M.T403

Playing Before and After

Students will receive a teacher-selected excerpt from an unfamiliar piece of music that is 16-32 bars in length of appropriate difficulty for a first-year (Level 1) student. The assessment will be individually administered in two rounds. In the first round, the students will be given their Student Booklets and directions and begin individual recordings of themselves sight-reading the excerpt. Immediately after the recording session, the students will fill out a worksheet where they will identify three practice strategies for improving their performances. In the second round, the students will record themselves practicing using the three strategies they had devised and record a second take that demonstrates their improvement.

This item has been voluntarily field-tested by Michigan teachers with a non-representative sample of students.


This is an analytic rubric. The column on the left shows the dimension that is being measured in the student’s performance. The levels across the top row indicate the performance level in the dimensions. Occasionally all dimensions and performance levels are exemplified by multiple students in a single recording.

TEACHER SCORING RUBRIC

  • Dimension
  • Practice Strategies

  • Growth in Performance

  • Pitch and Rhythm Accuracy

  • Fluency

  • Musical Elements

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Student does not choose or demonstrate effective practice strategies.

    N/A at this time.
  • Student chooses and demonstrates 1 thoughtful practice strategy.

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  • Student chooses and demonstrates 2 thoughtful practice strategies.

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  • Student chooses and demonstrates 3 or more thoughtful practice strategies; strategies are well considered, varied, and effective for the musical excerpt.

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  • No growth is evident between first and second takes.

    N/A at this time.
  • Student demonstrates a little aurally discernable improvement between first take and second take.

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  • Student demonstrates moderate aurally discernable improvement growth between first take and second take.

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  • Student demonstrates significant, clear, aurally discernable improvement between first take and second take.

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  • Student performs none or almost none of the pitches and rhythms correctly and in tune.

    N/A at this time.
  • Student performs some pitches and rhythms correctly and in tune.

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  • Student performs most pitches and rhythms correctly and in tune.

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  • Student performs all or almost all pitches and rhythms correctly and in tune.

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  • Student performance is not fluid. There are frequent tempo fluctuations and/or hesitations.

    N/A at this time.
  • Student performance is somewhat fluid, with many tempo fluctuations and/or hesitations.

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  • Student performance is mostly fluid, but there are a few tempo inconsistencies or occasional hesitations.

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  • Student maintains a steady tempo and has no or almost no hesitations.

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  • 1 point per element displayed
    _____Student attends to indicated dynamics
    _____Student attends to indicated tempo
    _____Student attends to indicated articulation

    N/A at this time.
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