School Music Programs Research Articles

Public School Music: Notes on the Public Provision of a Quasi-Private Good

This paper uses a version of theBergstrom/Goodman median voter model toexamine whether there are aspects ofpublicness to public school music. It alsoexamines whether the provision of publicschool music is an example of the abilityof small groups to seek benefits forthemselves at the expense of larger groups. School music programs provide a uniquesetting in which it is possible to separatethe demand for school music programs by theconsumers of school music (the privatebeneficiaries) from the demand for schoolmusic programs by those who do not directlyconsume the product. If those who are notdirect consumers of music programs appearto value school music programs as a publicgood, their valuation cannot be confusedwith a jointly consumed private good, orconsumption of a private good with scaleeconomies, because they are not themselvesconsuming it as a private good. Using datafrom the 1987 Schools and Staffing Survey,the results from a logarithmic, normative,demand model show that (parents of)nonmusic students appear to value musicprograms as a public good. Once it isprovided for music students, additionalproportions of nonmusic students do notdemand additional music classes. In thatmodel, music students appear to value musicclasses as a private good. In thepositive, additive, demand model, moremusic students mean that more music classeswill be provided. Further, since music isvalued as a non-subtractable public goodwhose costs can easily be spread,increasing numbers of non-music studentsalso result in (slightly) more musicclasses.

Reconceiving the Standards and the School Music Program

Reconceiving the Standards and the School Music Program

Incorporating Chamber Music into a School Music Program

Incorporating Chamber Music into a School Music Program

Project Lovelace: unprecedented opportunities for music education

Project Lovelace is a school-based programme for students aged twelve to eighteen years interested in learning about making music by using technology. The programme is designed to encourage equal and equitable participation by male and female students through instruction in technology-enhanced music performance, improvisation, composition, analysis and notation. Project Lovelace is named in honour of the contributions of the female mathematician Ada Augusta, Countess of Lovelace, who in 1842 predicted that computers could be used for musical composition (Roads 1996).The goals of Project Lovelace are to develop collaborative-based methods for gender-balanced school music technology programmes, amass a gender-balanced repertoire suitable for school music technology programmes, nurture creativity and analytical skills in music technology, and conduct a longitudinal study that documents the changing attitudes and perceived competencies of participating students and teachers.The motivation to initiate Project Lovelace was the timely convergence of two vexing issues perennially facing music technology programmes in higher education, specifically at the University of Michigan: the proportionally small number of female applicants to university music technology programmes and the need to continually upgrade or replace laboratory equipment. Why not allocate second-generation university laboratory equipment to the schools with the intent of building school-based music technology curricula that lead to a gender-balanced university applicant pool?

Listening to the Music: Compositional Processes of High School Composers

The purpose of the study was to investigate the compositional processes of adolescents to clarify effective strategies for implementing composition activities in high school music programs. The study charted the progress of four high school music students as they completed two separate composition tasks. Data collection techniques consisted of semi-structured interviews, observation, and document analysis. Analysis consisted of studying the field note and interview texts, making marginal notes, sorting, and coding. A model was constructed that reflected the common processes of composition used by the four student participants. Important features of the model are the role played by listening, the necessity of individual thinking time, and the improvisatory character of the final products. Findings from the study suggest that although there may be common elements in student compositional processes, the nature of the compositional process is idiosyncratic.

An Ethnography of Improvisation Training in a Music Methods Course

In the belief that the strengthening of secondary school music programs is at least partially linked to the training of prospective teachers in the techniques of improvisation, me have examined the process by which music education students reveal an understanding of improvisation, its relationship to analytical listening, the musical and social interactions that can result from its study and practice in a group setting, and ways to integrate it into the curriculum. A 5-week improvisation training segment was included in a secondary music methods course. Five 90-minute sessions were focused on listening and analyzing model pieces and consequent small-group improvisations “in the style of the model.” Data were analyzed using ethnographic techniques. The profiles of two students were developed to trace emerging thoughts and behaviors regarding improvisation training. Although the profiled students differed as to prior experiences and personal perspectives on music-making and teaching, both showed evidence of an evolving sensitivity to the process of improvisation due to instruction—for themselves and for their students.

Lifelong Learning: An Emerging Research Agenda for Music Education

Research in lifelong music learning can provide a basis for relating school music programs more closely with the larger society. In addition, understanding of relationships between adult development and music learning can broaden the scope and depth of life-span education in music. Three fruitful areas for developing a research agenda include: adult development and learning; creativity; and intergenerational learning. Implications for research involve forging stronger links between the nature of adult learners and appropriate practices in music education.

