Assessment Commentary

K12 Performing Arts
Assessment Commentary
Niamh Stapleton
Copyright 2013 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 1 of 7 | 10 pages maximum
All rights reserved. V2_0913
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Assessment Commentary Directions: 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; both the prompts and your responses are included in the total page
count allowed. Refer to the evidence chart in the handbook to ensure that this document complies with all
format specifications. Pages exceeding the maximum will not be scored.
1. Analyzing Student Learning
a. Identify the specific standards/objectives measured by the assessment you chose for
analysis.
26A.I.2 Demonstrate basic instrumental techniques (breath support, posture, bowing) ]
26A.E.5 Sing or play accurately simple rhythmic and melodic patterns from a written score
26BE2 Improvise simple harmonic accompaniments

b. Provide the evaluation criteria you used to analyze the student learning.
[Students were evaluated on their ability to make A-based barre chords, define arpeggio,
hold and position the guitar correctly, play the top line of exercise 2 on page 65 of their
workbook, and arpeggiate the chords from the verse of Say Something starting on the
root of each chord. Students were verbally told the material that would be on the playing
quiz and also had access to it listed on the board. On Day 4, students were provided the
rubric with the evaluation criteria before they were administered the assessment. When
they took their playing quiz, they were verbally given directions and also had their
workbook and lead sheet in front of them.
A copy of the rubric is available under part d: evaluation criteria on the edTPA portion
of my website. ]
c. 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 described
above.
[A chart that summarizes student learning in every category listed on the rubric for the
entire class is available under part c: assessment commentary.]
d. 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 creating, performing, or responding to music/dance/theater
by applying
artistic skills (e.g., self expression, creativity, exploration/improvisation)
knowledge (e.g., tools/instruments, technical proficiencies, processes, elements,
organizational principles)
contextual understandings (e.g., social, cultural, historical, global, personal reflection)
Consider what students understand and do well, and where they continue to struggle (e.g.,
common errors, weaknesses, confusions, need for greater challenge).
[According to the chart summarizing student learning, the vast majority of the students
met most of the goals on the assessment 23 out of 27 students passed with a D or
higher, which is roughly 85%, and 20 passed with a C or higher, which is roughly 75%.
(Please note than I am including the two students who did not take the quiz in this
K12 Performing Arts
Niamh Stapleton
datathe students that did not take the quiz have a 0 listed on the chart for every
category. One student would not take the test and the other was absent multiple days
and was never there to take the quiz.) As it says on the data analysis, the most occurring
grade was in the B range, at 48.1%.

The students on the whole were most successful at playing the correct chords (both
barre and non-barre chords) and playing with proper technique. Focus students 1, 2, and
3 all did very well on their barre chords as well as the chords in exercise 2 and Say
Something.

Students are making progress in the area of arpeggiationthe majority of students
passed in this category, but far fewer students passed with full credit for that category.
Further gains must be made; it is not a skill that students are confident with yet. Students
2 and 3 exhibit this struggle on their rubric for exercise 2. Like the majority of the class,
they scored mid-range in the arpeggiation category. Part of the reason why students
struggled in this area is likely due to the fact that so many students do not actively read
the music while they play. Instead, they memorize it. Evidence to support this is seen in
the rubrics of students 2 and 3. Like most of the class, students 2 and 3 scored higher
on their arpeggiation category in Say Something than in the arpeggiation category for
exercise 2. The difference lies in the fact that students did not have to read notated
music for the arpeggios in Say Something, but did they in exercise 2. The effect of not
reading the music properly is that many have learned it slightly incorrectly, or lose their
place and forget where they are, etc.

Students were least successful in the areas of rhythm and finger/hand position. While
playing in the arpeggiated style, most of the students have very poor transitions between
chords. They look at the guitar and slowly think through where their fingers are going for
the next chord, or they put one finger down at a time. This leads to problems with steady
beat. Students also play rhythms incorrectly in the book exercise largely in part because,
again, they are not reading the music. Thus, they may do something such as add an
extra note to every measure, effectively playing all the rhythms wrong despite that they
may be playing with a steady beat.

