preface


Acknowledgements

Loading Images
The Project directors acknowledge the vital support and contributions of many people to this report, including:

  • the very dedicated staff of the Educational Assessment Research Unit
  • Dr David Philips and other staff members of the Ministry of Education
  • members of the Project's National Advisory Committee
  • members of the Project's Music Advisory Panel
  • principals, staff, and children of the schools where tasks were trialled
  • principals, staff, and Board of Trustee members of the 294 schools included in the 2000 sample
  • the 3217 children in the 2000 sample, and their parents
  • the 108 teachers who administered the assessments to the children
  • the 44 senior tertiary students who assisted with the marking process
  • the 188 teachers who assisted with the marking of tasks early in 2001

Summary

New Zealand's National Education Monitoring Project commenced in 1993, with the task of assessing and reporting on the achievement of New Zealand primary school children in all areas of the school curriculum. Children are assessed at two class levels: year 4 (halfway through primary education) and year 8 (at the end of primary education). Different curriculum areas and skills are assessed each year, over a four year cycle. The main goal of national monitoring is to provide detailed information about what children can do, so that patterns of performance can be recognised, successes celebrated, and desirable changes to educational practices and resources identified and implemented.

Each year, small random samples of children are selected nationally, then assessed in their own schools by teachers specially seconded and trained for this work. Task instructions are given orally by teachers, through video presentations, on laptop computers, or in writing. Many of the assessment tasks involve the children in the use of equipment and supplies. Their responses are presented orally, by demonstration, in writing, in computer files, or through submission of other physical products. Many of the responses are recorded on videotape for subsequent analysis.

The use of many tasks with both year 4 and year 8 students allows comparisons of the performance of year 4 and 8 students in 2000. Because some tasks have been used twice, in 1996 and again in 2000, trends in performance across the four year period can also be analysed.

In 2000, the second year of the second cycle of national monitoring, three areas were assessed: music, aspects of technology, and reading and speaking. This report presents details and results of the assessments in music. Music education represents part of a balanced curriculum for all New Zealand school students. A music education gives learners opportunities to develop their aesthetic appreciation, their capacities for original and imaginative expression, and their abilities to use and interpret musical elements for a variety of purposes and with a range of materials.

A framework for music education and its assessment is presented in Chapter 2. This framework highlights four fundamental processes: creating, re-creating, responding and understanding music. These were based on the 1989 music syllabus, which was still in force when these assessments were planned. The new Arts Curriculum was not released until September 2000.

Chapter 3 examines achievement relating to creating music. Averaged across 22 task components, 17 percent more year 8 than year 4 students or teams produced correct responses. This indicates that, on average, students have made substantial progress between year 4 and year 8 in the skills assessed by the tasks. Students at both levels were more successful on components related to meeting the more routine requirements of tasks (like performing coherently as a group and in an appropriate rhythm) than on the more creative components (inventiveness and expressiveness).

Two trend tasks involving a total of 11 components were administered to students in both the 1996 and 2000 assessments. For year 4 students, modest improvement was evident. On average across the 11 components, 3 percent more students gained the highest rating and 7 percent fewer students gained the lowest rating. For year 8 students there was also a slight improvement. On average 2 percent more students gained the highest rating and 3 percent fewer students gained the lowest rating.

Chapter 4 examines achievement in re-creating music. Averaged across 50 task components used with both year 4 and year 8 students, 11 percent more year 8 than year 4 students or teams produced correct responses. This is somewhat misleading, however, because on 18 components involving use of an electronic keyboard, the average gap between year 4 and year 8 was 22 percent. On the other 32 components, involving singing, clapping rhythms, and matching pitch, the average gap between year 4 and year 8 was only 5 percent.

Two trend tasks involving a total of 17 components were administered to year 4 students in both the 1996 and 2000 assessments. Overall, little change was evident from 1996 to 2000. On average, the percentage gaining the highest rating was unchanged, while 4 percent more students gained the lowest rating in 2000 than in 1996. The decline came almost entirely from the Keyboard Rhythms task.

Two trend tasks involving a total of 16 components were administered to year 8 students in both the 1996 and 2000 assessments. Some improvement was evident. On average across the 16 components, 5 percent more students gained the highest rating and 4 percent fewer students gained the lowest rating. The positive changes were very small for Vocal Sizzle but quite substantial for Keyboard Patterns.

Chapter 5 reports achievement in responding to music. Averaged across 25 task components, 12 percent more year 8 than year 4 students (or teams of students) produced correct responses. This indicates that, on average, students have made useful progress between year 4 and year 8 in the skills assessed by the tasks. The difference was smaller, averaging 5 percent, on the two tasks involving moving to music, with year 4 students showing slightly greater freedom and inventiveness.

