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MusicAlevelAssessmentofComposing–ResearchintoteacherattitudesKirstyDevaneyandMartinFautleyBirminghamCityUniversityExecutiveSummaryThispaperreportsonanddiscussestheresultsofanationwidesurveyofsecondaryschoolmusicteachers’experiencesintheassessmentofcomposinginUKA‐levelmusicexaminations.DatawerecollectedthroughanonlinesurveyinMay2015and9follow‐uptelephoneinterviews.Thenationwidesurveygarnered71responsesfromteacherswithexperienceofA‐levelmusicexamsacrossavarietyofstateandindependentschoolcontexts.Thispaperreportsthatthemajorityofmusicteachershaveexperiencedinconsistentexternalexaminationmarking,and,asaconsequence,donotfeelconfidenttoaccuratelypredictstudentgrades.Italsofoundthatteachersfeelexternalexaminationassessmentrequirementsarenotclear,andthatmanyschoolssendcompositionsbackforremarkingafterresultsarein.Follow‐upinterviewsaffirmthatinconsistentmarkinghasadirectimpactonhowcomposingistaughtatA‐level.Secondaryschoolmusicteachersfaceincreasingpressuretofulfilrequirementssetbyexaminationcriteria,butalsowishtogivetheirstudentsafulfillingcreativemusicalexperience.PastexaminersofA‐levelcompositionwhorespondedtothesurveyreportedalackofconfidenceinthesystemandtheirtraining.TheresultsbringintoquestionthesubjectivityofassessmentinthisaspectofthemusicexaminationandtheplaceofcomposingandcreativityinA‐levelassessment.Theseresultscomeatatimewhengovernmentalfocuson‘rigorousanddemanding’examinationsinthearts,andtheintroductionoftheEBacc,areputtinganincreasedstrainonclassroommusicteachers.SurveyandDiscussionThesurveybeganbyaskingthequestion“HaveyoueverbeensurprisedbyanexaminationgradeforanyofyourpupilsforcompositionatASorALevel?”.Theresultsarequiteoverwhelming:Figure1:

Over90%ofrespondingteacherssaythatthishasbeenthecase.Inassessmenttermsthisdoesbegquestionsastoissuesofvalidity,and,importantly,reliabilityofthisassessment.Teachersweregivenafree‐textopportunitytoexpandonanysurprisesthattheyhadwithA‐levelcomposinggrades.The‘top10’resultsofthisareshowninfigure2.

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Figure2

Anumberofthecommentsmadebyteachersherearemostrevealing.Hereisarepresentativeselection:

“Individualvoiceamongstthebeststudentsseemstogounrecognised.Examinersareconfidentdealingwithamixtureofthebanalandpastiche.”

“Ihavehadasurpriseonseveraloccasions.ThemostmemorableareaveryweakstudentwhocomposedaveryformulaicpiecegettinganAwithanestimateofahopefulD.ThesameyearanoutstandingandinnovativecompositionfromastudentwhohadwonnationalyouthcompositionawardsgotaD.”

“Everyyearthereisalackofconsistency.Weneverknowwherewestand”

“3compositionsweresubmittedforASfrom3students.2IexpectedtogainnearfullmarksandonearoundaC.OnegainedaC,oneanEandoneaU.AsatrainedcomposerIfeelIreallyunderstandthisareaofthecoursewellandcouldnotcomprehendthegrading.”

“MarkwassignificantlylowerthanIhadexpected.Thestudent,Ifelt,hadrealflairandtalentincomposition,andthiswasnotrecognised.Ihadtheworkremarked,andthemarkwentupsignificantly.”

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Remarkedsubmissionshaddifferentgrades

Teacherbelievethatexamfavouredcertaingenresorstylesofmusic

Teachersfoundmarkschemedifficulttointerpret

Teachersdidnotfeeltherewasintercohortstandardisation

Resultinggradehigherthanexpected

Candidatesgradesweresignificantlydifferentfromexpectations

Gradesdidnotseemtocorrelatewithstudentability

Creativemusicresponsesoftenscoredlowerthanpastiche

Commentsthatgradesweretoolowtoohigh

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“Originalityandcompetenceseemedtogainfewmarks‐itseemsthatpastichecomposingagainstasetoftickboxesisrequired.”