Using the correct fingers with the correct strings is the area in which students had the
least success. For both the exercise and the song, only 6 students were able to
arpeggiate using the correct finger/hand position. None of the 3 focus students were
successful in this category. Many students may have actively chose to use incorrect
fingers because they were given the rubric in advance and knew it was only worth 2
points to play using the correct fingers. Many students asked how many points it would
cost them to only use their thumb or another finger, giving me the impression that in
many cases it was a deliberate choice. Using the correct fingers is an important part of
playing in the arpeggiated style well.

Overall, students maintained or improved their knowledge and skill relating to regular
chords as well as barre chords. They are also continuing to display proper playing
technique in terms of posture and holding the instrument. As far as brand new material
goes, students showed growth in the area of arpeggiating chords but had little success
with using the correct fingers for each string. I do not particularly find these results
shocking or upsetting because students only spent 3 to 4 days with the brand new
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Niamh Stapleton
material before beginning quizzes. This is material that the class will continue to work on
and improve upon, and by the end of another week, I think they will show even more
improvement.
2. Feedback to Guide Further Learning
Refer to specific evidence of submitted feedback to support your explanations.
a. In what form did you submit your evidence of feedback for the 3 focus students? (Delete
choices that do not apply.)
Written directly on work samples or in a separate document;

b. Explain how feedback provided to the 3 focus students addresses their individual
strengths and needs relative to the standards/objectives measured.
[ Student 1 scored 30/35 , or an 85%. This student is a sample of the nearly 50% of the
class that got a B. He has the potential to be a very strong player. He has a very high
motivation to learn what he wants to learn, and much less motivation to learn the
classroom material. When he does apply himself to the material, he is fairly successful.
In my feedback to this student, I acknowledged that overall he did well on his test. The
suggestions for improvement that I have him are a bit more specific and challenging than
for other students. For example, this students transition between chords was better than
most of the class. However I know he has the motivation and ability to improve it even
further, so I pointed out that he should continue working on the smoothness and fluidity
between chords. I also pointed out that he should really work on using the correct fingers
on the correct strings for the arpeggiation. For most students I wasnt as concerned
about this category just yet because they are still working out notes and rhythms. But
this student is already there with notes and rhythms so he would benefit from further
practice in the area of finger-style playing. I offered him three suggestions of pop/rock
songs that he very likely is familiar with (he always has a tee shirt with a different rock
band on it) which utilize finger style/arpeggiated playing. He may be more inclined to
work on this technique if he can apply it to music which he himself finds valuable.

Student 2 scored 26/35, or 74%. He is a sample of the roughly 15% of students that got
a C. This student struggles in the class but has the potential to do well. Like most
students, he knows his chords fairly well. He struggled in the areas of rhythm and
playing the correct note/string. The rhythmic problems are stemming mostly from the fact
that he is unsure of what notes to pick out. This problems is a result of the fact that he
isnt reading the music at all. This student struggles with reading the music notation, but
my suggestion to him was to still find other ways to utilize the notation. I suggested that
he make sure to always write the name of the chord being arpeggiated above the music
and make note of what strings to play while holding down the correct chord. That way he
can still use the music as a visual guide without needing to rely too much on the
notation.

Student 3 scored 24/35, or about 68%. This student is a sample of the roughly 11% of
the class that got a D. This student as an IEP for ADHD and spends very little time in
class playing guitarmost of it is spent sitting and staring into space. He is a well-
behaved student but really just struggles with staying on task. I commented that he, like
the majority of students, has a decent grasp on how to play the different chords. He
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Niamh Stapleton
showed some progress with arpeggiation, and struggled the most with rhythm. He takes
a very long time to move from one chord to the next, which severely affects maintaining
a steady beat. He knows how to make the chords, but has to talk or think himself
through it and puts down one finger at a time. The suggestion I gave him was to slowly
practice moving between chords, such as Am and E. He should start with one chord and
change slowly, giving himself time to visually map out where each finger needs to go
before moving his fingers. The idea would be to think about moving them before doing it
so that he can build the skills necessary to move all fingers at once. Once he can move
all fingers at once to the next chord, he can try speed up the transitions. ]
c. How will you support students to apply the feedback to guide improvement, either within
the learning segment or at a later time?
[For student 1, I could support his improvement by providing resources for him and
offering to assist him during his lunch period or after school. He is more advanced than
many other students in the class but doesnt try to learn the class materials since he is
more interested in other things. I could provide him with resources such as
music/tablature/recordings of the songs I mentioned in his written feedback. Those
songs would enhance and improve his ability to play finger-style guitar and give him a
means of working on the class learning objectives in a more challenging, realistic, and
personalized way.

