<p>In our high school, academic teachers must adhere to rules and standards in assigning grades. They can only give out so many A’s and B’s. They have quite specific grading criteria and keep detailed quantitative records to support the grades they award (for their own protection to a large extent).</p>
<p>There is some grade inflation, but for the most part grades represent the relative academic achievement of the student. It was this way when I went to college many moons ago, too.</p>
<p>But for music classes at our high school, those rules don’t apply. The teacher can give out as many A’s as he likes. He will reward effort and diligence. You can be unable to carry a tune in a bucket, but you can get an A in choir if you come every day, work hard, and he likes you.</p>
<p>(Ours is a public high school. I’d guess that the rules are different at a performing arts school.)</p>
<p>What’s it like in a college MT program? Do the grades on the report card represent the achievement level of the student?</p>
<p>I expect that evaluations in performing arts classes are more personal and face-to-face than a score on an essay or multiple-choice test. And I understand that achievement is measured in different ways, from juries and “cuts” to roles in shows and showcases.</p>
<p>And I imagine the answer will vary from school to school.</p>
<p>But when my freshman daughter brings home her first report card, will I be able to tell how she’s doing from the letters or numbers that appear on it?</p>
<p>I cannot answer for other programs but will give you a view of what my D receives for the studio classes (the ones in singing, acting, dance, voice/speech and all the other ones like that…not the academic ones or the theater studies type ones). </p>
<p>For one thing, in her studio, the grading scale for a report card is tougher than our HS because an A = 93-100, a B = 83-92, etc. Then for every single studio class for every single semester, there are written evaluations. For each class, there is a rubric of a long list of skills and criteria (sorry but I don’t have a sample in front of me… but maybe about ten criteria per class). For each of these criteria, there is a scale of 1-10 and for each criteria, the student is scored from 1-10 on the sheet (there is one sheet per class they take in studio). Then all the points are added up for a total numerical grade which then translates into As, Bs, Cs, etc. for each class. Also, for each class, the teacher writes narrative comments. Then there is a sum total letter grade on the transcript for ALL of the studio classes combined…rather than each of the many classes taken within studio. So, there are grades per studio class with much specific criteria, rubrics, points on a continuim per criteria, and then all the studio classes are combined for one letter grade on the transcript. For the academic (non studio) classes, I have only seen the final letter grade on the transcript. I imagine most professors (I was once a college teacher) establish criteria for their class for grading and for each particular paper/project, etc. By the way, even the studio classes my D takes sometimes involve written assignments, not just performing the songs, dances, scenes, etc. There also was summer homework. </p>
<p>So, basically my D receives a college transcript with letter grades (it is online). But she also receives a packet for her studio classes with a page per class with every single criteria scaled from 1-10 per class, a letter grade per class, a numerical grade per class, and teacher evaluative comments. LOTS of feedback. The criteria differs in each class…such as the criteria in a dance class is different than in voice/speech, etc. </p>
<p>Not sure that helps. Hope so. It is just one program. She attends Tisch/CAP21 at NYU.</p>