Publication Outline

Formative Assessment in the Instrumental Music Classroom

Intonation individually and within sections is one of the most difficult skills to develop in young musicians. However, it is one of the most important aspects of instrumental instruction in band classrooms (Springer, Schlegel, & Lewis, 2021, p. 483). Having a variety of instructional tools increases the probability that the students will play in tune during rehearsals and performances (Silvey, Nápoles, & Springer, 2019, pg. 393).

Innovation Plan: Tuned In- A Digital Approach To Intonation Implementation

My innovation plan seeks to secure funding for a classroom set of iPads, tuner microphones, and the Tonal Energy app to allow students to receive real-time feedback on intonation in the instrumental music rehearsal.

Topic of Article: The topic of my article is formative assessment in the instrumental music classroom, with an emphasis on how digital tools like iPads and the TonalEnergy app can transform daily rehearsal into a space for ongoing feedback and growth.

Intended Audience: Current instrumental music educators, future instrumental music educators, administrators who complete T-Tess observations

Where to Submit:

Southwestern Musician (TMEA)- This publication is for Texas music educators. Providing practical classroom and rehearsal strategies this publication is the best fit for my article. My article focuses on formative assessment in instrumental music and will specifically highlight tech tools that are already used by many Texas music educators.

Submission Requirements:

Articles submitted to Southwestern Musician should be of interest to the general readership. Content of articles may focus on band, choir, orchestra, general music, or research but the information should be relevant for a majority of our members.
Manuscripts may be inspirational, pedagogical, philosophical, historical, or descriptive in nature.
We prefer to publish articles that provide readers strategies and information that can be immediately applied in their work. We more readily accept articles that are written from the author’s experience/insights, rather than being dominated by reporting of others’ research.
The Editor and Managing Editor work with the Article Review Committee in evaluating submissions.
Articles submissions should not exceed 1,800 words and should be submitted in MS Word format. Each article should be an entity and not part of a series.
Articles should include the author’s name and and current teaching position or school if the author is a student.
Articles appearing in Southwestern Musician are also available online.

Edutopia- This publication publishes short and practical articles that are aimed at K-12 educators. My article could be reframed to show how formative assessment in music rehearsals models best practices for other content areas. By slightly broadening my language, I could highlight how the strategies we use in the instrumental music classroom (student self-assessment, tech-supported feedback, and feedforward) can apply across other content areas.

Submission Requirements:

A few sentences describing your proposed article and a detailed outline or description (the finished article will be around 850–1,000 words)
Links to any multimedia you plan to include
A few words about the intended target audience for your article (e.g., high school math teachers, administrators, instructional coaches, etc.)
A roughly 80-word bio with details about your role in education, including your current job
Three to five links to other pieces (if any) you’ve written, particularly for academic publications
Full disclosure of any commercial interest in any products or services mentioned
Your Bluesky handle, if you have one

Teach Magazine- Teach Magazine’s audience features a wide range of general educators and administrators. If my article is submitted here then I could showcase how formative assessment strategies from the instrumental music classroom could transfer to other content areas. This would position my article as part of a larger educational conversation about assessment, technology integration, and student-centered learning.

Submission Requirements:

send us a pitch (max 300 words).
It should outline the topic, intended approach, and potential interviewees (applicable to feature articles only).
Please also include a short bio. Journalists should provide links to previously published work.

Connection to Plan: My innovation plan seeks to secure funding for a class set of iPads, microphone clips, and Tonal Energy to use during rehearsals and performances. This setup will allow students to receive immediate and individualized feedback on pitch and intonation, both within their sections and in the full ensemble. This article focuses on how utilizing technology in the instrumental music classroom is not just an extra, but vital to implementing formative assessment during rehearsals and performances. This article will show that integrating technology will allow directors to make rehearsals and performance more student-centered, efficient, and growth oriented.

How can this information help others:

Current Instrumental Music Educators- Provides practical strategies for using digital formative assessment in rehearsals. This helps directors save time in rehearsals, increases student accountability, and creates a shift toward growth mindset culture.
Future Instrumental Music Educators- Learning student-centered and effective strategies for implementing formative assessment in rehearsals will help future music educators see beyond the typical assessments of chair tests and UIL contests.
Administrators- Offers a clearer lens for observing and evaluating music classrooms through T-TESS domains such as Assessment, Student Engagement, and Differentiation. This helps administrators give more accurate, meaningful feedback to fine arts teachers during walkthroughs and evaluations.

Lesson Learned: Embedding small, low-stakes assessments (like self-checks or tuning logs) creates a culture of continuous improvement rather than high-stakes performance pressure. Students also become more engaged during rehearsals if they are receiving immediate and personalized feedback rather than waiting for a director to stop and fix mistakes. This also allows students a chance to self-assess which creates independence and decreases reliance on teacher corrections.

Ongoing Lessons (Hoped to Learn): By using technology as formative assessment in the instrumental music classroom I am hoping to see how student ownership of learning changes the culture and success of the program over time. By studying the long-term impact of daily formative assessment I am hopeful to see an increase in performance outcomes such as UIL evaluation scores.

Digital Resources:

Tonal Energy Tuner and Metronome App- Provides musicians with instant visual feedback on pitch and tone quality, allowing them to self-assess in real time during rehearsal.
MakeMusic- Allows students to complete their daily practice with practice tracks. Students can also record and submit recording assignments.
Edpuzzle- Allows teachers to explain a music theory concept and checks for student understanding
Flat.io- allows teachers to check understanding of music theory concepts

Article Audience: Current and future instrumental music educators and administrators

References:

Silvey, B. A., Nápoles, J., & Springer, D. G. (2019). Effects of pre-tuning vocalization behaviors on the tuning accuracy of college instrumentalists. Journal of Research in Music Education, 66(4), 392–407. https://doi-org.libproxy.lamar.edu/10.1177/0022429418806304

Springer, D. G., Schlegel, A. L., & Lewis, A. J. (2021). Effects of dark and bright timbral instructions on the production of pitch and timbre. Journal of Research in Music Education, 68(4), 482–498. https://doi-org.libproxy.lamar.edu/10.1177/0022429420944347