The Development of Competency Models: An IRT-based Approach to Competency Assessment in General Music Education Anne-Katrin Jordan Jens Knigge 1 University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany Abstract This paper reports on an ongoing German project to develop a competency model for music. The basis of our work is IRT, which offers the possibility to model student ability and item dificulty on the same metric. In the irst part of the paper, we review existing research and outline some of the central concepts and the foundation of IRT methodology (Rasch model, multidimensional models, and between/within-item model). Using our ongoing attempt to develop a competency model for the musical sub-domain ‘Perceiving and Contextualizing Music’ as an example, we illustrate the meth- odological comments with results from a pre-pilot study with 6 th grade students. Ideas for further analyses are presented. Introduction There is a long tradition of interest in the evaluation of music ability in music education and music psychology. There are tests of musical aptitude, of appreciation and attitude, of musical performance, and of musical achievement. 2 Since the second half of the 19 th century, a considerable amount of research has been carried out in this area, particularly in the English speaking countries led by the USA. However, a review of this research shows that the focus is primarily on aptitude and performance rather than on tests of musical achievement (cf. Colwell, 1999a). This is also the case in Germany. Because traditionally the attitude toward all types of music tests is a sceptical one (cf. Kormann, 2005; Oerter & Bruhn, 1997), achievement tests have until now neither been developed nor used in Germany. The current discussion surrounding assessment of competencies hits German music education unprepared. This discussion has been sparked off by changes in the educational system since the beginning of this decade. The ultimate goal of this reform process is the implemen- tation of national standards (‘Bildungsstandards’) whereby the primary focus is directed from the input to the output of the system. 3 The development of national educational standards in Germany 1 Both authors contributed equally to this paper, the names are listed in alphabetical order. 2 For historical information about music ability evaluation see, e.g., Boyle, 1992; Kormann, 2005.