Download - Youth Music Outcomes Guidance
Taking an Outcomes Approach: Evidencing the changes your project brings about
1. What is the purpose of this document?1
This document outlines the key principles of an outcomes based approach to
project evaluation. It aims to provide information for Youth Music’s funded
partners that will be of use when thinking about how you evidence what
changes your work brings about. While the focus is on outcomes, the activities
and resources that influence these outcomes should also be critically
considered. This is the only way that we will be able to learn from what works
well or not so well in our funded projects, and be able to share those lessons
with others working in the sector. This document however is about outcomes
and what we consider a useful approach to being able to capture them.
Our approach is based on that of the Charities Evaluation Services (CES)2. We
would recommend that you consult their website for further information on
their approach to evaluation (www.ces-vol.org.uk). You may also be
interested in their training programme. In writing this document we have also
drawn on the Big Lottery Fund’s outcomes approach, as laid out in their 2006
guidance document3 (which is also based on that of the CES). We would
encourage partners to consult this more detailed report.
We consider this to be a working document that will be added to over time
as we and our partners develop more ways of working effectively with this
approach.
2. What does the document cover?
There are eight more sections in this document:
3. Why monitor and evaluate your work?
4. What are outcomes?
5. Youth Music as an outcomes funder
6. Taking an outcomes approach
7. Outcome indicators
8. Collecting information on outcomes
1 This document does not address the critical topics of codes of practice and ethical guidelines
to follow when carrying out research. As a start, you may want to consult the United Kingdom
Evaluation services guidelines http://www.evaluation.org.uk/resources/guidelines.aspx on
these topics. 2 For the purpose of this document we have in particular drawn on Practical Monitoring and
Evaluation: A guide for voluntary organsiations, (CES 2005) 3 Burns, S. & MacKeith (October 2006) Explaining the Difference your Project Makes: A BIG
guide to using an outcomes approach
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9. Making sense of the information
10. Developing this document and related resources
Throughout the document we use an example project ‘Making Sounds’ to
illustrate the principles we are discussing. This is not a real Youth Music project
and the examples should be taken as illustrative rather than definitive samples
of ‘best practice’.
3. Why monitor and evaluate your work?
Before we move on to talk about outcomes specifically, we thought it would
be useful to explain why Youth Music considers evaluation to be a core
component of our and our partners’ work. Effective evaluation helps you to
assess how well you are doing and be more effective in your practices.
Obviously delivering projects is everyone’s priority, but it is critical that you
allocate resources to evaluate your work. It will enable you to:
reflect on your practice (both during and after a project) and improve
the quality of projects you deliver
assess whether you are reaching your target participants or whether
you need to amend the project to do so
feel more confident that you are delivering an effective project
identify both intended and unintended outcomes of your work
make a strong case when making future funding applications, by
having evidence of your achievements and lessons learnt.
In addition, by submitting the evidence to Youth Music this will help us to:
develop a body of evidence of effective practice in the sector to be
made available to all stakeholders
advocate on behalf of the sector on the wide variety of outcomes
music-making projects can achieve
identify areas of need, where achieving outcomes may be more
challenging and require innovation or extra resources
evidence the impact of the work of Youth Music and its funded
partners.
4. What are outcomes?
Outcomes are the changes, benefits, learning and other effects that you can
attribute to your project’s activities- they’re the difference your project makes
(CES, 2005, p.53). While these will probably focus on the children and young
people taking part in your music-making project, they may also relate to a
parent or carer, your staff or your organisation as a whole (see examples in
section 6.2 below).
5. Youth Music as an outcomes funder
Youth Music is clear about the changes we want to bring about through our
activities and those of the partners we fund. If you have applied to Youth
Music for funding under a particular programme then it should be clear what
that programme is trying to achieve. You will be expected to be able to
relate at least some of the intended outcomes of your project to those of the
programme. As part of the conditions of funding you will be expected to
report to us on your progress toward achieving those outcomes.