One trend task, Musical Sticks, involving a total of 5 components, was administered to students in both the 1996 and 2000 assessments. Modest improvement over the four-year period was evident for year 4 students. On average, 2 percent more students gained the highest rating and 10 percent fewer students gained the lowest rating. There was more substantial improvement for year 8 students, with an average of 8 percent more students gaining the highest rating and 12 percent fewer students gaining the lowest rating.

Loading Images

Chapter 6 examines achievement relating to understanding music. Averaged across 66 task components, 20 percent more year 8 than year 4 students (or teams of students) produced correct responses. This indicates that, on average, students have made very substantial progress between year 4 and year 8 in the skills assessed by the tasks. The differences were greatest on the tasks High to Low and Music in Style.

Three trend tasks involving a total of 22 components were administered to students in both the 1996 and 2000 assessments. For year 4 students there was a very slight decline in performance between 1996 and 2000. Three percent fewer students, on average, chose the correct or preferred response. For year 8 students the picture was similar. Two percent fewer students, on average, chose the correct or preferred responses.

Chapter 7 presents the results of the music surveys, which sought information from students about their involvement in and enjoyment of music curriculum experiences at school. Students were also asked about their involvement in and enjoyment of music related activities out of school time.

Year 4 students were generally very positive about doing music at school. Their responses appear to indicate a modest increase in music activities in school since 1996, with listening to music and singing continuing to be the dominant activities. Enjoyment of the activities has been maintained or improved. There continues to be a large gap between the enjoyment of playing instruments and the extent to which this activity is included in school programmes. Opportunities to make up (compose) music seem to be infrequent. Outside of school, the most common activity is listening to music, which is also rated the most enjoyed activity. Twenty-four percent said they learned music or belonged to a music group outside of school, little changed from 25 percent in 1996.

Compared to year 4 students, year 8 students were less inclined to use the most positive categories. This pattern has been common in national monitoring surveys. Year 8 students were quite positive about doing music at school, with percentages unchanged from 1996. The prospect of further study of music was also well received, but with a noticeable decline since 1996. Responses appear to indicate little change in music activities in school since 1996, with listening to music continuing to be the most common activity. Enjoyment has been maintained or improved, except for a small decline in enjoyment of singing. As at year 4 level, there continues to be a substantial gap between the enjoyment of playing instruments and the extent to which this activity is included in school programmes. Opportunities to make up (compose) music seem to be infrequent.

Outside of school, by far the most common activity is listening to music, which is also rated the most enjoyed activity. Twenty-nine percent said they learned music or belonged to a music group outside of school, little changed from 30 percent in 1996.

Chapter 8 reports the results of analyses that compared the task performance and survey responses of different demographic subgroups. School type (full primary or intermediate), school size, community size and geographic zone did not seem to be important factors predicting achievement on the music tasks.

The other three factors revealed more substantial differences. Girls performed better than boys on 4 tasks at each year level, with singing tasks prominent among these, and in the music surveys girls clearly were more involved in and enthusiastic about both singing and dancing/moving to music. Non-Mäori students performed better than Mäori students on 8 tasks (38 percent of tasks) at year 4 level, but Mäori students performed better on one singing task. At year 8 level, non-Mäori students performed better than Mäori students on five tasks (24 percent of tasks).

There were statistically significant differences in the performance of students from low, medium and high SES (decile) schools on 57 percent of the year 4 tasks and 27 percent of the year 8 tasks. The results suggest that private music lessons and other organised music experiences boost the musical development of students from economically advantaged families, particularly in the earlier years of primary schooling when school-based lessons are not widely available. These patterns are similar to those observed in 1996.

Chapter 9 reports the results of analyses of the achievement of Pacific students. Additional sampling of schools with high proportions of Pacific students permitted comparison of the achievement of Pacific , Mäori and other children attending schools that have more than 15 percent Pacific students enrolled. The results apply only to such schools.

For year 4 students, there were statistically significant differences in performance among the three groups on just 2 of the 21 tasks. The Pacific students scored significantly higher than Mäori students on one task and than "other" students on a second task. For year 8 students, there were statistically significant differences in performance among the three groups on just 3 of the 21 tasks. The "other" students scored significantly higher than the Pacific students on all three tasks.

Overall, these results suggest very similar levels of performance for Pacific students, Mäori students and "other" students in schools with more than 15 percent Pacific students enrolled. There is some evidence of a gap developing between Pacific students and "other" students by year 8 level, with statistically significant differences on three tasks favouring the "other" students and smaller differences in the same direction on 15 of the 18 remaining tasks.

Loading Images