Connecting to the Profession

Access to Music Education

• Salvador, K. & Allegood, K. (2014). Access to music education with regard to race in two urban areas. Arts Education Policy Review, 115(3), 82-92.
• This quantitative study examined access to school music instruction with regard to race in two urban areas: Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, DC, in 2009–2010. We found significant differences in the provision of music instruction between schools with high and low proportions of nonwhite enrollment, in categories including curricular offerings, extracurricular offerings, and resources. In the Detroit area, only 31 percent to 60 percent of schools with high percentages of nonwhite students offered any music instruction at all. We contrast our findings with those of a National Center for Educational Statistics report to demonstrate how regional and national averages can obscure information that should guide policy, such as the influence of location and racial demographics of schools on the provision of public school music instruction. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of using flawed data in the creation of policy and suggestions for more comprehensive and accurate data collection and analysis.

• Shaw, R. D., & Auletto, A. (2021). Is music education in tune with the pursuit of equity? An examination of access to music education in Michigan’s schools. Journal of Research in Music Education, 1-18.
• Access to music education in American schools is not guaranteed. Although national studies have demonstrated disparities based on poverty, race, and other markers, these studies miss a necessary level of local detail in describing access. Additionally, studies that exist are based on self-report surveys and prone to nonresponse bias. The purpose of this study was to describe access to music education at the state level. Using Michigan administrative data provided by the state department of education, we describe the state’s population of music educators and examine student access to music education. We found that music teachers differed from nonmusic teachers in a number of ways. We also identified substantial and persistent disparities in access to music education across the state. These findings have important implications for school arts education policy.

Enrollment in Music Courses

• Elpus, K. (2014). Evaluating the effect of No Child Left Behind on U. S. music course enrollments. Journal of Research in Music Education, 62(3), 215-233.
• The purpose of this study was to investigate nationwide enrollment in high school music courses from 1982 until 2009 to determine what trends in music enrollment existed and whether these trends were affected by the passage and implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). With data from 10 separate nationally representative high school transcript studies conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, a unique data set was constructed that tracked the transcript-indicated 9th- through 12th-grade music course enrollment patterns for the U.S. graduating classes of 1982, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, and 2009. Descriptive results showed that overall music enrollment patterns were relatively stable in the public schools, with roughly 34% of all students consistently enrolling in at least one music course during high school across all cohorts. Abbreviated interrupted time series analyses suggest that NCLB had no effect on overall music enrollment rates but exacerbated the preexisting underrepresentation in music courses of Hispanic students, English language learners, and students with Individualized Education Plans.

• Elpus, K. (2016). Understanding America’s human capital investment in arts education: Arts educators in the nation’s public schools [Research: Arts Works working paper.]. National Endowment for the Arts.
• This study presents a detailed demographic profile of the arts educators working in the public schools of the United States. Using data from the 2011-2012 wave of the National Center for Education Statistics Schools and Staffing Survey, a complete descriptive profile of arts educators overall and within the disciplines of visual art, music, dance, and theater was generated. Specifically, the study presents the profile of arts educators in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, age, years of experience in the classroom, educational attainment, state teacher certification status, route to teacher certification, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification status, full-time/part-time school employment status, and average/median salary. Comparisons among the arts disciplines and between arts and non-arts disciplines are presented as well as analyses for systematic differences in the profiles of arts educators working at differing kinds of schools. Findings indicate that, generally, arts educators look similar to the corps of non-arts educators with a few key differences. These key differences include racial/ethnic diversity (arts educators are more racially homogenous than non-arts educators), gender (arts educators are more likely to be male, driven primarily by the number of male music educators at the high school level), and full-time/part-time status (arts educators are more likely to be employed part- time).

• Elpus, K., & Abril, C. R. (2011). High school music ensemble students in the United States: A demographic profile. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59(2), 128-145.
• The purpose of this study is to construct a national demographic profile of high school band, choir, and orchestra students in the United States using evidence from the 2004 follow-up wave of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. Results indicate that 21% of seniors in the United States’ class of 2004 participated in school music ensembles. Significant associations were found between music ensemble participation and variables including gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), native language, parents’ education, standardized test scores, and GPA. Certain groups of students, including those who are male, English language learners, Hispanic, children of parents holding a high school diploma or less, and in the lowest SES quartile, were significantly underrepresented in music programs across the United States. In contrast, white students were significantly overrepresented among music students, as were students from higher SES backgrounds, native English speakers, students in the highest standardized test score quartiles, children of parents holding advanced postsecondary degrees, and students with GPAs ranging from 3.01 to 4.0. Findings indicate that music students are not a representative subset of the population of U.S. high school students.

• Elpus, K., & Abril, C. R. (2019). Who enrolls in high school music? A national profile of U.S. students, 2009–2013. Journal of Research in Music Education, 67(3), 323–338.
• The purpose of this study is to construct a complete demographic profile of high school music ensemble students using nationally representative data for the U.S. graduating high school class of 2013. We make use of restricted-use data from the National Center for Education Statistics High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS). Results showed that 24% of the class of 2013 enrolled in at least one year of a course in band, choir, or orchestra at some point during high school. Music students were 60% female and 40% male, and the racial/ethnic composition of music ensemble students was 58% White, 13% Black or African American, 17% Hispanic or Latino, 4% Asian or Pacific Islander, 8% two or more races, and under 1% American Indian or Alaska Native. Students from the highest socioeconomic status quintiles were overrepresented among music students. Fully 61% of music ensemble students participated in some form of arts activity outside of school, and 71% of music students attended a play, concert, or live show with their parents as ninth graders. Complete results presented in the article include disaggregated profiles by type of ensemble and a multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Large Ensembles in Music Education

• Heuser, F. (2011). Ensemble-based instrumental music instruction: Dead-end tradition or opportunity for socially enlightened teaching. Music Education Research, 13(3), 295-305.
• Public school music education in the USA remains wedded to large ensemble performance. Instruction tends to be teacher directed, relies on styles from the Western canon and exhibits little concern for musical interests of students. The idea that a fundamental purpose of education is the creation of a just society is difficult for many music teachers who dream of conducting student musicians in polished performances. This paper describes a middle school band program in which students teach instrument lessons to similarly aged children in a homeless shelter. This qualitative study is grounded in the writings of Maxine Greene and shows how teachers might 'break through’ the frames of custom and touch the consciousness of those we teach.