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6. Taking an outcomes approach
When taking an outcomes approach to your project design it is helpful to
think about it on three levels (see Diagram 1 below):
1. Its overall aim
2. Its intended outcomes
3. Its activities
Diagram 1: Charities Evaluation Services Planning Triangle (adapted by Burns &
MacKeith, 2006 on behalf of
BIG4)
6.1. The overall aim of your project
What is your project setting out to do? What is the overall change or
difference you want it to make? Fundamentally this explains why your project
exists.
Making Sounds5 - Overall aim
Project description
A project for young people in contact with a Youth Offending Team (YOT) in London.
This is a 12 month project where young people will learn a vocal based skill- singing or
beatboxing. They will attend workshops and will be linked to a peer mentor from a
local youth arts club, who will also attend the workshops.
Overall Aim
To improve the life chances of young people in contact with a London-based YOT,
through music-making activity.
4 Burns, S. & MacKeith (October 2006) Explaining the Difference your Project Makes: A BIG
guide to using an outcomes approach, p.8 5 Please note: This is NOT an actual project and does not necessarily reflect a project design
that Youth Music would/has funded.
The overall aim of your
project
The differences you intend to make or the changes you aim to
bring about – for your participants, staff, organisation,
community etc
The main services and activities you plan to carry out – what your project will deliver and what those working on your
project will actually do
Overall Aim
Intended
Outcomes
Activities and
Outputs
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6.2. The intended outcomes of your project
Your intended outcomes are the changes that you are aiming to achieve
because of your project (i.e. what do you expect to change through your
project? What difference will it make, for example, for the young people
taking part?). The language you use to articulate these should involve words
that reflect change, for example to: ‘increase’, ‘reduce’, ‘expand’, ‘enable’
‘develop’, ‘improve’, etc. (CES, p18).
Your intended outcomes should be linked to the activities you will do (i.e. why
are you doing the stated activities? What do you hope to achieve through
delivering them?) The changes that result from your activities are your
outcomes.
They should also be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely
(SMART). Think about the time and resources you have available and the
type of activities you are providing, this will help you to devise outcomes (and
relevant indicators, see 7 below) that are SMART. They must relate closely to
the activities (specific), be counted or described thoroughly (measurable),
and be achievable and realistic within the time and resources dedicated to
the activities.
Making Sounds4- Intended Outcomes
By the end of the 12 month project:
To have increased the musical skills of participants.
To have improved participants’ knowledge of music-making opportunities in
their locality.
To have improved young people’s social and psychological well-being.
To have increased young people’s motivation to engage in education and
training.
To have developed a more positive attitude to young people’s music-making
among parents/carers.
To have increased the skills and knowledge of the music leaders in working
with young people in contact with a YOT.
6.3. The activities involved
What are you going to do that will bring about these changes? As mentioned
above, these are the activities you are going to deliver through your project.
While you use ‘change’ language for your outcomes (e.g. an increase in
musical ability), you should use ‘doing’ words for your activities (e.g. by
providing 12 workshops).
You may find it helpful to think about these within the CES Planning Triangle
structure (see diagram 1 for an adapted version of this). This allows you to
think about each level and how they relate to each other. Will the overall aim
of your project be met through achieving the intended outcomes? Will the
activities you have planned realistically enable you to bring about the
changes outlined in your intended outcomes? While some activities will help
deliver on more than one outcome, it is critical that each activity is linked to
at least one outcome, and that each outcome has at least one activity that
will ensure your project delivers on it.
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Making Sounds4- Activities
To run weekly workshops for participants during school term time.
To employ a skilled music leader to deliver high quality music-making
activities.
To provide pastoral care to young people over the course of the project, with
the support of youth workers from a local arts centre.
To provide an information pack to young people and follow up with 1:1
sessions with the music leader on progression routes and further local
opportunities for music making.
To hold 2 performances to which parents/carers will be invited and to send
them an information pack every three months about the project and key
achievements of the group.
To hold regular meetings between relevant YOT staff, the music leader and
youth workers to discuss the project’s progress and any issues arising.
Once you have looked at your project within this structure you should ask
yourself the following questions developed by BIG for their partners:
“When you have filled in a triangle, check the following:
Have you used words of change in the top and middle and doing
words in the bottom of the triangle?