TeacherconfidenceinpredictingexaminationgradesTeacherswereaskednexttorespondtothis“PleaseratehowstronglyyouagreeordisagreewiththefollowingstatementsaboutassessmentatASand/orALevelcomposing”.Thesearetheresults:Iamconfidentatbeingabletoaccuratelypredictthegradesmypupilswillget:Figure3:

Whatthisshowsisthatisthat59.2%ofteacherseitherdisagreeorstronglydisagreewiththisstatement.Thisisaworryinglylargenumber,aspredictingA‐levelgradesuccessisanimportantpartofhelpingyoungpeoplewiththeexaminationpreparation.Thispointwasmadebyateacherinafreetextcomment:

Itistheleast"predictable"areaoftheA‐levelcourses.Whilstthe"middle"‐levelsubmissionsgetgradesconsistentwithpredictions,the"extremes"oftenthrowupsomeextraordinaryresults‐noneofwhichgivecluesaboutwhatcriteria(if,indeed,thereareany)theassessorsareusing.Itfrequentlyseemsarbitraryandbasedonthepassingwhimsyofthemoment.

Thenextstatementforteacherstorespondtowas“Resultsfromexaminationboardsareconsistent”.Herearetheirreplies:Figure4

Onceagainalargenumberofteachersdisagreewiththis,with74.7%reportingthatthiswasthecaseforthem.Thisisanotherdisturbingstatistic.Thecostsofexaminationentryarehigh,andteachersnothavingconfidenceinthe

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consistency–orlackthereof–inexaminationmusicisworrying.Onceagainthisstatementisamplifiedbywhatteachershadtosayintheirfreetextresponses:

Ihavedonetrainingeveryyeartotrytobettermyskillatknowingwhatisbeingaskedfor,but10yearsinandIstillgetitwrong.Ifeelsorryforthestudentsandgivethemcautiousexpectedoutcomes,butdon'twanttogettheirhopesuptoomuch.It'smymostcontentiousissueinmusicexamteaching.Idounderstandhowitishardtobesubjectiveinmarkingcreativework,butthecriteriaarewoolly.

Soveryvariable.StudentwhoshouldhavegotaanAforcomposingandisnowstudyingmusicatOxfordwherehegotafirstlastyearforhiscompositionworkgotaDwhereamuchweakerstudentgotaB.Seemstobenoconsistencyonhowthemarkschemeisappliedbyexaminers.Whattheexamboardsayatcompositionmeetingsandcoursesdoesnottallywiththerealgradesthatcompositionsaremarkedat.Itisverydifficulttoguaranteethatastudentwillbemarkedconsistentlyandfairly.

Thenextstatementthattheparticipatingteacherswereinvitedtorespondtowasthis:“Theassessmentrequirementsareclearanditiseasytounderstandwhatisrequiredofthestudent”.Herearetheirreplies:Figure5:

Onceagainaworryinglyhighlevelofresponsesdonotagreewiththisstatement,with66.2%ofteacherssayingthatthiswasthecaseforthem.Interestinglytherewerenoteacherswho‘stronglyagreed’withthisstatement!Onceagaintheteacherswereunequivocalintheirfreetextresponses:

Iwouldlikemorespecificassessmentcriteriathataren’t‘wishy‐washy’.Theassessmentcriteriaandthemarkingcriteriaarewaytoovaguetobeaconstructivetoolinthecompositionprocess,forboththeteacherandthestudent.Thecriteriaarewaytooambiguousandneedtobeconsiderablymoredetailedand/orstructured‐morequantitativeguidelines/targets,asatthemomentitisvirtuallyallqualitative.