• Parker, E. (2010). Exploring student experiences of belonging within an urban high school choral ensemble: An action research study. Music Education Research, 12(4), 339-352.
• The purpose of this action research study was to describe adolescent singers' experiences of belonging within one urban high school choral ensemble. Understanding student perspectives on belonging within music ensembles can assist choral educators, parents and administrators in order to more fully support adolescent emotional and social development in school. Tenth through twelfth grade students were selected from one northeastern high school choral program in a large city within the USA. Twenty-six participants, in small groups of three to four students each, were asked to describe their experiences of belonging within the ensemble. Interview data were open, descriptively and analytically coded. Codes were gathered into categories. Five themes were developed, including choral experience as uncompetitive, sectional bonding as social bonding, singing as shared experience, chorus as safe space and trips as pivotal bonding experiences. Suggestions for future research include examining student belonging as part of choral teacher practices, studying school choral participation as stress reduction, and investigating social belonging as embedded within group singing environments.

School music vs. Student music

• De Vries, P. (2010). What we want: The music preferences of upper primary school students and the ways they engage with music. Australian Journal of Music Education, 1, 3-16.
• This article examines the current music preferences of grade 6 children (12-13-year-olds) in an Australian primary school and the way these children engage with music. Data were collected in three phases, comprising a written questionnaire administered to all 86 students, focus group interviews with 12 of these children, and observation of students' engagement at school, both in class and out of class, over a five-week period. This article focuses on the latter two phases. Results revealed students prefer contemporary popular music to other styles of music; new media technology such as digital music players play a significant role in their engagement with music; music plays multiple roles in the students' lives; they are aware of the diverse ways music is present in the world, both in and out of school; the students valued choice, particularly in terms of repertoire, in music activities at school; school can stifle potential engagement with music; and students involved in extracurricular music groups at school valued the experience.

• Mantie, R. (2013). A comparison of “popular music pedagogy” discourses. Journal of Research in Music Education, 61(3), 334-352.
• The purpose of this study was to interrogate discourses of “popular music pedagogy” in order to better understand music education practices generally and specifically those in the United States. Employing a conceptual framework based on the work of Jan Blommaert (2005), a content analysis was conducted on a sample of 81 articles related to popular music and music education according to the variables of journal and nationality. Results suggest that international differences in discourse existed. American-based authors focused on issues of legitimacy and quality (repertoire and teaching), whereas non-American-based authors focused on matters of utility and efficacy, with an emphasis on the quality of learning and pedagogical relationship. The lack of awareness (national and international) of discourse features and functions may be limiting the effectiveness of both communication and practice.

• Woody, R. H. (2023). Student-directed learning in popular musicianship: An action research study of university music students. International Journal of Music Education.
• This action research study provides insight into the learning of university music education students who participated in a popular musicianship experience. The participants were thirty-four music education students (i.e., pre-service music educators) at an American university enrolled in a student-directed Popular Musicianship course. Although given access to “rock band” instruments and sound equipment during the semester-long experience, they did not receive any direct instruction from the faculty instructor of record. After organizing into bands, the participants were challenged to prepare for performance two or three songs, including one cover and one original song. They also indicated the confidence they had in their ability to lead their future students in popular music making. This measure of self-efficacy was collected at the beginning, middle, and end of the experience. Also, participant written descriptions of their experiences was analyzed qualitatively. The findings of the study indicated that participants believed their overall musicianship benefited from the experience due to the challenging nature of vernacular music making, which was also enjoyable and rewarding. The experience also appeared to impact their teaching philosophies for the future. Finally, their self-efficacy increased significantly across the experience.

Delivery Skills

• Hamann, D. L., Baker, D. S., McAllister, P. A., & Bauer, W. I. (2000). Factors affecting university music students' perceptions of lesson quality and teaching effectiveness. Journal of Research in Music Education, 48(2), 102-113.
• The purpose of this study was to determine what effect, if any, music teacher classroom delivery skills or lesson content had on university music students' perceptions of lesson or teacher appeal by student academic standing. Participants, 511 university students studying music at three moderate-size universities, viewed one of two videotapes that contained four randomly placed teaching episodes of approximately 4 minutes in duration. Each of the two tapes contained four lessons, as follows: one lesson with good classroom delivery skills and good lesson content, one with good skills and poor content, another with poor skills and good content, and one with poor skills and poor content. Subjects were directed to evaluate each teaching episode immediately after it was viewed using a researcher-developed questionnaire. The researchers found that students liked and found teaching episodes with good teacher delivery skills to be more interesting than those lessons with poor teacher delivery, regardless of lesson content quality. Whether enhanced student liking and increased interest in class-room lessons improve student learning and retention remains to be determined.

• Madsen, K. (2003). The effect of accuracy of instruction, teacher delivery, and student attentiveness on musicians’ evaluation of teacher effectiveness. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51(1), 38-50.
• This study is an examination of whether accuracy and delivery of teacher instruction and student attentiveness would affect evaluative perceptions of teacher effectiveness. Participants were 168 musicians and were grouped according to experience level: (a) Grades 6–8, (b) Grades 9–12, (c) undergraduate, and (d) experienced teachers. Participants viewed and evaluated a videotape of eight teaching segments for teaching effectiveness. A two-way ANOVA with repeated measures indicated significant differences due to experience level and teaching segments. Results indicated that the secondary students rated a teacher giving inaccurate instruction relatively high when the teacher demonstrated high delivery and the class was attentive. Analysis of the descriptive data suggested that the four groups attended to the delivery of the teacher more than any other variable.