Does the middle of the triangle describe what the changes you intend
for your project’s participants, their parents/carers, your staff etc?
Does the bottom of the triangle describe what those working on your
project are going to do?
Now you can look at the triangle as a whole to check that the plans for your
project are realistic:
Look at each of your intended outcomes in the middle level. Will the
activities you have listed at the bottom realistically help you to achieve
one or more of your intended outcomes?
Now look at the activities. Does each one link directly to one or more
of the intended outcomes? If not, why is the activity included? You
may want to consider whether the activity really is important. It may
well be that the activity will help you to achieve another change. If this
is the case you may want to include another outcome. It may help to
do this if you number the outcomes and put the number(s) against
each activity.”
From Burns & Mac Keith, 2006 (p. 10)
7. Outcome indicators
Once you have decided on your intended outcomes you will need to identify
the indicators you will use to evidence your progress in achieving these
outcomes. What would you see, hear, or read about project participants that
would show you had made progress toward your outcome? What would
participants be doing differently? So, before your project starts you will need
to decide what information you want to collect to evidence you progress to
achieving your outcomes (outcome indicators) and how to collect the
information needed. As with setting your outcomes, it is important that you’re
realistic about the number of indicators you set out to monitor and what kind
of information you will be able to collect (see section 8 below).
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Making Sounds4- Outcome Indicators
Outcomes Possible outcome indicators
Increased musical skills
Young people’s own assessment of musical
skills
Music leader’s rating of young people’s
musical skills
Improved knowledge of music-
making opportunities in the locality
Level of understanding of own strengths and
weaknesses
Whether participants can think of several ways
of finding out about different local music-
making opportunities.
Improved young people’s social
and psychological well-being
Whether participants feel:
able to express themselves in front of
others
able to make decisions that they feel
are good for them
listened to by other people
like what they say and do will make a
difference to their lives
and that they have:
been able to turn up to the workshops
on time
learned to work well with other people
Increased motivation to engage in
education and training
Level of perceived motivation to engage in
education/training
Attendance levels at education/training
A more positive attitude to young
people’s music-making among
parents/carers
Level of parent/carer attendance at
performances
Parents/carers views on the value of music
making for their young people and young
people more generally
Increased skills and knowledge of
the music leader in working with
young people in contact with a
YOT
Whether music leader feels well-equipped to
meet the needs of young people in contact
with a YOT
Whether music leader can identify a range of
sources of support upon which he/she can
draw to be able to effectively deliver the
programme of work with this group of young
people.
Some of the outcomes you set out to achieve may be difficult to measure
and count. CES (2005, p 23) give the example of the outcome ‘to change
young people’s attitudes about social issues’, which cannot be measured
easily, so you would need to use indicators that assess the change
approximately (proxies). They suggest that using time keeping and
attendance levels, alongside other evidence may be an indication of ‘an
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increased sense of commitment and responsibility’, which relates to the
intended outcome.
8. Collecting information on outcomes
As mentioned in 7 above, before starting your project you will need to think
about how you will collect the information needed to demonstrate the
progress you have made in achieving your outcomes. Maybe you already
collect certain kinds of information as part of your monitoring systems that you
could use? Maybe you could tweak the monitoring system you already use
by rewording or adding questions? However, you may find that you need to
find a new way of collecting the information. If you are looking at change
you will need to think about collecting information at two points in time
(at/towards the start and at the end of the project). It is beyond the scope of
this document to provide a detailed account of tools/methods that you may
want to use, as these will vary from project to project and will depend on the
outcomes chosen6. For example, information on the outcomes for young
people could include:
Observation of their level of engagement/skills
Self-assessment questionnaires
Diaries they keep as part of the project
Notes kept by project leads
Interviews
Focus groups
Samples of work
Creative methods: role play, singing and rhyming, games etc
YM Outcomes Tools (See Appendix A)
As with all elements of this process it is important that you are realistic about
what data collection you can do within the given resources.
