Formative assessment practices and children’s singing accuracy: A mixed methods inquiry

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the effect of formative assessment strategies on second grade students’ singing accuracy and to examine how music educators planned for and enacted these practices. Student participants (n = 63) were divided into three groups over a six-week period: (a) a partial treatment group where the teacher used data from the pretest to improve areas of singing weakness; (b) a full treatment group where the teacher used data to improve areas of weakness and engaged students in self- and peer-assessment techniques; and (c) a control group who received no formalized treatment. Linear regression analysis indicates that the “partial treatment” group had the largest gains in singing accuracy, but the case study analysis revealed that the teachers’ knowledge and values mediated their enactment of these practices as they adopted and adapted them in varied ways. The “partial treatment” teacher’s motivation and proclivity for creating new assessment practices indicates that gains in this group’s singing accuracy may have been due to teacher effects and not the strategies themselves. Implications for teacher professional development and practical considerations for embedding meaningful formative assessment in music contexts are provided.