Informal Music Learning

• Green, L. (2008). Music, informal learning and the school: A new classroom pedagogy. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
• This is the author’s third book in a longitudinal study of popular music pedagogy and its possible applications to the music classroom.

• Hallam, S., Creech, A., & McQueen, H. (2018). Pupils’ perceptions of informal learning in school music lessons. Music Education Research, 20(2), 213-230.
• Music education has faced considerable challenges in trying to bridge the gap between music in young people’s lives and that taking place in the classroom. The ‘Musical Futures’ initiative aimed to devise new and imaginative ways of engaging young people, aged 11–19, in music activities through a process of informal learning based initially on popular music. This research aimed to explore pupils’ perceptions of the impact of adopting the Musical Futures approach on students’ learning and attainment. 671 students completed a questionnaire and 171 participated in focus group interviews to establish their perceptions of informal learning. The findings showed that the adoption of the Musical Futures approach enhanced student interest and confidence and increased their musical skills. Students appreciated the control that they had over their learning but some raised issues about working in groups and the level of support that teachers were able to offer.

• Jaffurs, S. E. (2004). The impact of informal music learning practices in the classroom, or how I learned how to teach from a garage band. International Journal of Music Education, 22(3), 189-200.
• This ethnographic study is an investigation of the environment that students create when making music that is meaningful to them. The initial purpose of the study was to describe a developing ‘rock group’, and the factors that contributed to its creation. The significance of the study may be in the discovery of ways to subvert dominant traditions in many formal environments. The author reflects on the lessons of informal music learning practices and the implications for her own classroom environment. A broader perspective on the informal/formal dichotomy may help teachers establish more diverse learning practices.

• Jones, S. K. (2015). An exploration of band students’ experiences with informal learning. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, (206), 61-79.
• The purpose of this study was to examine how eight high school students involved in traditional, notation-based band instruction experienced informal learning. In an extracurricular setting, the students chose their own groupings, selected songs, and created arrangements of their songs by ear without relying on direct instruction or notated music. A collective case study design was used to explore the strategies the students used to solve problems and how those learning strategies changed as students gained experience with informal learning. This study also sought to examine the benefits and challenges of informal learning with formally taught students and to determine how arranging songs in small group settings impacted those students.
  While the students became more comfortable with informal learning over time, it was difficult for them to break free of their formal learning habits. Despite these challenges, the student participants reported improved listening skills, refined their musical problem-solving approaches, were more willing to experiment to make musical decisions, and showed greater attention to the quality of their musical arrangements. The findings support the benefits of informal learning noted in previous research, though students enculturated in large ensembles may need additional tools in order to attain success.

• Kastner, J. D. (2020). Healing bruises: Identity tensions in a beginning teacher’s use of formal and informal music learning. Research Studies in Music Education, 42(1), 3-18.
• The purpose of this narrative case study was to describe the developing teacher identity of Nicole Downing, a first-year teacher in the US, in her use of both formal and informal learning processes. As music education continues embracing approaches like informal music learning, it should also reflect on the voices of teachers in the field. Data collection included interviews, observations, and participant writings. Findings revealed that Nicole (a) questioned and eventually accepted her music teacher identity, (b) exhibited a dualism between her use of formal and informal music learning processes, and (c) broadened her community’s definition of school music. Nicole used the metaphor of a bruise to describe how she believed some in her undergraduate studies would judge her interest in popular music and creative musicianship, but as she became a music teacher, she had agency to incorporate the informal learning she valued. Nicole exhibited a duality in her use of formal and informal learning processes, which were not integrated in her teaching. Ultimately, she developed a broadened definition of school music that she believed was beneficial for students but perceived negatively by other music teachers. Music teacher education should support teachers’ diverse identities and continue to explore the teaching strategies used in facilitating informal music learning experiences.

• Woody, R. & Lehmann, A. (2010). Student musicians’ ear-playing ability as a function of vernacular music experiences. Journal of Research in Music Education, 52(2), 101-115.
• This study explored the differences in ear-playing ability between formal ‘classical’ musicians and those with vernacular music experience (N = 24). Participants heard melodies and performed them back, either by singing or playing on their instruments. The authors tracked the number of times through the listen-then-perform cycle that each participant needed for accurate performance. Participants retrospectively reported their thoughts and provided biographical information related to vernacular music experience. Analyses indicated that singing required fewer trials than playing on instruments and that vernacular musicians required fewer trials than formal musicians. The verbally reported thoughts indicated that participants used different strategies for encoding the melodies. Vernacular musicians applied a more sophisticated knowledge base to generate accurate expectations; formal musicians used less efficient strategies. Formal musicians devoted more conscious attention to physically producing the melodies on their instruments (e.g., fingerings), a process that was executed more automatically by vernacular musicians.

Diversity

• Bond, V. L. (2017). Culturally responsive education in music education: A literature review. Contributions to Music Education, 42, 153-180.
• Demographic shifts in public school enrollment within the United States necessitate preparing preservice teachers to teach students with backgrounds that differ from their own ethnically, linguistically, racially, and economically. Culturally responsive education (CRE) is a pedagogy used to validate students' varied experiences, and to teach to and through their strengths. CRE emphasizes high expectations, the formation of cultural competence, and development of a critical consciousness. Although the philosophical principles of culturally responsive education have been addressed in general education literature for over thirty years, the presence of the term culturally responsive education in music education dialogue is a relatively recent phenomenon. The purpose of this literature review was to describe how and for what purposes culturally responsive education has been addressed in music education.

