The purpose of this study was to investigate interactions between two doctoral students and their colleagues in a graduate music education program and determine how a community of peer interactions functions as a resource to prepare music teacher educators. Results of this study showed that peer interactions between two participants and other…

This case study consisted of an examination of the perspectives of students, teachers, and administrators at the Shuangling Primary School, a rural Chinese school in Shaanxi Province, as they relate to themes of China's most recent curricular reform efforts. The intent was to understand these perspectives and determine how to best assist…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between actual current assessment practices of elementary music teachers and the assessment topics as published in the literature aimed at those teachers. Specifically, this study sought to: 1) identify the current assessment techniques utilized by elementary music teachers; 2) identify…

Teacher turnover remains an important issue in education. The least researched perspectives, though, are those of the students who experience teacher turnover. The purpose of this study was to examine how high school band students experience teacher turnover. A total of twelve students were interviewed, representing three schools that experienced…

Himie Voxman is a name few instrumental teachers and students of the past fifty years would fail to recognize. His method books and arrangements are in school districts and private studios across the United States, serving as a testimony to his influence as a teacher, scholar, editor and arranger. His life and career as a prominent U.S. music…

In choral ensembles, a pursuit where females far outnumber males, concern exists that females are being devalued. Attitudes of female choral singers may be negatively affected by the gender imbalance that exists in mixed choirs and by the placement of the mixed choir as the most select ensemble in a program. The purpose of this research was to…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of lesbian and gay band directors at varying stages of career development to discern how they have negotiated identity within their personal and professional lives. Ten band directors (8 males and 2 females) residing in Texas (n = 8), Florida (n = 1), and Illinois (n = 1)…

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with enrolling, continuing, and completing alternative certification programs in music education. Data were collected via surveys and semi-structured interviews of music teacher candidates from 43 program completers from seven alternative certification programs in three states. In…

The purpose of the present study was to identify whether conductors distinguish functions of conducting similarly to functions implied in previous research. A sample of 84 conductors with a full range of experience levels (M = 9.8) and of a full range of large ensemble types and ensemble age levels rated how much they pay attention to 82…

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivations of adults in choosing to participate in community orchestras. This paper identifies many of those motivations and examines the reasons and implications of why the adults in the study chose to continue to play in community orchestras. The investigation was conducted in 2007 via a case study…

The Suzuki Method represents a significant contribution by a Japanese, Suzuki Shin'ichi (1898-1998), to the teaching of musical instruments worldwide. Western observers often represent the method as "Japanese," although it could be called "Western" with equal justification. Suzuki left no detailed description of his method. Consequently, it is…

Educational research strongly suggests that parental involvement is beneficial for academic achievement and scholarly studies have pointed to parents' seminal role in the education of young children as well as the need for continued nurture. Researchers indicate that parental involvement, however, tends to diminish over time and in many cases…

This essay on graduate music education is in response to an article by David Hebert on challenges and solutions in online music teacher education that appeared in the online journal, "Research and Issues in Music Education," 5(1). The author found the article stimulating because so little has been written on the topic of music teacher education at…

Music education organizations achieved a huge success in Texas several years ago when legislation declared music as a part of the core curriculum. Similarly, more recent national education legislation like No Child Left Behind has recognized music as a core curricular subject. Since that time, little has been done to assess music students to…

The purpose of this study was to elicit information through a survey from non-tenured and tenured music performance teachers and their music supervisors concerning their perceived needs and concerns at work. An instrument created for evaluation and assessment was constructed to yield twelve scale areas of needs and concerns. Comparison of…