Making Sounds4- Sources of Evidence for ‘increased music skills outcome’
Outcome indicator Source of Evidence
Young people’s own assessment of
musical skills Youth Music ‘Musical Development’
Scale Music leader’s rating of young people’s
musical skills
Music leader completes a log at the end
of each workshop, noting progress made
by each participant.
9. Making sense of the information
The way you make sense of the data you collect on your outcomes will
depend on the kind of information you have collected and the way in which
you have collected it. For example, you will need to use a different approach
to analysing numbers to that adopted if you have done interviews with young
people. As with the tools for collecting data, it is beyond the scope of this
document to provide an in-depth account of how to analyse the data you
collect6.
6 Practical Monitoring and Evaluation: A guide for voluntary organsiations, (CES 2005) provide
some examples of data collection tools and some initial guidance on data analysis.
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Making Sounds4- Making sense of the information for ‘increased music skills’
outcome*
Young people varied in the extent to which they felt their musical skills had
increased over the course of the project.
On average, participants reported a 4 point increase (on an 8 point scale) in
how they rated their musical skills.
None of the participants reported a decrease in their skills.
Four felt they had only improved by 1 point. However, the music leader’s
observations noted in the session log show that three of these participants had
initially ranked themselves toward the top end of the scale. Once they began
to learn more about their chosen vocal skill their self-awareness had improved
and they realised that they had more to learn to be ‘top of their game’. For
the other participant in this group of four, both he and the music leader felt his
musical skills had improved little over the course of the project.
*This example only deals with reporting on the actual outcome and does not take account of
the activities and resources that influence these outcomes, which should also be critically
considered.
10. Developing this document and related resources
Data collection tools
If you have developed any tools (such as questionnaires for young people) to
collect information on the outcomes of your project, and would be happy to
share them with others working in the area we would greatly appreciate it if
you could send them through to us. We would like to develop a repository of
tools that could be accessed by funded partners.
Let us know what you think
As mentioned in section 1, we consider this to be a working document and
would greatly appreciate your feedback on how we can improve it. We also
plan to develop it further by drawing on examples from our partners’ work in
this area. Please forward any comments to [email protected]
Other useful sources:
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/er_eval_explaining_the_difference.pdf
Big Lottery Fund- Explaining the difference your project makes: A BIG guide to
using an outcomes approach
http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/er_eval_self_evaluation_uk.pdf
Big Lottery Fund- Self Evaluation: A handy guide to sources
www.ces-vol.org.uk
Charities Evaluation Services
http://www.evaluation.org.uk
United Kingdom Evaluation Society
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APPENDIX A - Youth Music Outcomes Tools
1. Youth Music Outcomes Tools
These tools have been designed to demonstrate the outcomes of your
work with children and young people. They indicate whether changes
have occurred in musical ability, personal development and social
development.
These tools provide a quantitative method of capturing outcomes, but
you should be using many methods – e.g. talking to the children and
young people on your projects and recording what they have to say,
keeping a reflective diary of how the activities you engage in affect
the organisation and it’s work, and keeping track of changes and
developments using film, photos and other creative methods.
The numbers you collect using these tools can tell us if outcomes have
been achieved as a result of a project, but many other evaluation
methods are better at telling us how this has happened and will help
tell the story of a project and what we can all learn from it.
2. What tools have been provided?
Each scale is attached to a different type of outcome.
It’s likely that one of your intended outcomes will be an improvement in
musical ability, therefore you should use the Musical Development
Scale (for children and young people aged 11-18), or the Young
Musicians Development Scale (for children aged 6-10). These scales
are based on work done by the Institute of Education investigating
musical ability.
If you are running an Early Years project, you can use the Early Years
Musical Assessment Scales (there are separate ones for children aged
0-2, 2-3, and 3-5), which should be completed by an early years
practitioner, a music leader, or a parent (depending on how the
project is being delivered). These scales are based on work done by
Nancy Evans for Youth Music and Sue Young at the University of Exeter.
There are more scales designed for use with the 11-18 age group, these
are:
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The Youth Music Agency and Citizenship Scale – measuring how much
children and young people feel in control of their lives, are able to
make decisions, and feel connected to their communities.