• Kindall-Smith, M. (2013). What a difference in 3 years! Risking social justice content in required undergraduate music education curricula. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 22(1), 34-50.
• A total of 130 undergraduate and graduate music education and music therapy students watched a videotape of elementary children with cerebral palsy (CP) and typical peers preparing and performing in a musical production. The focus of the video was on preparation for inclusion, inclusive interactions, and the performance. Four questions addressing inclusion that required written responses from participants were posed. Responses were categorized for comparisons. Results indicated no significant difference due to training (music therapy majors, music education majors with and without class discussions on inclusion; p > .05). All groups focused on social more than academic benefits for all children. Participants noted the following: benefit of being in a musical play for the children with CP, that children without CP benefited from exposure to information about the disability, that children with CP gained from interacting with typical peers and from making a new friend, and many of the techniques teachers used to prepare students for successful inclusion. More than a third were concerned that their future students would not accept children with disabilities in the classroom or that children with disabilities would be incapable. There is an apparent inability to make the transfer of using the identified teaching techniques to enable their own future efforts at inclusion to be successful.

Race and Ethnicity

• McKoy, C. L. (2013). Effects of selected demographic variables on music student teachers’ self-reported cross-cultural competence. Journal of Research in Music Education, 60(4), 375-394.
• The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of race/ethnicity and school community setting for early field experience practica and student teaching on music student teachers’ self-reported cross-cultural competence. Participants (N = 337) from 36 colleges and universities across the United States completed a survey designed to examine the extent of cross-cultural competence as specified by three constructs: (a) factors fostering readiness to teach in culturally diverse educational environments, (b) factors constraining readiness to teach in culturally diverse educational environments, and (c) educational experiences during teacher preparation relative to multicultural education and multicultural music education. The ‘Foster,’ ‘Constrain,’ and ‘Teacher Preparation’ dimension subscales served as the dependent variables. Results indicated no significant main effect of school community setting on participants’ cross-cultural competence; however, a significant main effect of race/ethnicity (p < .05) was observed for the ‘Constrain’ subscale of the survey.

• Salvador, K., & Allegood, K. (2014). Access to music education with regard to race in two urban areas. Arts Education Policy Review, 115(3), 82-92.
• This quantitative study examined access to school music instruction with regard to race in two urban areas: Detroit, Michigan, and Washington, DC, in 2009–2010. We found significant differences in the provision of music instruction between schools with high and low proportions of nonwhite enrollment, in categories including curricular offerings, extracurricular offerings, and resources. In the Detroit area, only 31 percent to 60 percent of schools with high percentages of nonwhite students offered any music instruction at all. We contrast our findings with those of a National Center for Educational Statistics report to demonstrate how regional and national averages can obscure information that should guide policy, such as the influence of location and racial demographics of schools on the provision of public-school music instruction. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of using flawed data in the creation of policy and suggestions for more comprehensive and accurate data collection and analysis.

Gender and Sexual Orientation

• Savin-Williams, R. C. (2016). Sexual orientation: Categories or continuum? Commentary on Bailey et al. (2016). Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(2), 37–44.
• Bailey et al. (2016) have provided an excellent, state-of-the-art overview that is a major contribution to our understanding of sexual orientation. However, whereas Bailey and his coauthors have examined the physiological, behavioral, and self-report data of sexual orientation and see categories, I see a sexual and romantic continuum. After noting several objections concerning the limitations of the review and methodological shortcomings characteristic of sexual-orientation research in general, I present evidence from research investigating in-between sexualities to support an alternative, continuum-based perspective regarding the nature of sexual orientation for both women and men. A continuum conceptualization has potential implications for investigating the prevalence of nonheterosexuals, sexual-orientation differences in gender nonconformity, causes of sexual orientation, and political issues.

• Silveira, J. M. (2019). Perspectives of a transgender music education student. Journal of Research in Music Education, 66(4), 428–448.
• The purpose of this study was to present a narrative account of one gender-variant music student and his experiences as a music education major at a small private college. The question guiding this study was as follows: In what ways can one transgender music education student’s lived experiences and identity development inform discourse in the music education community? A semi structured interview protocol was used, with approximately 14 weekly one-on-one meetings with the student. The student was allowed to share his perspectives as a transgender student throughout public school and leading to his decision to major in music education via the interview protocol. Data were coded based on recurring patterns that emerged from the interviews and participant-generated artifacts. Member checks and a peer examiner were used to ensure faithful interpretation of the data. The participant’s family interaction influenced his transgender identity development, his internalized transphobia gave way to self-acceptance, and he eventually took an active role in advocating for fellow transgender individuals. Implications for music teacher preparation programs and professional development are discussed, and future directions for research are recommended.

Poverty

• Beveridge, T. (2022). Does music education have a poverty problem? Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 40(2), 10-18.
• In this literature review, I explore poverty, the barriers to participation that exist for students in poverty, and why this issue should matter to music educators. Research findings about students and poverty generally fall into three categories: logistics, teacher attitudes, and policy. I identify participation barriers in each of these categories and offer suggestions how they might be addressed. Overall, findings involving poverty and music education indicate that when teachers are well-supported at the micro and macro level by legislators, administrators, parents, and other teachers, most barriers can be reduced or eliminated, and participation increases.

IDEA

• Jones, S. K. (2015). Teaching students with disabilities: A review of music education research as it relates to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 34(1), 13-23.
• This article explores trends in research since the 1975 passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), notes gaps in the literature, and offers suggestions for future directions music education researchers could take in exploring the needs and experiences of music teachers and their students with disabilities. A majority of existing literature examines teacher perceptions and attitudes toward students with special needs and preservice music teacher preparation. As the number of students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act continues to grow, and policy changes create more complex expectations of teachers, music education researchers need to continue to study these topics and broaden research to include outside perspectives, assessment and evaluation, and more research on classroom practices and voices of students with disabilities in order to better serve music teachers and their students.

