This article reports the results of research into teachers' practices concerning the assessment of composing at Key Stage 3 in the National Curriculum for Music in England. It finds that many teachers are using NC levels for assessing individual pieces of work, a process for which they were never intended. It also finds that teachers find it…

This paper explores secondary school music teachers' current practice with regard to the organisation and assessment of composing at Key Stage 4. It draws on research undertaken on a nation-wide basis in England, via the use of two online surveys and face-to-face interviews. In terms of the organisation of classroom composition, the study found…

Much composing that takes place in the lower secondary school is undertaken as a group activity. This paper investigates what is involved when pupils work in this way, and offers a model of processes and phases, which can be used to account for group composing. The model describes what is taking place, and charts the ways in which groups of pupils…

In this article, case studies of teacher interventions in the composing processes of school students aged 11-14 in generalist music classes are described and discussed. The study finds that music teachers have developed their own strategies for formative assessment, unaware that these are valorized by external agencies. (Contains 3 figures.)

This study addresses the baseline assessment of pupil composing competencies at age 11+. It asks whether it might be possible for these to be evaluated by the use of a whole-class listening task. A rationale for this proposal is discussed. Results from a pilot study which administered an original audiated puzzle-task to a cohort of pupils,…