When I was in 3rd grade my teacher was the one who showed the above expression to me on the chalk board. She was doing this in reference to how exactly the same effort is put into the best grade possible and the worst, for her at least. Her point was that someone in her position could personally care less about which grade she had to mark because in her mind you get what you earned, whether it was an A or an F.
Fast forward a bit to when I was in the Army. I was a medic in the Army so I had to go through an intense training regiment to be qualified to do this job. In order to graduate the course, you had to have had an 80 or above average (B- or higher). The training does not stop there however. It continues as you go to your unit and learn from more higher ranking, experienced medics that have been at your unit longer than you've been in the Army. The grading standards in the Army though were far and away different from what I experienced in high school and the year of college I attended before the Army. For instance I knew what was expected of me down to the letter. I knew what would fail me and I knew what I could get away with. I also knew that this was a job that was going to put me in a position where real life people were going to look to me for help because I'm the only person there who could save their lives. So I knew what was depending on my complete understanding of the material I was being taught
So of course I paid attention and tried my best to absorb the material as best I could. I recently read an article by Alfie Kohn entitled Trouble with Rubrics and I must say there were some interesting points brought out about rubrics and some of the inconsistencies they create, such as showing that grading standards are clear and detailed, but that the learning aspect involved is diminished because of the grading standards being so exact and precise.
The above cartoon is of course an over the top way of driving home a very true point in that rubrics become the standard, not enforce one. They enable teachers and students to work towards a short term goal with the long term one (your actual education) being shoved under the rug.
In the Army of course there was also a rubric. It went something like this:
At the end of this type of training scenario, there is what's called an AAR (after action review) and this is a summary of what happened, what went well, what needs to improve, and the overall satisfaction level of the exercise (pass or fail, or in Army terms "go or no go"). These are all dictated by rubrics. The speed at which something was completed is on the rubric, the critical tasks versus nonessential tasks are on the rubric, and just about anything else minute you can think of (such as maintaining security and helping establish good communication between yourself and those in charge of the mission).
The difference here though, once again, is that at this point you have already learned your respective job, and you are simply bettering yourself through constant training.
In the end rubrics are great tools for advancing your personal development. I don't think that there is anything detrimental about knowing what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable. However when the school system places so much emphasis on them to the point where creativity is stifled, I believe this is where rubrics become even worse than my nihilistic 3rd grade teacher.
If I was to apply a rubric for my performance based music classes such as band, choir, orchestra, or jazz band I'd say that a good model to follow is the one that allows your students to improve. There are numerous rubrics out there available for download. There are even rubric generators on the internet to help an educator make a rubric for a class or even an assignment. As long as these rubrics focus on the subjective qualities of music, such as technique, or embouchure and sitting position then the students can be free to create music, not generate a desired grade for their class.
In mathematics or science it is easier to objectively assess a students understanding of the material. In music however, its not that simple. For starters its an art so it is already subjective in that aspect. On top of that though it is also an art that takes a while for most people to master. So if one was to create a rubric, it would have to be one that focuses on a students comprehension of musical terminology, musical history, and other academic areas that are actually testable. Rubrics have their place and serve their purpose. However to stick with one thing and focus on it completely takes away from our students' educational process and thus hampers their ability to flourish with the knowledge they were supposed to have obtained.
Fast forward a bit to when I was in the Army. I was a medic in the Army so I had to go through an intense training regiment to be qualified to do this job. In order to graduate the course, you had to have had an 80 or above average (B- or higher). The training does not stop there however. It continues as you go to your unit and learn from more higher ranking, experienced medics that have been at your unit longer than you've been in the Army. The grading standards in the Army though were far and away different from what I experienced in high school and the year of college I attended before the Army. For instance I knew what was expected of me down to the letter. I knew what would fail me and I knew what I could get away with. I also knew that this was a job that was going to put me in a position where real life people were going to look to me for help because I'm the only person there who could save their lives. So I knew what was depending on my complete understanding of the material I was being taught
So of course I paid attention and tried my best to absorb the material as best I could. I recently read an article by Alfie Kohn entitled Trouble with Rubrics and I must say there were some interesting points brought out about rubrics and some of the inconsistencies they create, such as showing that grading standards are clear and detailed, but that the learning aspect involved is diminished because of the grading standards being so exact and precise.
The above cartoon is of course an over the top way of driving home a very true point in that rubrics become the standard, not enforce one. They enable teachers and students to work towards a short term goal with the long term one (your actual education) being shoved under the rug.
In the Army of course there was also a rubric. It went something like this:
At the end of this type of training scenario, there is what's called an AAR (after action review) and this is a summary of what happened, what went well, what needs to improve, and the overall satisfaction level of the exercise (pass or fail, or in Army terms "go or no go"). These are all dictated by rubrics. The speed at which something was completed is on the rubric, the critical tasks versus nonessential tasks are on the rubric, and just about anything else minute you can think of (such as maintaining security and helping establish good communication between yourself and those in charge of the mission).
The difference here though, once again, is that at this point you have already learned your respective job, and you are simply bettering yourself through constant training.
In the end rubrics are great tools for advancing your personal development. I don't think that there is anything detrimental about knowing what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable. However when the school system places so much emphasis on them to the point where creativity is stifled, I believe this is where rubrics become even worse than my nihilistic 3rd grade teacher.
If I was to apply a rubric for my performance based music classes such as band, choir, orchestra, or jazz band I'd say that a good model to follow is the one that allows your students to improve. There are numerous rubrics out there available for download. There are even rubric generators on the internet to help an educator make a rubric for a class or even an assignment. As long as these rubrics focus on the subjective qualities of music, such as technique, or embouchure and sitting position then the students can be free to create music, not generate a desired grade for their class.
In mathematics or science it is easier to objectively assess a students understanding of the material. In music however, its not that simple. For starters its an art so it is already subjective in that aspect. On top of that though it is also an art that takes a while for most people to master. So if one was to create a rubric, it would have to be one that focuses on a students comprehension of musical terminology, musical history, and other academic areas that are actually testable. Rubrics have their place and serve their purpose. However to stick with one thing and focus on it completely takes away from our students' educational process and thus hampers their ability to flourish with the knowledge they were supposed to have obtained.
Well said, Joel. I too agree that there is too much emphasis placed on rubrics. Although they can be very helpful, they can be detrimental if they do not leave room for our students to improve.
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