Special Learners

• Salvador, K. (2010). Who isn’t a special learner? A survey of how music teacher education programs prepare future educators to work with exceptional populations. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 20(1), 27.
• As music educators are faced with an increasing number of students with various exceptionalities, their ability to differentiate instruction for those with special needs becomes paramount. The purpose of this survey was to investigate how music teacher preparation programs addressed the topic of differentiation for exceptional populations at the undergraduate level. Specifically, the survey asked if NASM accredited universities that granted doctoral or master’s degrees in music education (a) required a course, (b) offered a course, or (c) in some other significant way systematically addressed the topic of teaching music to special populations. A link to a brief online survey was e-mailed to representatives of 212 institutions. Of 109 respondents, 29.6% required a course in teaching music to special populations, 38.9% indicated that this type of course was available, and 59.8% reported purposefully integrating the teaching of exceptional populations throughout their coursework. Respondent comments led to further literature review and discussion of the lack of consistent instruction with regard to this topic in undergraduate music education programs.

Physical Disabilities

• Nabb, D., & Balcetis, E. (2010). Access to music education: Nebraska band directors’ experiences and attitudes regarding students with physical disabilities. Journal of Research in Music Education, 57(4), 308-319.
• Students with physical disabilities frequently are excluded from participation in instrumental music programs, yet the obstacles band directors face that preclude integration of these students have not been documented systematically. The primary purpose of this study was to measure Nebraska High School band directors’ concerns regarding the integration of students with physical disabilities into their band programs. Results of a survey of 221 Nebraska high school music programs suggested that awareness of options for ways to include students with physical disabilities, availability of adapted instruments, and the cost of acquiring such instruments are among band directors’ primary concerns. Conclusions drawn from this survey serve as evidence that there is a need for adapted instruments and suggest that integration of students with disabilities and without disabilities in band would provide benefits for all.

Inclusiveness

• Cassidy, J., & Colwell, C. (2012). University students’ perceptions of an inclusive music production. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 21(2), 28-40.
• A total of 130 undergraduate and graduate music education and music therapy students watched video of elementary children with cerebral palsy (CP) and typical peers preparing and performing in a musical production. The focus of the video was on preparation for inclusion, inclusive interactions, and the performance. Four questions addressing inclusion that required written responses from participants were posed. Responses were categorized for comparisons. Results indicated no significant difference due to training (music therapy majors, music education majors with and without class discussions on inclusion; p > .05). All groups focused on social more than academic benefits for all children. Participants noted the following: benefit of being in a musical play for the children with CP, that children without CP benefited from exposure to information about the disability, that children with CP gained from interacting with typical peers and from making a new friend, and many of the techniques teachers used to prepare students for successful inclusion. More than a third were concerned that their future students would not accept children with disabilities in the classroom or that children with disabilities would be incapable. There is an apparent inability to make the transfer of using the identified teaching techniques to enable their own future efforts at inclusion to be successful.

• VanWeelden, K., & Whipple, J. (2014). Music educators’ perceived effectiveness of inclusion. Journal of Research in Music Education, 62(2), 148-160.
• The purpose of this research project was to examine whether music teachers’ perceptions of effectiveness of inclusion, curriculum adaptations/modifications, or student achievement had altered from previous research findings 20 years before. A survey based on that used by Gfeller, Darrow, and Hedden was sent to music educators through the United States and returned by 1,194, with all 50 states represented. Results indicate more positive responses as compared with 20 years ago, with participants generally reporting that the students were successfully integrated, their music needs were being met, and they did not hinder the progress of students without disabilities. Additionally, teachers’ responses indicated they were comfortable adapting and/or modifying their regular curriculum to meet the needs of students with special needs and that these students were graded on the same standards of music achievement as the other students in their classes.

• VanWeelden, K., & Whipple, J. (2014). Music educators’ perceptions of preparation and supports available for inclusion. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 23(2), 33-51.
• The purpose of this study was to investigate music educators’ perceptions of their educational preparation and the availability of instructional supports to work with students with disabilities in their classrooms/ensembles. Music educators (N = 1,128) representing all 50 United States responded to a survey fashioned after a similar instrument used by Gfeller, Darrow, and Hedden. Results indicated slight positive increases over the past two decades in regard to types of course offerings, in-service attendance and availability, involvement in the Individualized Education Program process, placement decisions, consultation with special education experts, and provision of adequate preparation time and resource materials/adaptive devices. Results also indicated that current music education practices (e.g., music-specific coursework, workshops, and in-services) created greater feelings of preparedness to work with students with disabilities and increased attendance at additional educational opportunities. The discussion includes further results and educational implications.

Composition and Improvisation

• Beckstead, D. (2013). Improvisation: Thinking and playing music. Music Educators Journal, 99(3), 69-74.
• This article explores and contextualizes improvisation in music from an educational perspective. First, recent brain research that sees improvisation as a distinct cognitive activity is examined and used to illustrate the importance and uniqueness of this often-ignored area of music learning. Next, the implications for the music classroom are explored in light of the brain research findings as well as the common misconceptions associated with improvisation in music classrooms. Finally, some overarching principles to help guide the teaching of improvisation in any music classroom are offered.

• Beegle, A. (2010). A classroom-based study of small-group planned improvisation with fifth-grade children. Journal of Research in Music Education, 58(3), 219-239.
• The purpose of this study was to examine and describe children’s music improvisations and the interactions that transpired within their four-person groups during regular weekly music classes as they planned and performed music improvisations in response to three different prompts: a poem, a painting, and a musical composition. Participants were two classes of fifth-grade children at the elementary school where the researcher was the general music teacher. Sixteen children in four focus groups were chosen for closer observation and a series of interviews. Data were gathered over a 12-week period, utilizing audio- and video-recorded observations, daily field notes, and interviews following students’ viewing of their own performances on video. The findings of this study demonstrate that (a) all children utilized a similar planning process, and social roles and relationships were often correlated to musical roles and relationships; (b) children’s music products differed based on the nature of the prompt, and children viewed prompts along a continuum of providing freedom of expression; and (c) children evidenced three specific strategies and expressed three valued considerations for planning and evaluating improvisation performances.