The Youth Music Attitude and Behaviour Scale – measuring whether
children and young people feel they have developed skills such as
working with others, punctuality and commitment.
The Youth Music Wellbeing Scale – based on work done by the
University of Edinburgh and the University of Warwick, these measures
demonstrate how children and young people have been recently
feeling. There is also a ladder measure (‘Cantrill’s Ladder’) used to
capture overall wellbeing.
There are two more scales, designed to capture the reflections of the
music leaders involved in the project: The Music Leader Job Satisfaction
Scale, and the Music Leader Professional Practice Scale. These can be
used to assess how those employed to deliver your projects feel about
their work, and if they are committed to the Music Leader code of
practice.
3. Using the tools
Each tool that you want to use for your project should be put into a
questionnaire and completed by participants near the beginning and
near the end of the project.
The Early Years tools should be completed by a regular attendee at the
sessions (e.g. a practitioner, music leader or parent) at the beginning
and the end (ideally the same person will fill it out at the beginning and
end). The Music Leader tools should be completed by the music
leaders and trainees involved in the project at the beginning and the
end.
If you want to demonstrate change that has happened because of
your project, it is important that you record the responses near the
beginning and near the end so you can calculate the difference.
Using the templates below, cut and paste the appropriate scales that
match your outcomes into a questionnaire (e.g. if you are hoping to
improve musical ability and wellbeing, cut and paste these scales into
a questionnaire, if you are hoping to improve musical ability, wellbeing
and attitude and behaviour, use these scales).
It is important to use the same ID number on the questionnaire so you
can match the responses at the beginning and end of the project. Ask
the participants to complete the questionnaire, or spend some time
filling it out with them as necessary. Then store the questionnaires
somewhere secure before putting the results into the Excel spreadsheet
(provided separately).
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All the questions are on ‘likert scales’ scored from 5 (strongly agree) to
1 (strongly disagree) which makes it easy to store the numbers and
calculate ‘mean scores’ (averages) for your sample overall. Each
scale has five questions, so the maximum a person can score on each
scale is 25 (35 for the scales that also have a ladder question) and the
minimum on each scale is 5 (or 6 for the ladder scales). The total
number of questions you will ask depends on how many scales you use
(which is decided by what outcomes you are looking to measure).
When putting your questionnaire data into Excel, store the ID number in
the first row, enter the date of the first survey, and the date of the
follow up survey (you can put all the data in at once at the end, or put
it in when you get it and enter the follow up data at a later stage - the
latter is recommended). The next step is to put the individual score for
each question in each of the associated columns. There is also a total
score column which will tell you about each scale as a whole (e.g. how
have people’s musical ability overall changed).
You can work out ‘where people are’ on each scale by looking at the
‘baseline scores’ (how they scored early on in the project) - this might
be a useful way of know what elements you want to focus on in
delivery (e.g. if all your participants are scoring low on the
’opportunities in your area’ ladder question, you could encourage
music leaders to focus on this in discussions with participants).
Question Means
The next step is to figure out mean (average) scores for each question.
Add up all the scores in a column under a particular question and
divide the total by the number of responses you have, this tells you
where your participants are overall in relation to each question.
Example – The first question on the musical development scale tells us
how participants feel about their musical ability. ‘Dougie’ rated himself
2 at the beginning, so we can work with Dougie to try and improve his
score by the end. There are 24 other people on the project. By adding
up Dougie’s score with everyone else’s and dividing it by 25, the overall
score for question 1 (self rated musical ability) is 2.4 at the start of the
project. By repeating the same task at the end you can observe
change (indicating musical ability).
Scale Means
Do the same thing for your ‘total score’ column and this will tell you
where your participants are for each scale overall.
Example - For the musical development scale, you might find that,
overall, your participants are scoring around 9 or 10 at baseline (Scale
Mean), but after 10 sessions, when you collect the follow up data, the
average score is 13 or 14 (don’t be scared of decimals - they just tell
you whether it’s closer to 13 or 14!). This is a really interesting finding - it
seems that there is some clear development in overall musical ability as
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a result of your project. This might not happen, but by looking at
question means you will see whether there have been changes in
some respects but not others.
