there is nothing worse than sitting around with a bunch of music teachers around NYSSMA time.
I know what you mean. I've wondered why that is the case. Is it just so the student can jump a grade, or is it that there are more difficult solos in the same grade so the kid can do various levels of a level 6? There is a larger issue with the lower grades where level two solos are more difficult than level three, which is a jump level, or solos introduce rudiments that the student is not responsible for at that level. It seems a bit arbitrary.
The biggest issue I have is that it puts me in the same position that every other teacher is in, and that is that at the end of the year, my students has to show progress, often with a piece that I didn't pick, and often at a level that is inappropriate. It is a big push so rather than performing a level four where the student is more comfortable, and can show their level of musicality, the student is doing a level five so the teacher can say, look my kids are doing level fives. Of course, as you say, it often is a meaningless grade. Being able to execute the solo, or being confident with it and playing it musically are totally different things. It seems that focus is on the former.
What I try to do is have the kids prepare three or four pieces during the year, and then pick one for NYSSMA, brush up on it a month before the festival and it's a done deal. It's not always easy though with everything the kid has going on. It doesn't matter because no matter how much time you give it, and sometimes the piece is picked five months before, it will be the last week when the kid puts the nose to the grindstone. But my students tend to do quite well at NYSSMA. So I am happy about that. For me, it is less about music, and more about taking on a challenge and being successful at it.