Student 2 would be more successful in class if he actually spent more time working on
the material instead of goofing around. He tends to succeed more when I am hovering
near him or directly assisting him. He also responds well to positive reinforcement and
encouragement. I could support this students improvement by guiding him in writing all
the necessary aides into his musicI would need to stand next to him and assist him in
deciding what needs to be written in. If he makes alternations to his music, it will improve
his playing abilities because he will be more confident in what he is doing, which will
inherently improve some of his other challenges such as rhythmic and pitch accuracy. I
should also continue to have him seated near me, or away from distracting students, or
perhaps near someone that would be willing to assist him. I also need to continue to
check up on him as often as possible to help him stay on task, and continue to give him
positive encouragement.

Student 3 struggled in a few areas, such as incorrect finger position, rhythmic and
steady beat inaccuracy, and playing the wrong string/pitch. However, before he can work
on improving any of those areas he really needs to improve his confidence and
quickness in playing chords. He knows how to make most chords but he has to think
about it and put once finger down at a time on the fret board. I could support this student
by providing him with some more basic chord exercises to aide in the improvement of his
barre chords and regular chords. He struggles with barre chords because his hand
position is off, and he really has a hard time making his index finger lay straight across
the fret. I could first provide him with some exercises to assist him in just improving the
quickness of putting down the fingers in the right place for regular chords, then give him
exercises to work on transitioning between some regular chords. I could also work with
him one-on-one a little bit to assist him in altering his band position on the neck to better
improve his barre chord playing. Then I could give him the same type of exercises to
work on transitioning between barre chords. Another option for this student would be for
me to alter the material we are working on in class to enable him to catch up on his
chord-playing ability. For example rather than assessing him so much on arpeggiation, I
K12 Performing Arts
Niamh Stapleton
could have been assessing him more on his chord playing for both regular and barre
chordsbecause being able to play arpeggiated requires the skills of playing chords. ]

3. Evidence of Language Understanding and Use
You may provide evidence of students language use from ONE, TWO OR ALL
THREE of the following sources:
1. Use video clips from Task 2 and provide time-stamp references for language use.
2. Submit an additional video file named Language Use of no more than 5 minutes
in length and provide time-stamp references for student language use (this can be
footage of one or more students language use). Submit the clip in Task 3 Part B.
PLEASE SEE TASK 3, PART B.
3. Use the student work samples analyzed in Task 3 and cite language use.
When responding to the prompt below, use concrete examples from the clips (using time-
stamp references) and/or student work samples as evidence. Evidence from the clips may
focus on one or more students.
Explain and provide evidence for the extent to which your students were able to use or
struggled to use language (selected function, vocabulary, and additional identified
demands from Task 1) to develop content understandings?