RemarkingofAlevelworkWehavealreadycommentedonthecostofA‐levelexaminationentries.Forthoseteachersandschoolsnothappywiththeresultstheirstudentsget,having

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workremarkedisanoption,butonethatcomesatacost.Inthissurveytheteacherswereaskedthequestion“Howoftendoyouqueryanexaminationmarkand/oraskforre‐markingofASand/orALevelcompositions”.Herearetheresults:Figure6:

The‘other’responsesincludenewteachers,thosewhoseworkwasineligibleforremarking,andthosewheretherewerefinancialconstraintsthatpreventedit.Whattheseresultsshowisaconsistentpatternofregardingcomposingwork,with73.2%ofteacherssayingthatinthepastfewyearstheyhaveaskedforatleastonepieceofcomposingworktoberemarked.Thisisanothersignificantfigure,andonewhichraisesmanyconcernsagainwithregardtothevalidityofexaminationcomposingassessment.Thiscommentinthefreetextresponsesfromaformerexaminerisparticularlyworryinginthisrespect:

Musiccourseworkisnotremarkedblind,thereforerequestingremarksisnotalwaysproductiveasthereisatendencyforthemtocoveroneanother’sbacks.IknowthisfirsthandasIusedtobeanexaminer,butlackedfaithinthesystem/educationofcompositiontheyarepromoting.

Thisisnotanisolatedinstance,hereareanotherformerexaminer’scomments:

IhavebeenanexaminerforA2compositioninthepastandhaveseenfirsthandhowpiecescangetwildlydifferentmarksfromdifferentpeople.Marksdonotseemtobeconsistent.I'vehadfantasticstudentsgettinghighfaresineveryotherunitandthengettingU’sforcomposing.MarkschemesfortheboardIteachareveryvague,andalthoughtherearedifferentoptions,themarkschemeisthesameforeachone.Notenoughexamplesgivenouttoteacherswithreasonswhytheyattractcertainmarks.

Andyetanotherformerexaminersaidthis:

IhaveexaminedASandA2compositionandamawareoftheheatedargumentsandcompletedisparitybetweenexaminersatstandardisation

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meetings.IhaveattendedINSETthisyearandwasabsolutelyspotonwiththecourseleaderwithmyassessments(otherteacherswerenot).HoweverIhavenofaithinmyjudgementsbeingaccuratelyreflectedonresultsday.

CommentaryWhatthisverybriefoverviewofteacherattitudestowardsA‐levelcomposingassessmentshowsisthatthereisagreatdealofdisquietinthesystem.Teachersreportedthattheyhavelittleconfidenceinthesystem,thattheyfeelthatgradingisnotconsistentorreliable,andthatA‐levelcomposingresultscanbesomethingofalottery.Ourrecommendationsarethatteachersseemtoneedhelpandreassuranceinanumberofspecificareas.Theseare:

Havinggreateraccesstoexemplarmaterials,withfullannotationsastowhat,how,andwhygradesareawarded

Teachersfeelthattheywouldbenefitfromspecificandconstructivefeedbackonstudentworkwhichhasbeensubmittedforre‐marking

Teachersrequestspecificandbetter‐focussedtrainingonboththeteachingandassessmentofcomposingatA‐level.

TeachersreportthattheyfeeltheycanmarkaccuratelyatGCSElevel,andthatGCSEseemsmuchmoreconsistentasaconsequence.TheywonderiftherearewaysinwhichbestpracticefromGCSEcouldbeappliedatA‐level

Althoughassessmentcriteriaexist,someteachersdonotfeeltheseareinterpreteduniformly,andthattherearebothinter‐cohortandintra‐cohortinconsistencies.

Someteachersfeelthatthereisthepossibilityofalackofunderstandingofsomestylesandgenresofmusicbytheexaminationboard,andthatthiscouldundulypenalisesomeoftheircandidates.

Weareconcernedthatthevagariesofexaminationcomposingwehavedescribedherearesuchthatforsometeachers,giventhechoice,theywouldnotentercandidatesforthiscomponent,thusremovingcomposingasataughtandlearnedactivityinschoolsatthislevel.GiventheamountofmoneythatthecreativeindustriesearnfortheUK,closingofftheopportunitiesforcreativecomposingatthisstageintheeducationofayoungpersonseemstobeashame.WhatwehavedocumentedhereisclearlyasmallbutrepresentativesampleofA‐levelmusicteachers.Weknowthatatpresentonly1%ofA‐levelentriesareformusic,andwewouldbesaddenedifthisnumberweretofallmuchfurther.ThiswouldalsoplaceA‐levelmusicatriskinschoolsandcollegeswheregroupsizesbecametoosmall.Whilsttherearesignificantconcernsinthisreport,wehopethatallstakeholderswillfindtheseresultsandourcommentarytobeofuse.