N.B. The scores won’t always go up. Maybe the participants were
overestimating their musical ability in the beginning, and the project
has made them realise that they don’t think they have much ability
overall compared to others or the music leaders. This is completely fine
and to be expected. When presenting the results of your surveys you
can discuss this as one of the explanations - you’ll probably also have
lots of juicy qualitative data that will help to explain the findings
anyway. The point to remember is that this is a research exercise and
there will be results you didn’t expect.
If you subtract the baseline scores from the final scores, you will see the
difference (this could be + or -), which is a good way to finish the
analysis (e.g. overall musical ability for the group increased by 3 points).
Again you can present this at a question level or scale level as
appropriate.
4. Presenting your findings
Once you have calculated your scores it is important to communicate
this effectively. You can put baseline and follow up scores in a table,
along with the difference, presenting your findings for each question
and for each scale overall. You could also put your findings into a bar
or line chart which is a useful way of showing any change. Remember
to also write a few lines on what you are presenting. Statistics never
speak for themselves and you should be very open and clear about
how you have interpreted them.
It’s also very important not to overclaim. Remember that these are
indicators of outcomes, not concrete evidence. You will be presenting
these findings alongside all sorts of other evidence and trying to make
sense of it all together. It’s also tricky to make huge claims about
change (and the extent to which your project is responsible for that
change) when you might have a very small sample or the way you are
delivering changes throughout the project. These are interesting and
useful tools for measuring and investigating outcomes – they are not a
‘magic bullet’.
Your own analysis can go into the final reports you send to Youth Music
and other funders and help you to show the effects of your project to
others. Unfortunately Youth Music will not have capacity to conduct
analysis for individual projects, but it will contribute hugely to our
analysis of projects at a national level. If you send your Excel
spreadsheets to Youth Music, we can see how the findings compare
nationally and if there are differences between types of project, age,
gender, and so on, which will help us to understand the effects of our
funding and potentially demonstrate the impact of projects at a
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national level.
5. Ethics and Consent
You will have your own consent systems, which you should adapt to let
the young people (16+) or the child and parent/carer (0-15) know that
you will be doing some evaluation of the project that will involve a
short questionnaire. You need something signed and recorded that
this is ok. Everyone also has the right to refuse to participate in the
evaluation process at any point and you must destroy all data relating
to that person. People are always more important than data.
You should keep the consent forms, but ensure that no identifying data
is stored on questionnaires by using ID numbers. It is important that you
assign an ID number to each person and keep a record so you can
match up baseline and follow up data.
You also have to take responsibility for the secure storage of
information. Under no circumstances should a third party be able to
identify which data corresponds to which person (a good tip is to
always store your ID system, matching names and numbers, separate
from your excel data sheet). The same is true for paper questionnaires;
always treat in confidence and store securely.
None of the scales below are asking about particularly sensitive
information, therefore it is unlikely that people will feel upset or harmed
in any way by participating. However, taking part in any research
exercise can be a reflective process and you should be equipped to
support the children and young people if they are at all troubled by
the process. This is especially true when working with vulnerable
children and young people. Make it clear that everyone is free to stop
participating at any point, and be prepared to signpost young people
to appropriate services if you cannot deal with any issues raised.
Again, this is unlikely to happen as a result of the questionnaire
exercise, but should be remembered in all evaluation procedures.
