Investigates the problem-posing abilities of third-grade children who displayed different profiles of achievement in number sense and novel problem solving. Concludes that children had difficulties in posing a range of problems in formal contexts in contrast to informal contexts, and children of different achievement profiles displayed different…

Examines first graders' existing knowledge in relation to what they are expected to learn, by: (1) listing music vocabulary words appearing in music textbooks; (2) comparing oral vocabulary with vocabulary listed for music instruction; and (3) comparing frequency of selected music terms with frequency of same terms in general oral vocabulary. (DSK)

Studies the relationships among children's aural perception of tonal pattern and children's symbol use in drawing and selection tasks based on tonal information. Shows that ability to use musical symbols in reading and writing tasks is related to aural perception of musical sound, and that these abilities follow a developmental progression. (DSK)

Examines the effect of two instructional procedures for teaching songs to children: (1) immersion, where the song is presented repeatedly in its entirety; and (2) phrase-by-phrase, wherein the song is presented in fragments. Shows that children taught with the immersion method performed with fewer errors than those taught phrase-by-phrase. (DSK)

Tests the reliability of Rutkowski's Singing Voice Development Measure for use in general music classrooms, grades one through six. Indicates that the rating scale, although originally designed for young children, is reliable for use when children in grades one through five perform a short, major song in solo. Reports on ancillary problems. (DSK)

Investigates whether children can demonstrate awareness of musical expression by discriminating between expressive and mechanical music fragments, performing similar songs, and describing the fragments and songs. Indicates task improvement with age, significant differences between kindergarten and fourth-grade scores in perception and description,…

Determines the effects of the development and implementation of an interactive multimedia computer program on the achievement and attitude of sixth-grade saxophonists by comparing the achievement of experimental and control groups. Suggests that proper development and application of educational multimedia computer programs may benefit instrumental…

Gathers descriptive information about orchestra programs for use in considering the needs of school string programs. Finds increased enrollment in school orchestras with stable numbers of instructors; most orchestra students and teachers are white; and 20% of orchestra students are in the upper 10% of their graduating class. (DSK)

Explores relationships between adjudicated teaching-effectiveness scores, an observation-based assessment instrument, and social-skills scores of preservice teachers. Finds that an individual's nonverbal communication skills, skills in receiving and interpreting nonverbal communication, and ability to engage in social discourse were related to…

Examines student motivation and achievement in relation to Attribution Theory. Asked public school students to indicate causes they attributed to success or failure in music. Shows that students place more importance on ability and effort as causal attributions. Grade, school level, and school system have significant effects on student response.…

Studies intonation trends of wind instrumentalists with regard to harmonic intervals, including factors such as tuning system, location, interval type, direction of deviation from equal temperament, and group. Compares the performance of two groups, professionals and advanced students. Reports findings and discusses similarities to and differences…

Develops and tests a model for predicting student intentions to continue in a high school band program. Structural equation modeling indicates that socioeconomic level and teacher evaluations predict intentions both directly and indirectly through students' outside musical activities and support for the program by parents, band teachers, and…

Investigates the role of key teacher characteristics in the development of students' musical ability. Finds that more successful learners rate their first teacher highly on personal dimensions and their current teacher highly on task-oriented professional dimensions. Highly successful learners, on average, study with more teachers and receive more…

Rural schools experience major problems in every aspect of personnel preparation in special education. Review examines what has been done and the problems faced by rural schools in the areas of traditional and nontraditional preservice programs, individual and program qualification mechanisms, personnel recruitment and retention, and retraining…

Describes a culturally appropriate nutrition mentoring program developed to train local health and education personnel in the Federated States of Micronesia to provide nutrition and feeding supports to children with disabilities and their families. Discusses similarities to rural U.S. programs. Tables present training-model competencies and…