• Bernhard II, C. (2012). Music education majors’ confidence in teaching improvisation. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 22(2), 65-72.
• The purpose of this study was to describe undergraduate music education majors’ confidence in teaching improvisation, according to the National Association for Music Education K–12 Achievement Standards. Subjects were 196 undergraduate music education majors at a public university school of music. Combined subjects reported ‘moderate confidence’ for teaching Grade K–4 standards of improvisation, ‘slight’ to ‘moderate confidence’ for Grades 5 to 8 standards, and ‘slight confidence’ for teaching improvisation standards at the Grades 9 to 12 levels, and significant differences were found among the means for all three grade levels. Confidence increased by year in school (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) and by primary instrument area (woodwind, brass, voice, piano, string, percussion). Subjects reported ‘slight’ to ‘moderate confidence’ in their own ability to improvise but ‘moderate’ to ‘great interest’ in learning more about how to teach improvisation. Implications for music teacher education are discussed.

• Coulson, A. N., & Burke, B. M. (2013). Creativity in the elementary music classroom: A study of students’ perceptions. International Journal of Music Education, 31(4), 428-441.
• This research explored essential elements to be considered when teaching US students to develop and define creativity in the general elementary (students aged 5–11 years) music classroom. This case study focused on answering the following research questions: 1) What are students’ perceptions of creativity? 2) How can music educators successfully implement improvisation lessons to promote student creativity and learning? Data included students’ in-class written work and homework, and field notes taken during observations of classroom discussions after improvisation lessons. Analysis of this data provided evidence that students produce more creative, original music when they are more confident with their musical ability. Students viewed music they enjoyed as creative. Students also believed that a variety of instruments or rhythms make music creative. Although improvisation skills were demonstrated for students, the results indicated that students might take more risks when creating music if their teachers played music and demonstrated skills more often in class.

• Larsson, C., & Georgii-Hemming, E. (2019). Improvisation in general music education–a literature review. British Journal of Music Education, 36(1), 49-67.
• The overall purpose of this article is to provide a convenient summary of empirical research on improvisation in general music education and thereby provide guidance to researchers and practitioners, using a systematic, narrative-review approach. By analysing 20 music education research articles, published from 2000–2015 in peer-reviewed journals, we firstly provide an overview of the key features and knowledge of existing research. Secondly, we identify how improvisation has been characterized, conceptually before, thirdly, describing the implications of the literature for improvisation in practice. Our article reveals that improvisation tends to be an overlooked activity both in music education contexts and in music education research. Broadly speaking, music education research tends to characterise improvisation within two conceptual frameworks, which have different implications for implementation; ‘structured’, teacher-directed improvisation and ‘free’, child-directed improvisation. We conclude by arguing that music educational research on improvisation is an underdeveloped field and outline a number of questions to be addressed in future research.

Musicianship

• Isbell, D. S. (2016). Apprehensive and excited: Music education students’ experience vernacular musicianship. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 25(3), 27-38.
• The purpose of this study was to examine music education students’ experiences (N = 64) in courses designed to develop vernacular musicianship and expand understandings of informal music making. Students participated in one of two classes (undergraduate/graduate), formed their own small ensembles, chose their own music and instruments, led their own rehearsals, and played without using notation. Data sources included written reflections, class observation notes, video recordings of rehearsals and performances, composition artifacts, and formal course evaluations. Participants indicated that they were comfortable working in small peer-led groups, yet they were challenged to learn without notation. Participants believed that their musicianship developed during the course, they learned new pedagogical methods, and they gained comfort working without notation in collaborative groups. Though they believed that these experiences were valuable, participants remained uncomfortable with the idea of placing students in similar settings. Graduate students appeared to be more comfortable with the experience than were undergraduate students.

Listening

• Cho, S., Baek, Y., & Choe, E. J. (2019). A strategic approach to music listening with a mobile app for high school students. International Journal of Music Education, 37(1), 132-141.
• The primary objective of this study is to investigate whether three interaction strategies through mobile apps may be associated with increases in students’ music listening skills. Data was collected from 225 high school students and analysed using the ANOVA procedure in the three ways of music listening: analytic, aesthetic and sensory. Interaction with the app was least influential in the analytic listening of the participants. Interaction with peers was most influential in the aesthetic listening of the participants. Interaction with the app was most influential in the sensory listening of the participants.

• Diaz, F. M. (2015). Listening and musical engagement: An exploration of the effects of different listening strategies on attention, emotion, and peak affective experiences. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 33(2), 27-33.
• Music educators often use guided listening strategies as a means of enhancing engagement during music listening activities. Although previous research suggests that these strategies are indeed helpful in facilitating some form of cognitive and emotional engagement, little is known about how these strategies might function for music of differing styles, or how they might affect attention, emotion, and peak affective experiences specifically during listening. In this study, these factors were investigated through the lens of three previously examined strategies: a distraction index, labeling of musical elements, and unguided listening. General findings suggest that the most consequential factor in enhancing musical engagement was presenting students with some type of goal either during or at the end of listening, regardless of the musical style or listening strategy used throughout the task. Furthermore, implications of the use of listening strategies during academic settings are discussed.

• Krause, A. E., North, A. C., & Hewitt, L. Y. (2015). Music-listening in everyday life: Devices and choice. Psychology of Music,43(2), 155-170.
• Utilizing the Experience Sampling Method, this research investigated how individuals encounter music in everyday life. Responding to two text messages sent at random times between 8:00 and 23:00 daily for one week, 177 participants completed self-reports online regarding their experience with any music heard within a two-hour period prior to receipt of the message. Overall, the radio, mobile MP3 players, and computers featured prominently. Detailed analyses revealed significant patterns in device usage based on time of day; ratings of the music in terms of choice, liking, arousal, and attention; mood; and the perceived consequences of the music. While feeling lethargic associated with recorded music broadcasted in public, in contrast personal music collections promoted contentment. Similarly, devices allowing for personal input were met with positive consequences, like motivation. The current findings imply that the greater control that technology affords leads to complex patterns of everyday music usage, and that listeners are active consumers rather than passive listeners.