Further ethical guidelines are provided by the Social Research
Association and can be accessed here: http://www.the-
sra.org.uk/documents/pdfs/ethics03.pdf
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Youth Music Musical Development Scale
Please rate how far you agree with the following statements: 1. I am pleased with my current level of musical ability
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. I am good at making sense of what other people are expressing
through music (e.g. thoughts, feelings and emotions)
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. I can express my thoughts, feelings and emotions through my own
music making
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. I am committed to my own music making
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. I feel like music making allows me to be creative
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
Please turn over
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6. Here is a picture of a ladder, the top of the ladder means you know lots of
places to make music in the community in which you live, and the bottom of
the ladder means you don’t know anywhere to make music in your
community. Please mark on the ladder how much you know about
opportunities to make music in your community:
Lots
Nothing
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Youth Music Agency and Citizenship Scale
Please rate how far you agree with the following statements: 1. I feel listened to by the people around me
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. I make decisions that are good for me
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. I feel like what I say and do will make a difference to my life
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. I feel well connected to others in my community
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. If I needed help I would know where to get it
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
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Youth Music Attitude and Behaviour Scale
Please rate how far you agree with the following statements: 1. I work well with other people
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. I usually turn up to things on time
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. I am respectful of other people
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. I make a positive contribution to my community
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. I am good at committing to things
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
18
Youth Music Wellbeing Scale (Based on WEMWBS 2009)
Please rate how much you agree with the following statements:
In the last month...
1. I’ve been feeling relaxed
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. I’ve been feeling confident
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. I’ve been interested in new things
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. I’ve had lots of energy
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. I’ve been feeling good about myself
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
Please turn over
19
6. Think about this ladder as picturing your life at the moment. The top
of the ladder represents the best possible life for you, the bottom of the
ladder represents the worst possible life for you. Put a mark on the
ladder for where you think you stand at the moment.
Best Possible Life
Worst Possible Life
20
Music Leader Job Satisfaction Scale (Based on Illardi et al. (1993)
Motivation and Job Satisfaction Scale)
Please rate how far you agree with the following statements in relation
to your work on this project:
1. I feel I have a lot of input into how my work is done
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. I am free to express my ideas and opinions about the work I do
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. I have been able to learn useful new skills on my job
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. I have developed, musically, doing this job
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. I get a sense of accomplishment from my job
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
21
Music Leader Professional Practice Scale (Based on Music Leader Code
of Practice)
Please rate how far you agree with the following statements in relation
to your work on this project:
1. I am well prepared and organised for my music leading work
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. I have a strong sense of responsibility for the safety of myself and the
children and young people I work with
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. My music skills are relevant and up to date for the work I am doing
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. I regularly reflect on and evaluate my work
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. I am committed to my own continuing professional development
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
22
Early Years Musical Assessment Scale
Based on Tuning In to Children (Evans/Youth Music 2007) and Young
(2003), for completion by early years practitioners, music leaders or
parents:
Children aged 0-2
Please mark on the scale the extent to which your young musician… 1. Is moved or affected by music (e.g. soothed and settled by
lullabies)
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. Enjoys being physically moved to rhythms and beats
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. Listens intently to sounds and music
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. Shakes, taps, lifts and drops objects to explore the sounds they
make
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. Explores their voices with single syllable sounds (or more)
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
23
Children aged 2-3
Please mark on the scale the extent to which your young musician…
1. Participates in play songs and songs sung to them
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. Starts to learn songs and can reproduce or improve on them
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. Develops rhythmic, large body movements and begin to learn
control and coordination
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. Shows responses to music being performed, from intent listening to
energetic dancing
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. Imitates the musical action of others
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
24
Children aged 3-5
Please mark on the scale the extent to which your young musician…
1. Sings spontaneously in a range of different ways, alone and with
others
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
2. Begins to match pitch, keep in time, and coordinate their musical
ideas with others
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
3. Repeats, changes, and develops their own, or borrowed, musical
ideas into more complicated structures
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
4. Learned to control and coordinate their whole body and finer body
movements, increasing their range of dances and instruments
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
5. Can be an audience listener to live music for short periods of time
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Neither Strongly
Agree Agree nor Disagree Disagree
25
Young Musicians Development Scale (for children aged 6-10)
Please circle the face that is closest to how you feel about the
following questions…
1. How much do you like doing music?
Very much Not very much
2. How good at music do you think you are?
Very good Not very good
3. How much does making music make you feel happy or not so
happy?
Very happy Not happy at all
4. How much do you enjoy learning new things with music?
Very much Not very much
5. How much do enjoy making music with your friends and other
people?
Very much Not very much