Strengthening music teacher professional development: the P–12 music administrator’s role

Abstract

In this inquiry, we examine P–12 music administrators’ present and future role in the provision, regulation, funding, and improvement of music teacher professional development (PD). We asked: (1) How do P–12 music administrators’ shape PD policies and practices within their school systems? and (2) What might a robust and cohesive suite of PD policies overseen by P–12 music administrators encompass? Using explanatory sequential mixed methods, we first surveyed music administrators from across the United States (n = 54) and then examined in greater depth the situations of five administrators heterogeneously selected from among survey respondents. Integration of quantitative and qualitative data showed that though most music administrators in this study considered PD a formal job responsibility, they tended to manage only “bits and pieces” (in one participant’s words) of a multilayered PD system. We argue in this article that strong PD systems—where access to meaningful, practice-enhancing PD is routine, not exceptional—depend, at least in part, on P–12 music administrators embracing a broader and more proactive conception of their roles as PD policymakers and advocates. Using West and Bautista’s four domains of PD policy action, we propose a set of music administrator-led reforms to standards (ensuring high-quality PD), inducements (motivating genuine teacher engagement in PD), funding (equitable and ample resource support for PD), and accommodations (creating time and space for PD).