• Madsen, C., & Geringer, J. (2008). Reflections of Puccini’s La Boheme: Investigating a model for listening. Journal of Research in Music Education, 56(1), 33-42.
• A continuing line of research indicates that focus of attention is perhaps the most important attribute of actively participating in meaningful music listening and a model accounting for these findings has been developed. Music teachers are especially concerned with meaningful listening when having students discern important elements or attributes of music. Although newer listening devices offer sophisticated methods for continuous measurement, the educator usually does not have access to the advanced equipment used by researchers. This study is built on a previous investigation by examining the use of a paper-and-pencil drawing for recording aesthetic responses across time. The authors also asked the 50 university music major participants to reflect and write comments concerning their listening experiences. Findings indicate that a teacher using only a simple paper-and-pencil representation might be able to elicit and document an ‘overall emotional effect’ that provides almost as much information as using more sophisticated measuring devices.

Information Processing

• Bugos, J., & Mostafa, W. (2011). Musical training enhances information processing speed. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, (187), 7-18.
• The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of music instruction on information processing speed. The researchers examined music's role on information processing speed in musicians (N = 14) and non-musicians (N = 16) using standardized neuropsychological measures, the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) and the Trail Making Test (TMT). Results of a One Way ANOVA indicate significantly (p < .05) enhanced performance by musicians compared to non-musicians on the PASAT and TMT (Part A and B). These results suggest that musical training has the capacity to enhance processing speed of auditory and visual content. Implications for music educators stemming from these findings include the need for inclusion of rhythmic sight-reading exercises and improvisational activities to reinforce processing speed.

• Roden, I., Grube, D., Bongard, S., & Kreutz, G. (2014). Does music training enhance working memory performance? Findings from a quasi-experimental longitudinal study. Psychology of Music, 42(2), 284-298.
• Instrumental music training has been shown to enhance cognitive processing beyond general intelligence. We examined this assumption with regard to working memory performance in primary school-aged children (N = 50; 7–8 years of age) within a longitudinal study design. Half of the children participated in an extended music education program with 45 minutes of weekly instrumental music training, while the other half received extended natural science training. Each child completed a computerized test battery three times over a period of 18 months. The battery included seven subtests, which address the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad components of Baddeley’s working memory model. Socio-economic background and basic cognitive functions were assessed for each participant and used as covariates in subsequent analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Significant group by time interactions were found for phonological loop and central executive subtests, indicating a superior developmental course in children with music training compared to the control group. These results confirm previous findings concerning music training and cognitive performance. It is suggested that children receiving music training benefit specifically in those aspects of cognitive functioning that are strongly related to auditory information processing.

Constructivism

• Cleaver, D., & Ballantyne, J. (2014). Teachers’ views of constructivist theory: A qualitative study illuminating relationships between epistemological understanding and music teaching practice. International Journal of Music Education, 32(2), 228-241.
• While constructivist theory is widely promoted in pre-service music teacher education, there has been a lack of research conducted to reveal the ways in which the theory is individually personalized, then subsumed, translated, and adopted into in-service classroom teaching practice. To address this shortfall, this article explores some of the ways that music teachers individually apply their understanding of the philosophically generated ideas and the cognitive concepts and principles that are broadly regarded as “constructivist.” In seeking to contribute to professional dialogue and debate surrounding this matter, this study seeks to illuminate how a small sample of music teachers engages both theoretically and practically with constructivist views of learning. Using a qualitative approach, the researchers incorporated staged, informal interviews with invited teacher participants. Preliminary analyses of interview data were returned to the participants for review and further commentary. This process was designed to contribute to both the trustworthiness of representation and to enhance the transactional process between participants and researchers. The commentaries are designed to problematize issues, raise points for discussion and the article concludes with implications for practice in schools and universities.

• López-Íñiguez, G., & Pozo, J. I. (2016). Analysis of constructive practice in instrumental music education: Case study with an expert cello teacher. Teaching and Teacher Education, 60, 97-107.
• A case study was conducted on an expert cello teacher and a 7-year-old student, to analyze the relationships between the teacher's constructive conceptions and instructional practices, by means of the System for Analyzing the Practice of Instrumental Lessons. This article describes a constructive teaching model based on: (a) the student's learning processes, (b) fostering conditions that enable learning and (c) achieving long-lasting learning outcomes which are student-driven and applicable to other situations. Results suggest that many of this teacher's practices reflect the constructive profile to which her conceptions are associated.

Self-Regulation

• Hewitt, M. P. (2011). The impact of self-evaluation instruction on student self-evaluation, music performance, and self-evaluation accuracy. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59(1), 6-20.
• The author sought to determine whether self-evaluation instruction had an impact on student self-evaluation, music performance, and self-evaluation accuracy of music performance among middle school instrumentalists. Participants (N = 211) were students at a private middle school located in a metropolitan area of a mid-Atlantic state. Students in intact classes, grades 5 through 8, were assigned to one of three treatment groups: self-evaluation instruction (SE-I), self-evaluation only (SE-O), or no self-evaluation (SE-No) for treatment lasting 5 weeks. All groups played through music used in the study at each lesson and heard a model recording of it. Participants in the SE-I group received instruction in self-evaluation while students in the SE-O group self-evaluated their performances daily and the SE-No group received no additional instruction. Results suggest that instruction in self-evaluation had little impact on students' self-evaluation accuracy or music performance, although grade level did influence music performance. Additional time may be necessary for students to learn to evaluate their own performances effectively; however, it is interesting that students' music performance did not appear to suffer from time spent in self-evaluation instruction or practice. Music teachers may wish to consider implementing self-evaluation strategies to help students develop the skills necessary for successful self-regulation of music performance.

