohio Department of Education released Resolution 20 to address inequality in standards and curriculum. ODE is working to ensure that the new standards will meet the needs of students of all backgrounds. This process is currently underway, and the Fine Arts Standards will be re-evaluated to ensure proper implementation in regard to Resolution 20. CHANGES TO THE 2021 MUSIC STANDARDS A significant amount of changes were made in the 2021 music standards. I would like to outline a few of these notable changes and give
some explanation about the revision. The first change is in the cognitive and creative learning processes. In the 2012 standards, there were three main categories: creating, producing/ performing, and responding/reflecting. In the 2021 standards, there are four categories: creating, performing, responding, and connecting. These categories were changed to align all of the Fine Arts Standards to the same set of learning processes. The visual art, dance, media arts, drama, and music standards now contain a common language of assessment for students throughout the arts. The next change was to the structure and format of the standards. I am so excited about this change because it makes the standards so much easier to follow. In the 2012 standards, there is a progression of concepts in each grade level, but you have to search through each box to find that skill in the next grade level. In the 2021 standards, you can now trace growth of a specific skill or concept through multiple grade levels. I will use improvisation as an example, which is in the “creating” category. Standard 1CR is about improvisation in every grade level. This makes it very easy to show how a specific skill should progress throughout the music education process. Each standard now follows this pattern from kindergarten all the way through high school, if applicable. THE 2021 ENSEMBLE STANDARDS Perhaps, the biggest change with the 2021 standards is the addition of the ensemble standards. I felt very passionate about this revision, as most of my job every day is teaching in an ensemble setting. With the addition of the ensemble standards, we were APRIL/MAY 2021 | 25
