Page 85-86 questions 3 and 9.

3) Should improvisation be included in musical skills?
I believe that improvisation is one of the clearest indicators of a student's musical understanding. In jazz, an extensive knowledge of the fundamentals of music allows players the freedom of expression through beautiful sounding music. When a person improvises, whether it's on a piano or an orff xylophone, he or she is showing that they have the knowledge at their fingertips, literally, and can retrieve that knowledge almost automatically.
Improvisation is a challenge, even to advanced music students. It requires a knowledge of music theory and of the instrument being played, as well as originality. Improvisation can be executed within certain boundaries, such as on certain keys on the xylophone. This not only makes it less threatening to students, but also allows the teacher to focus on one area of assessment such as rhythm, rather than right or wrong notes.
I think that improvisation allows for many types of assessment, and has a rightful place withing the musical skills level of learning areas.

9) I feel the same way for standardized testing in music as I do in any subject. I feel that standardized testing is a good way to assess concrete content domains, such as the value of a certain rhythm. However, I feel that too much pressure and importance is put onto standardized testing. This type of testing puts all students on one level, testing them in one way, when it is so obvious that students all learn and express their learning in different ways. For some students, the pressure of standardized testing hinders their grade, therefore creating an inaccurate test score.
As part of an overall assessment program, I feel that standardized testing does have a place, but has too much emphasis put onto it. There are so many ways to find out what a student knows, other than their answer with a pen on paper. Integrated projects seem to me one of the best ways to do that. I love giving my students the chance to show me as much as they know, in a creative context. It takes the pressure off of me to ask the "right questions" and puts the pressure on them to form their knowledge into something that I can physically see, hear, or read. It's also exciting for me to experience creative projects, and to see sides of my students that I don't otherwise get to see.
Not all students learn the same, and to that end not all students express the same way. Some are terrified of tests, but others are terrified of public speaking and expression of themselves. I feel that it is up to me to challenge their comfort zone and have them step out of it, but I also feel that it is my responsibility to create ways of finding out what is it that they actually know. That way I can shape my teaching to complement that.