Presents 18 extended abstracts of research papers presented at a conference on qualitative research in music education. Abstracts include research questions, explanations of methodologies, and summaries of results. Covers various topics including: K-12 music-education practices, music learning, music-teacher training, and community influences on…

Provides a review of doctoral studies dealing with teaching world musics in the United States listed in "Dissertation Abstracts International" from 1973 to 1993. Research topics included philosophical and historical questions, studies of students' attitudes and achievements, teachers' attitudes and training, and a compilation and evaluation of…

Examines sex and geographic representation in two books: "History of Public School Music in the United States" (Birge, 1937), and "A History of American Music Education" (Mark and Gary, 1992). Finds that both display statistically significant inequitable representation of sex and region of the country, with little improvement over 55 years. (DSK)

Explains that a goal of symphony orchestra education programs is to enhance the attainment of concepts associated with the elementary music curriculum, but there is little evidence of student learning as a result of these programs. Finds one exception is the assessment component of the Arts in Community Education Partnership (Milwaukee,…

Examines children's verbal responses to music listening by interviewing 33 children in kindergarten through fifth-grade. Explains that three judges categorized their responses. Indicates judge consensus over the form and content of responses; age tendencies resulted in 3 questions; similarities between development of verbal responses to music and…

Investigates the effect of experience, private instruction, and knowledge of directional mistunings on the tuning accuracy of high school wind players. Finds that participation in private instruction affected the students' tuning accuracy, no differences occurred resulting from years of experience, and students receiving first division ratings…

Analyzes the status of graduate music programs in the United States from 1994-95 by surveying 120 colleges and universities, both public and private, representing all 50 states. Compares the findings to an earlier study conducted in 1984-85 in order to determine various changes that have occurred. Discusses the findings in detail. (CMK)

This study examined Canadian and Chinese first, fourth, and seventh graders to determine sex-related, culture-related, and age-related differences in writing topics. Children were asked to pretend they were animals and write stories about the animals' adventures. Both countries showed gender and age differences in choice of animals which reflected…

Data from 5,643 adolescents who participated in the 1988 National Educational Longitudinal Study were used to estimate a structural model for better understanding the relationship between adolescents' academic achievement and parental attitudes. Results indicate that parental expectations and students perceptions of their attitudes are essential…

University faculty and students completed surveys about their perceptions of the construct of grades and communication experiences related to grades. Results indicated that they differed in three areas: the importance and impact of grades on students' present and future, processes by which grades are determined, and bases for questioning the…

This study investigated the effect of participant modeling on college students' self-efficacy, incentive, productivity, and performance on a self-regulated task (writing test items on class content). Half the students received participant modeling from the instructor. Measures of self-efficacy, incentive, and performance indicated that participant…

School documents, interviews, and observations were used to examine the development of middle school teachers' reflective thought. Highly reflective teachers showed greater a greater sense of efficacy in their work and ownership within classrooms and schools, always seeking innovation. Less reflective teachers emphasized classroom practice and…

Used the critical incident technique to study conditions that encourage or discourage teacher collaboration. Found that time, training, and organizational support were crucial to collaboration. Lack of structured support, pressures to "cover" curriculum and conduct testing, and traditions of tracking and separate-subject instruction discouraged…

Studied middle school teachers' and student teachers' perceptions of efficacy, relations of their attitudes to efficacy perceptions, and how they translate their views of efficacy and climate into an ethos of caring. Found that both groups articulated high self-efficacy and sophisticated views of young adolescents. Ongoing internships with…

Examined relationships among young adolescents' motivational processes, use of learning strategies with expository text, and classroom achievement. Found that performance and mastery orientation predicted use of cognitive learning strategies. Adolescents' intrinsic value, but not self-efficacy, predicted use of cognitive and self-regulating…