Writing outcomes

Some of the first places to start when writing an outcome (outcome="the student will be able to...") are in the music department curriculum, the state curriculum, and the National Standards for Music Education. In my extremely limited experience in writing lesson plan outcomes at this stage in my career, I have found that looking at the state's curriculum has been extremely helpful. One of the reasons for this is that the benchmarks are very clearly aligned with the expected skill levels of the students I will teach. I cannot expect, for example, typically developing fifth graders to realize that a piece is in a mixed tonality. This is probably a college-level skill. The state outcomes help me realize what is appropriate for many of the students I will encounter in my career.

In an instrumental music classroom, appropriate, skill matched pieces should be chosen. Using the pieces as a starting point, I can write outcomes based on Bloom's Taxonomy to help ensure that units will be designed to help students operate on a variety of levels, from knowledge (level one) to evaluation (level six). Using the verbs associated with the level of complexity of knowledge, I can write these outcomes in my lesson plans within a unit. One example that would address several levels of cognition on the same idea in an instrumental music class (over a unit, for example):
1. Students will define ABA form (knowledge)
2. Students will give an example of a piece of music that uses ABA form (comprehension)
3. Students will discover what the form of a given piece of music (application)
4. Students will analyze a piece of music in ABA form (Analysis)
5. Students will compose a piece of music in ABA form (Synthesis)
6. Students will compare two pieces of music in ABA form (Evaluation)

One of the biggest challenges that teachers face in the arts classes is writing outcomes that apply to emotional growth as a result of exposure and interaction with the art. In music classes, it is important for teachers to realize that students will have meaningful experiences with the music because music is at once a technical, social, spiritual, and emotional experience. If a music teacher is so involved in the technical aspects of playing a musical instrument well (a critical observation of myself as a horn teacher), the teacher may not be well prepared to address the affective outcomes of music making and performing. As an advocate of my art form, it is important for me to prepare outcomes that address the affective outcomes of music. Using words in my outcomes that may not be easy to evaluate (appreciate, value, express) will help me help my students realize the emotional and spiritual growth that is theirs to own and experience as a result of music making in an ensemble.