The Status of Undergraduate String Teacher Education in American Colleges and Universities

Abstract

This study is an examination of undergraduate string teacher education in American colleges and universities. A random sample of 180 NASM-accredited teacher training institutions was selected from the six MENC divisions, each of which represents a large geographical region of the United States. Specific research questions posed were (a) What types of string education courses are required for undergraduate music education majors? (b) What content is included in these courses? (c) How does string teacher education vary in different regions of the country? and (d) How well are undergraduate students being prepared to function as future public school string teachers? Statistically significant findings were obtained for the different regions of the country, with institutions in the North Central Division requiring the greatest number of separate string techniques and string methods courses for all music education majors. Institutions in this region also require the most contact hours per week per course, have the largest number of string education specialists teaching the courses, and taken as a group, do a significantly better job of preparing students to meet specific string teacher competencies than do institutions in other regions of the country.