Studio owners, how much thought have you given to measuring yearly progress amongst your dancers? Sure, the “eyeball it” method works when your teachers are in the studio with them, day in and day out, but sitting down and actually deconstructing their progress in many different areas will give both your students and their parents an individualized and tangible look at the scope of where they were, where they are going and where they would like to be going forward. The effects of student evaluations are also the most diplomatic ways in which to go about them for your business’ clientele. They get everyone on the same page and quickly clears up any raised questions as to why a dancer is or isn’t moving on to another level, receiving feature parts, solos, etc.
This week I’m helping you build an evaluation form which is thorough, informative and covers all the bases in terms of coming up with fair, introspective and appropriate recommendations for student advancement.
Remember, you know your students and clientele best, so use these categories merely as a guide to add to or omit based on the needs of your business! Remember however, when formatting the evaluation form to keep it clear, concise, easy to read and neat. The student’s name should be listed; as well as the genre, the teacher, the level and time and day of the class.
Rating: Keep is simple. Have your teachers rate from 1-5 (*1 being least/poor and 5 being greatest/excellent) how they would evaluate each child in each of the following categories.
Attendance: Always important to demonstrate the child’s presence in class. Progress can really be correlated largely by the student’s attendance. It is the factor which will establish consistency of all other categories.
Appearance in class: How do they present themselves when they come to class? Is there hair neat? Do they remember the appropriate shoes? Do they remove all jewelry for class? Do they follow dress code? Etc.
Performance in class: How well is the child dancing? How are they performing dance wise? Are they consistently focused? Do they give 100%?
“Presence” in class: Is the student there and ready to work? Do they ask questions? Do they actively try to work things out on the sides in class? Are they constructive? Are they alert?
Ability to comprehend and execute genre vocabulary/vernacular: Does the dancer understand the concepts being presented to them? Are they able to execute those given concepts, phrases, exercises? Are they able to verbally articulate their movement with correct vocabulary use?
Ability to work with others: Does the dancer work well with their peers? Are they receptive to other ideas and help? Are they there to offer help as well? Do they collaborate effectively?
Technique: I think it’s really important to be specific about techinique and areas of growth and improvement. Whether this be a separate technique rubric or broken down on one, include the elements which are important to you, i.e. “can perform double pirouettes cleanly, understands use of plie, preparation and transition execution, grand allegro, stretches feet and articulates consistently, uses port de bras, etc.” It’s also important to note how the dancer’s technical execution has improved, plateaued or declined over the course of the season so you can have a real dialogue with student and parent about the dancer’s progress and goals.
Stylistic improvement: How has the dancer matured in terms of picking up stylistic nuance of each genre or style?
Recommendation for advancement? Y or N? (* add a “teacher’s notes” column for teachers to explain if they choose.) Would the teacher recommend the dancer advance to the next level in that particular genre the following year? Would the child be better suited to remain in the current level the following year? This category might be well suited for the teacher to jot down some quick thoughts as well. They can be brief but might indicate the thought process of the teacher on this particular recommendation.
Good luck to you all!
See you in the dance studio,
Jess
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