• Miksza, P., Prichard, S., & Sorbo, D. (2012). An observational study of intermediate band students' self-regulated practice behaviors. Journal of Research in Music Education, 60(3), 254-266.
• The purpose of this study was to investigate intermediate musicians' self-regulated practice behaviors. Thirty sixth- through eighth-grade students were observed practicing band repertoire individually for 20 minutes. Practice sessions were coded according to practice frame frequency and duration, length of musical passage selected, most prominent musical objective, and practice behaviors. The 600 min of video were parsed into 234 practice frames for analysis. Practice sessions also were rated for overall degree of self-regulation. Reliability of the observational procedures (three observers, 95% to 100% agreement) and self-regulation ratings (two raters, coefficients of 0.89 to 0.96) was excellent. Analyses revealed an average of 7.8 practice frames with a mean duration of 2 minutes and 45 seconds across sessions. Participants most frequently addressed the musical objective pitch accuracy and most commonly selected passages of nine measures in length or greater. The most common practice behaviors were varying tempo, repeating fewer than four measures, repeating more than four measures, and irrelevant playing. Significant relationships were found between self-regulation ratings and frequencies of the behaviors writing on music (r = 0.55), varying tempo (r = 0.42), repeating four or more measures (r = 0.41), and irrelevant playing (r = 0.59). Implications for future research and practical applications are discussed.

• Varela, W., Abrami, P. C., & Upitis, R. (2016). Self-regulation and music learning: A systematic review. Psychology of Music, 44(1), 55-74.
• Recent research into how individuals achieve their musical goals has been enriched by studies investigating music practice through the lens of self-regulation, or the goal-orientated planning, cyclical adaptation, and reflection of an individual’s thoughts, feelings and actions. The article aims to review the available empirical evidence in order to identify the relationship between processes contained within Zimmerman’s (2000) model of self-regulation and specific music learning variables. It also attempts to discover how self-regulatory behavior relates to both general music instruction and interventions designed to enhance self-regulation. Findings indicate weak, positive relationships with the variables of interest, but suggest self-regulation instruction is the most strongly related variable. The discussion proposes that future research may benefit from investigations of self-regulation within a broader spectrum of musicians and an exploration of participant-driven understandings of self-regulation theory.

Assessment

• Darrow, A. A., Johnson, C. M., Miller, A. M., & Williamson, P. (2002). Can students accurately assess themselves? Predictive validity of student self-reports. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 20(2), 8-11.
• The present study was designed to address the research question, ‘Is there a relationship between the musical proficiencies students believe they possess and their performance on achievement tests designed to assess those skills?’ Eight outcomes were selected from the content area ‘melody’ of a district wide school music curriculum. Three test instruments were developed for the study: (a) a written student self-report questionnaire, (b) a music achievement test of musical knowledge that incorporated aural and visual recognition of melodic intervals and patterns, and (c) a music performance test devised to assess how well students could sing intervals and patterns as directed.

• Ferguson, D. (2007). Program evaluations in music education: A review of the literature. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 25(4), 6-15.
• Program evaluations can serve many goals. They can be undertaken in an attempt to determine a program’s effect. They can be used as a tool for advocacy or as a justification for funding. Program evaluation can also be used as summative ‘report card’ or can be formative as an aid in decision making. This study is a review of current literature concerning the various goals that program evaluations seek to meet.

• Ferm Almqvist, C., Vinge, J., Väkevä, L., & Zandén, O. (2017). Assessment as learning in music education: The risk of “criteria compliance” replacing “learning” in the Scandinavian countries. Research Studies in Music Education, 39(1), 3-18.
• Recent reforms in England and the USA give evidence that teaching methods and content can change rapidly, given a strong external pressure, for example through economic incentives, inspections, school choice, and public display of schools’ and pupils’ performances. Educational activities in the Scandinavian countries have increasingly become dominated by obligations regarding assessment and grading. A common thread is the demand for equal and just assessment and grading through clear criteria and transparent processes. Torrance states that clarity in assessment procedures, processes, and criteria has underpinned widespread use of coaching, practice, and provision of formative feedback to boost achievement, but that such transparency encourages instrumentalism. He concludes that the practice of assessment has moved from assessment of learning, through assessment for learning, to assessment as learning, with “assessment procedures and practices coming completely to dominate the learning experience” and “criteria compliance” replacing “learning”. Thus, formative assessment, in spite of its proven educational potential, threatens to be deformative. In this article we will explore to what extent and how this development is visible in two cases, presenting music education in one Norwegian and one Swedish compulsory school setting. Three thematic threads run through this exploration: quality, power, and instrumentalism.

• Salvador, K. (2010). How can elementary teachers measure singing voice achievement? A critical review of assessments, 1994-2009. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 29(1), 40-47.
• The first content standard of the National Standards for Music Education requires that students sing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. Although state and district elementary music curricula vary widely, many are based on the National Standards for Music Education and therefore include singing as a primary content area and method of teaching and learning music. However, classroom assessments of singing voice achievement and development vary widely, and information about reliability and validity of these assessments is rarely reported. The purpose of this article was to identify and discuss measurements of singing voice achievement for elementary aged students that have been used in research studies from dissertations and refereed music education journals since the publication of the National Standards for Music Education in 1994. The author describes each measurement tool, discusses its validity and reliability, and evaluates the practicality of each measure for classroom use by elementary general music teachers. Finally, recommendations for how one of these measures might be used to improve instruction in an elementary music classroom have been made.

Grading

• McCoy, C. (1991). Grading students in performing groups: A comparison of principals' recommendations with directors' practices. Journal of Research in Music Education, 39(3), 181-90.
• This article reports a study comparing Illinois high school band and choral directors' grading systems with systems proposed by principals. Analysis suggested that principals placed more value on cognitive criteria and performance technique, but less on concert attendance and behavior than did directors. Findings suggest that music educators develop course and grading systems reflecting objectives deemed most important.