1. Model Cornerstone Assessments A Nationwide Initiative
(MCAs):
A Nationwide Initiative
Based on a 2/20/15 Keynote for the International Symposium on Assessment in Music Education
Scott C. Shuler, Ph.D
Linkedin.com/in/ScShuler
(860) 325-ARTS
NAfME.org/Standards 1

2. National Core Arts Standards include:
Philosophical Foundations
Lifelong Goals (= vision of Arts Literacy)
3+ Artistic Processes (CPR +)
Enduring Understandings (paired with EQs)
Connections
Common Core (ELA, Math)
21st Century Skills/College & Career Ready
Cross-Arts Connections
Opportunity-to-Learn Guidelines
Model Cornerstone Assessments
with Student Work

3. Organizational Structure: Framework Matrix

4. Music Standards Levels (reflecting differences among 4 “strands”)
Elementary
Middle School
High School
Beyond High School
PK-2
3-5
6-8
+1 year
+4 years
+5 years or more
General Music
Novice
Intermediate
Proficient
Accomplished
Advanced
Ensembles
Harmonizing Instruments
Composition / Theory
Music Technology

5. New National Core Arts Standards envision students learning all 3 Artistic Processes in all classes
But the relative emphasis on each Process varies,
depending on class type

6. Cornerstone Assessments
Curriculum-embedded
Engage students in applying their knowledge and skills in an authentic and relevant context
Anchor the curriculum around the most important performances that we want learners to be able to do (on their own)
-- Jay McTighe (and Grant Wiggins)

7. 2015 Music PrePiloting MCAs
General Music
Artistic Process
Grade 2
Grade 5
Grade 8
Creating ♫
Performing
Responding
Ensemble
Artistic Process
Novice
Intermediate
Proficient…
Performing ♫

8. MCA Characteristics Focused on one Artistic Process
Multiple Process Components
Embedded in Unit
Parallel across Grades/Levels
Analytically Scored

9. MCA-Like Units from CT Common Music Assessments
Artistic Process
Grade 2
Grade 5
Grade 8
Creating
Improvisation
Composition
Performing
Singing
Prompt
More at:

10. Music MCA Leadership Structure
Fred Burrack (Kansas State University)
A. Kelly Parkes (Virginia Tech)
Team of Research Advisors
Scott C. Shuler (National Standards Co-Chair)
Glenn Nierman (NAfME President)
Ching Ching Yap (past South Carolina arts assessment leader)
Richard Wells (National Standards Co-Chair)
David Weatherred (Spokane, WA Music Supervisor)
Tim Brophy (University of Florida Assessment Guru)

11. Music MCA Development Timeline Grades 2, 5, 8, and Ensemble
STEP
TIMING
1st Public Drafts
June 2014 (with standards)
Refinement
June 2014 – February 2015
2nd Public Drafts
Mid-February 2015
PrePiloting
February – April 2015
Revision
April – August 2015
3rd Public Drafts
September 2015
Piloting
September – December 2015
December 2015 – January 2016
Repiloting (as needed)
February – May 2016
Final Revisions and Benchmarking
Summer 2016
Final MCAs
September 2016

12. How will we manage nationwide piloting and benchmarking?

13. beta Site: dev.CTcurriculum.org
(final name will be ShareAssessment.org circa May 2015)

14. Site enables Multiple Teachers/Piloters to Upload Student Work to Same Task

16. Manage Student Work and Scorers
Basic Statistical Analyses + Export to Excel for Further Analysis

17. dev.CTcurriculum.org enables any user to:
Create standards-based units with embedded assessment tasks;
Upload and insert links to files in various formats, including video;
Make units public, private, or accessible only to designated users;
Assign others varied levels of permission (access) that allows them to –
provide threaded feedback and suggestions for improvement;
participate in editing; and
upload student work to the task and enter their scores.
Select benchmark (anchor) student work to illustrate levels of achievement on units/tasks;
Assign work – specifically or randomly – to scorers for blind scoring, a crucial step in benchmarking and calibration processes;
Manage groups of scorers, monitoring which have completed their assigned task and communicating with those who have not;
Perform basic statistical analyses on scores and scorers, to identify outliers and determine inter-rater reliability; and
Clone existing units/tasks and scoring scales for future use or editing.

18. Where can you find National Core Music Standards and PrePilot MCAs?
NAfME.org/Standards

19. Where can you find Conceptual Framework and Background Research?

20. Linkedin.com/in/ScShuler
Scott C. Shuler, Ph.D. Arts Education Specialist, CT SDE (ret.) Co-Chair, National Core Music Standards Past-President, NAfME
Linkedin.com/in/ScShuler
(860) 325-ARTS
NAfME.org/standards