Research in Music Teacher Education

tion as a means of improving instruction, its delivery, and its evaluation. This viewpoint, however, must be challenged if the music education profession is to make significant improvements in the quality of teaching in America's music classrooms and rehearsal halls. Moreover, this position must be revised if research is to be viewed positively by both preparatory and practicing music educators. A positive view of research would facilitate necessary and desirable curricular and methodological modifications to school music programs. Music teacher education programs must include an early introduction to systematic inquiry and consistent reinforcement and use of research concepts. Additionally, the important research being done in traditionally academic educational settings, such as studies focusing on cooperative learning and effective schools, must not be minimized or-even worse-discredited as

Program Evaluation for Secondary School Music Programs

How is the music program in your school evaluated? If evaluation is based on the success of your per forming groups, your system is proba bly flawed, according to this writer.

Assess the Program Before You Accept the Job

When interviewing for a position as a high school music director, you should carefully assess the school's music program. Lewis H. Strouse offers a method for assessment that will help you decide if the job is right for you.

Why Market the Music Program?

Good marketing and public relations can strengthen your school music program. Paul E. Thoms introduces this month's special focus and explains how you can put your school's program in the spotlight.

Popular Music in Your Program Growing with the Times

Traditional school music programs do not interest some accomplished student musicians. John Kuzmich, Jr., discusses the power of popular and rock music to draw these students into music education.

A Study of Public School Music Programs Mainstreaming Hearing Impaired Students

A Study of Public School Music Programs Mainstreaming Hearing Impaired Students

Portrait of a Nineteenth-Century School Music Program

This article describes the development of Louisville public school music from its establishment in 1844 to its suspension in 1879. Rationales for music's introduction, debates over teaching methods, and choices of music curricula are examined within the context of Louisville society. Primary sources are used, including minutes and annual reports of the Louisville school board and accounts of mid-nineteenth-century historians. Although Louisville's early school music program had unique aspects, its development for the most part paralleled that of school music programs in other American cities. School board arguments in favor of music instruction focused on music's intellectual, physical, moral, and social benefits to students. Both “rote” and “note” teaching methods were used with success. Music curricula included books and series containing folk songs, songs by the authors of the books, and adaptations of songs by European composers. The music was simple in rhythm, melody, harmony, and form, and song texts were polite and sentimental.

Assessing Your Program's. Effectiveness

The improvement of a school music program begins with an assessment of the current state of affairs. Paul Lehman, professor and senior associate dean of the University of Michigan's School of Music and past president of MENC, describes one approach.

The Changing Role of Instrumental Music

In this retrospective of instrumental music in America, Jay Zorn, professor of music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, examines the influences that have shaped today's school music programs and provides a preview of the other articles in this section.

Ringing the Changes: General John Eaton and the 1886 Public School Music Survey

General John Eaton, commissioner of the United States Bureau of Education from 1870 to 1886, undertook a survey of public school music programs in American city schools in 1885 and published it in 1886, Eaton undertook the survey in response to what he believed to be a great urgency on the part of music teachers to ascertain the state of public school music. The survey instrument asked questions concerning how many hours per week, in what grades, and by whom music was taught. A description of the systems and textbooks used to teach music reading was solicited. Eaton also was interested in knowing of any objections being urged against introducing music into the schools. A total of 343 school districts, encompassing a public school enrollment of 1,209,677 students, responded to the survey. Of those districts, 96 reported no instruction in music, 132 reported that instruction was given by the regular teaching force, 19 reported special teachers for music, and 96 reported employing both regular and special teachers for music instruction. In districts where music was not taught, reasons such as lack of money, public indifference, lack of skill on the part of the teachers, and lack of time were given. The survey concluded with a lengthy list of lay singing societies. The survey, frequently mentioned in convention addresses between 1886 and 1889, was used as evidence that music in the public schools was far from being accepted as part of a basic curriculum. The document provided a rallying point for persons committed to music instruction for every child.

Student teachers on their own

With accountability and competency-based teacher education, many colleges and universities are emphasizing extensive field experience as part of their teacher education program. But in many instances, especially for music educators, this places a burden on the cooperating teacher. Elementary and secondary school music programs often have many performance commitments, and in preparing for these the cooperating teacher may not have the time to provide the music education student with all the experiences suggested by the teacher-education program. Even during student teaching, performance commitments may limit a student teacher's responsibilities to part of a class, sectional work, or the weaker performing group. Is extensive field experience of value for the future teacher if the majority of this experience consists of secondary duties? How influential is the cooperating teacher? Indications are that the cooperating teacher has a greater influence on the student teacher than either the college methods instructor or the university supervisor.' Therefore, when the cooperating teacher is able to turn control over to the student teacher, the latter often conducts the rehearsal or

Musical Creativity: The Stream of Consciousness in Composition, Improvisation, and Education

This article explores the stream of consciousness as a primary source for the ideas from which music is created. Improvisation and composition are presented as behaviors which deserve attention at all levels of elementary and high school music programs; the cognitive foundations of each are discussed. Also, humanistic methods of teaching music are described in the article as being superior to the traditional behaviorist methods, because the former encourage the development of both representational and creative skills, while the latter reward representational skill development and discourage the skills needed to be a creator of music.

The Heart of the School Music Program

The Heart of the School Music Program