National assessment meets teacher autonomy: national assessment of learning outcomes in music in Finnish basic education

Figures & data

Table 1. Assessment structure in music subject.

Pencil-and-paper tasks (first stage) All subjects together	Pencil-and-paper advantaged tasks (second stage) Music	Production tasks (singing, playing, composing) (third stage) Music
152 schools	51 schools	50 schools
N = 4792	N = 1,607	N = 589
+ Student background and attitude questionnaires: Rector questionnaires; Teacher questionnaires	+ Student attitude questionnaires	+ Tasks concerning work processes; Self-assessment

Table 2. Final-assessment criteria for a grade of 8 as defined in the Core Curriculum (FNCC 2004) in relation to the National assessment structure.

Assessment criteria	Pencil-and-paper tasks	Production tasks
The pupils will	Stages 1–2	Stage 3
• participate in group singing and know how to sing		x
• master the basic technique of some instrument
so as to be able to play in an ensemble		x
• know how to listen to music and make observations about it	x
• be able to make music together with others		x
• recognise, and know how to distinguish between different genres of music and music of different eras and cultures	x
• know the most important Finnish music and musical life	x
• know how to use musical concepts in conjunction with making and listening to music	x	x
• know how to use the elements of music in creating music		x

Table 3. Averages and dispersions of tasks’ solution shares as relative shares of the total number of points.

Assessment area	Pupils	Mean value	Dispersion	t-Value	p-Value
General task series	4794	56.6	15.1	–8.260	<.001
Advanced task series	1607	55.9	12.8	–12.423	=.014
Production task	589	57.7	18.3	–12.184	= .905

Figure 1. The pupils’ results in the pencil-and-paper tasks according to content area. The percentages of correct solutions are presented in the figure for each content area.

Figure 2. The pupils’ results of music production tasks. The percentages of each grade (4–10) given by teachers for each competence area are presented in the figure.

FNCC. 2004. Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2004. Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education. http://www.oph.fi/english/curricula_and_qualifications/basic_education/.

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