The music education profession is faced with two serious problems regarding the (mis)use of data in music teacher evaluation. The first has to do with the quality and kinds of data that music teachers have been forced to use; the second is concerned with how these data are being used in the music teacher evaluation process. The evidence I will use…

One of the most important factors determining a nation's level of development in the modern world is preschool education. When preschool education is perceived as an entity that affects every aspect of childhood development, this fact is undeniable. Several aspects of preschool education, including art education, play a significant role in a…

Predicting the future is a challenging task for music education, requiring both retrospection, analysis of current events, and foresight. This article examines several predictions from 2001 and challenges music educators to consider factors that may influence the future of teaching music in society.

At the heart of current education reform is the charter school movement. Charter schools, their role in the New Orleans, Louisiana, educational community, and the effect of charter schools on students with special needs are the focus of this article. New Orleans, Louisiana, has the largest number of students attending public charter schools in the…

As the common core state standards become reality, teachers have reason for concern. In this article the author outlines the roots of what has been called the corporate reform in education and its effects on the arts, poverty, and disabilities. The financial contributions of the Gates and Broad foundations led to the corporatization and nationwide…

A variety of stakeholders work to ensure opportunities for students with disabilities to learn in and through the arts. Because they work in various disciplines in the fields of arts education and special education, these stakeholders lack opportunities to share resources and information. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and its…

The United States and much of the world is struggling with what "education" and being "educated" mean. Daily media are replete with debates on issues ranging from gender and class rights to the ideological and practical purpose of education. Prominent among these debates are discussions about whether education should be geared…

Recently, state and federal legislators have emphasized teacher quality in their efforts to improve public education. Many reformers believe that merit pay may prove invaluable in attracting highly qualified educators to the workforce and retaining them, as well as in improving students' test scores. While merit pay's ability to recruit…

The purpose of this study was to understand how contributors to national media, education publications, and arts education publications interpret aspects of teacher evaluation enacted in response to Race to the Top. Using Stone's (1989) policy framework, researchers coded articles for intended and inadvertent causes. Analysis indicated that…

The Race to the Top program, initiated in 2009 by U.S. president Barack Obama, has resulted in new laws governing teacher evaluation, retention, and compensation. In many states, teachers' contributions to students' academic growth will account for up to 50 percent of their evaluations and serve as a basis for decisions regarding…

In education policy, practice, and discussion, we find ourselves caught between responsibility--fidelity to one's experience, conscience, and discernment--and a narrow kind of accountability. In order to preserve integrity, we (educators and leaders) must maintain independence of thought while skillfully articulating our work to the outside world.…

This article reviews the political and empirical record within music education surrounding the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and reports a new study evaluating the effects of the law on music and arts education policies in U.S. high schools. School-level data (N = 670 schools) from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 and the…

The field of education in the United States is in a period of unprecedented change. Educators in all disciplines are challenged to understand and respond to the waves of reform sweeping over the national education landscape. Linking these reforms to meaningful outcomes that will produce more rigorous and effective measures of quality and…

The work of renewing curriculum in music education faces the inertia of current curricular practices and an education reform climate that is unfavorable toward such work. This article suggests that the development of music teacher agency is central to combating these challenges, and that the development of such agency relies on today's…

This article looks at how arts integration can boost the language development of limited English proficient students in kindergarten through second grade. I first review existing research on how young children learn and describe the special challenges faced by children who must learn in an unfamiliar language. I then identify arts-based mechanisms…