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This paper presents Norwegian adaptations of the KoMus and KOPRA-M assessments designed to evaluate music-related competencies. Our research delves into the assessments’ alignment with the curriculum and investigates the psychometric properties of the Norwegian versions using a sample of Norwegian fifth graders (KoMus: N = 374, KOPRA-M: N = 370). Furthermore, it provides practical illustrations of how these item response theory (IRT)–based assessments can be employed, including competency-level examples. The Norwegian short versions of the KoMus and KOPRA-M tests demonstrated robust psychometric characteristics (especially in terms of reliability, model, and item fit), making them promising instruments for the deeper exploration of musical competency within primary and lower secondary school contexts.

This paper examines why certain items in a competency test for music-related argumentation are more difficult than others. Based on previous studies on school-related achievement tests, the authors assume that differences in item difficulty are related to different item characteristics or combinations of characteristics. In this study, the item characteristics of a test for music-related argumentation were first identified and coded. Three domains were identified as contributing to item difficulty: cognitive requirements, knowledge, and formal item features. Second, multiple linear regression analyses were conducted with the item characteristics as predictors of item difficulty, which had been estimated in a prior study. A comparison of three regression models confirmed that the model holding four predictors of the domain “cognitive requirements” best fit the study dataRadj2=0.71. The strongest predictor in the final model was “reference to musical attributes” β=0.46,β=0.51, followed by “cross-sentence argumentation” β=0.37 and “dialogical argumentation” β=0.20. These results indicate that the difficulty of an item increased most when participants had to refer to musical attributes to solve the task. The items that required the participants to provide cross-sentence or dialogical argumentation were more challenging as well. The findings regarding the relations between item characteristics and item difficulty contribute to a better understanding of music-related argumentative competence, with important implications for the music classroom.

In this paper, we introduce the MARKO competency test and competency model, a new measurement instrument for music-related argumentative competence (MARKO: Musikbezogene ARgumentationsKOmpetenz; German for music-related argumentative competence). This competence, which plays an essential role in school curricula, refers to the ability to justify, and defend judgments about music. The two main goals of this study were 1) to design an assessment test for music-related argumentation that fulfills psychometric criteria and 2) to derive competency levels based on empirical data to describe the cognitive dispositions that are necessary when engaging in argumentation about music. Based on a theoretical framework, we developed a competency test to assess music-related argumentative competence. After two pretests (n = 391), we collected data from 440 students from grade nine to the university level. The final test consisted exclusively of open-ended items, which were rated with coding schemes that had been designed for each item. After ensuring inter-rater reliability, we composed an item pool that met psychometric criteria (e.g., local stochastic independence and item homogeneity) and represented content-related aspects in a meaningful way. Based on this item pool, we estimated a one-dimensional partial credit model. Following a standard-setting approach, four competency levels were derived from the empirical data. While individuals on the lowest competency level expressed their own opinions about the music by referring to salient musical attributes, participants on the highest level discussed different opinions on the music, and considered the social and cultural context of the music. The proficiency scores significantly varied between grades. Our findings empirically support some theoretical assumptions about music-related argumentation and challenge others.

Temporal and spectral auditory processing abilities are required for efficient and unimpaired processing of speech and might thus be associated with the development of phonological and literacy skills in children. Indeed, studies with unselected children have found links between these basic auditory processing abilities and the development of phonological awareness, reading, and spelling. Additionally, associations between the processing of temporal or spectral/tonal information in music and phonological awareness/literacy have been reported, but findings concerning relations between music processing and spelling are rather sparse. To gain more insights into the specific, potentially age-dependent relevance of various temporal (e.g., rhythm, tempo) and tonal (e.g., pitch, melody) musical subdomains for phonological awareness and literacy, we adapted five music-processing tasks (three temporal, two tonal) for use with tablet computers and used them in two cross-sectional studies with German children from two age groups: Study 1 was conducted with preschool children (about 5 years of age; without formal reading and spelling instruction) and focused on associations between music processing and phonological awareness. In Study 2, third-graders (about 8 years of age) were investigated concerning relations between music processing, phonological awareness, reading comprehension, and spelling. In both studies, rhythm reproduction and pitch perception turned out to be significant predictors of phonological awareness in stepwise regression analyses. Although various associations between music processing and literacy were found for third-graders in Study 2, after phonological awareness was accounted for, only rhythm reproduction made a unique contribution to literacy skills, namely, to alphabetic spelling skills. Hence, both studies indicate that temporal (i.e., rhythm reproduction) and spectral/tonal (i.e., pitch perception) musical skills are distinctly and uniquely related to phonological awareness in children from different age groups (preschool vs. Grade 3). The finding that rhythm reproduction, an auditory temporal processing skill integrating perceptual and motor aspects of rhythm processing, was especially tightly linked to phonological awareness and literacy corroborates other findings on associations between rhythm processing and literacy development and is of interest from the viewpoint of current theories of developmental dyslexia. The potential relevance of our results for applied research concerning early diagnosis and training of literacy-related skills is discussed.