[The student featured in the submitted video was able to demonstrate the language
function of perform and does so by comprehension of the musical discourse used in the
verbal prompt. This is evident immediately in the video. In fact, nearly all students
demonstrated comprehension of musical discourse in their assessments by performing
the correct musical tasks when prompted by the teacher. The student featured in the
video also demonstrated understanding of vocabulary through his verbally-stated
definition of the vocabulary world arpeggio. He struggled at first to find the correct
words (seen at 0:26), stuttering a bit and saying an arpeggio is a note twice before
clarifying that an arpeggio is a chord in which the notes are played one after another.
The definition he provided would have been more accurate should he have concluded it
with rather than played all at once; however his definition was still correct and was in
fact one of the best definitions given out of all the students. The vast majority of students
in the class struggled with practicing academic language by verbally demonstrating
knowledge of vocabulary. This is unsurprising because they have not been provided with
much opportunity to do so prior to this unit. Most students offered definitions that were
close to the main idea. For example, a common response to what is an arpeggio was
when you pick out the strings. This response demonstrates that students need more
practice with academic language. One reason is because the response is fragmented.
Another reason is because the definition is not correct, yet it is loosely tied to the
definition. The students are able to identify that in order to play an arpeggio on the
guitar, they must pick out the strings individually rather than strum. After I tried to get
them to describe it a bit more specifically, I was able to get most students to alter their
response to when you pick out the notes. But they are failing to really demonstrate
vocabulary comprehension and ability to utilize musical discourse, because it was
challenging for them to think to use the word notes rather than strings. And even so,
K12 Performing Arts
Niamh Stapleton
when you pick out the notes is still a vague and incomplete definition; it would be better
if supplemented with when you pick out the notes of the chord and even more accurate
would be when you pick out the notes of the chord rather than play them all at once. In
several other cases, students did not immediately give a verbal response, but tried to
respond by saying when you do this, followed by a demonstration of an arpeggio.
Again, this indicates that students are not comfortable using academic language.

4. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction
a. Based on your analysis of student learning presented in prompts 1cd, describe next steps
for instruction
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, English language learners, struggling readers, underperforming
students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted students).
[The next steps for the whole class are to continue working on arpeggiation, focusing
more specifically on the technique and less on barre chords. In terms of the text, we only
made it halfway through the chapter on arpeggiation and finger-style playing. Following
the completion of the quizzes, my next step would be to continue using exercise 2 and/or
Say Something as a warm-up, while also moving forward to the next set of exercises in
the book. I also would focus specifically on playing technique including using the correct
fingers on the correct strings. I would also spend some time going back and reviewing
rhythm and rhythmic notation. For focus student 1, as I mentioned earlier I would provide
him will with the resources mentioned in 2c of this document. I would expect that he
would be able to keep up with the rest of the class as we moved forward with the chapter
and reviewed rhythm. For focus student 2, I would also expect that he would be fine
keeping up with the rest of the class as we moved on with the chapter and reviewed
rhythm, but with the added accommodations mentioned in part 2c. For focus student 3,
who struggled the most with the material of the three focus students, I would adapt some
of the new material presented in the rest of the chapter in order to help him catch up with
his chord and transition playing abilities, as mentioned in part 2c. I think that the rhythmic
review as a class would be especially helpful to him.
b. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of students learning. Support your
explanation with principles from research and/or theory.
[The data that I analyzed suggested that the vast majority of students are where they
should be in terms of chord-playing ability, but that arpeggiating was a skill the students
were students were still developing thus, I said that my next steps would be to
continue with the arpeggiation chapter. Chord knowledge and skill is necessary to
arpeggiate, and most students have that knowledge and skill, and need to continue
working on arpeggiation. My data also suggested that students were struggling most
with the finger technique of arpeggiated playing, which is why I said that students
especially need to focus on this skill as we progress with the chapter. Focus students 1
and 2 did pass the assessment, so I think that they will be able to succeed as we
continue with the material (although as I mentioned, due to the data collected on focus
student 2, he will most likely succeed with accommodations, assistance and
encouragement). Focus student 3 did not fail the assessment, but earned a D, signifying
to me that further accommodations must be made in order to help him succeed.
K12 Performing Arts
Niamh Stapleton
According to his assessment results, this student is struggling in the same areas as
others but more significantly so, and although he has an understanding of the different
chords, he needs to work on them before he can begin to improve skills in other areas.
Focus student 3 is lacking prior knowledge, and thus not in the zone of proximal
development (Vygotsky) to improve his arpeggiation skills and finger-technique.
Therefore we will break it down a little further for him by having him focus more heavily
on chords and transitioning between them, as described in part 2c of this document. ]

Transcription of Video 3 Evidence of Language Use

Niamh: Alright, show me a Bm chord.
[Student makes a Bm chord.]
Niamh: Now play it.
[Student plays Bm chord.]
Niamh: Okay, now show me a. C major barre chord.
[Student plays a C major barre chord.]
Niamh: Okay, and then. Can you tell me what an arpeggio is?
Student: An arpeggio is a note when an arpeggio is a noteis a chord in which the notes are
played one after another.

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