Current Practices in the Evaluation of Student Teachers in Music

Abstract

nTUDENT TEACH1NG iS one of the most important parts of the curriculum leading toward certification in music education. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine to what extent the college supervisor, the cooperating teacher, and the student teacher himself participate in student teacher evaluation. In the fall of 1967, questionnaires were mailed to 504 universities and four-year colleges sponsoring student chapters of the Music Educators National Conference and offering degrees in music education. The 375 questionnaires returned and utilized in the study represented 74 percent of the sample population.l To aid in analyzing the data, a FORTRAN program was developed that made use of the IBM 1620 data processing computer. Cards were punched with the necessary information from each questionnaire and processed through the computer, which gave a tally of checked responses. Table 1 shows the classification of the responding institutions in terms of financial support, type, and undergraduate enrollment. The highest number of responses (49 percent) came from public supported institutions. Liberal arts colleges received the highest representation (45 percent), followed by universities (42 percent). The undergraduate enrollment in the majority of institutions was over one thousand. Music educators recognize the importance of the active participation of music staff members in the evaluation of student music teachers. Table 2 shows that the music school or department has complete responsibility for supervision in almost half of the institutions canvassed. In an additionaI one-fifth of the colleges and universities, music staff either share or assist in the supervision of student music teachers. In 78 percent of the reporting institutions, at least one full-time college music faculty member is assigned duties as a supervisor of student teachers. The authority of this individual may vary ffom complete responsibility to that of an advisor to another department. Table 3 shows the number of music faculty with supervision duties, the average number