Reports a study comparing Illinois high school band and choral directors' grading systems with systems proposed by principals. Concludes that principals placed more value on cognitive criteria and performance technique but less on concert attendance and behavior than did directors. Suggests that music educators develop course and grading systems…

Discusses a survey of the music education interests of adults who attended musical events in Austin, Texas. Reports that the piano was the instrument most frequently chosen for private study, choral groups were the preferred performance organizations, and music history and aural analysis were favorite academic study areas. Examines influences upon…

Discusses a study of the ability of 11 variables to predict performance, achievement, teacher evaluation, and retention of fifth grade beginning instrumentalists. Reports that scholastic ability and academic achievement tests were leading predictors of performance achievement. Concludes that socioeconomic status and self-concept played prominent…

Describes a study that sought to identify music skills and understandings that early childhood and elementary school classroom teachers perceived as useful. Reports that teachers favored those aspects that enabled them to present music as a supplement to other areas of study or as recreational or transitional activities. (SG)

Investigates teacher intensity to determine whether high and low contrasts in this area can be taught to preservice music education students and whether music education majors, untrained in the concept, can recognize the contrasts. Finds that operationally defined intensity can be taught, demonstrated, and recognized. (KO)

Reports on a study designed to determine whether there is a common level of logic, related to age, underlying children's responses to musical and spatial analogical tasks. Finds that there is a relationship between age and children's responses to analogical tasks whether one uses musical or spatial relationships. Discusses implications for music…

Reports a study that involved the observation of string instrumentalists' performances in an effort to understand the various influences on the ability to perform with accurate intonation. Suggests that further investigation relative to the temporal aspects of intonation performances might be relevant to music education. (KO)

Traces the history of the Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) from 1920 to World War II. States that the WSMA, as the first association for school bands, sponsored the largest school band tournaments in the United States and that a portion of its constitution served as a model for the National School Band Association. (KO)

Reports two experiments which investigated the effect of three pretraining conditions on the discrimination of select pitch patterns. Finds no significant differences among groups but results show a significant age effect. Indicates that providing activities requiring children to compare tonal patterns is at least as effective as vocal repetition…

Examines the history and vocabularies of the Highlander Folk School (Tennessee), an adult education school emphasizing decision-making, critical thinking, and active citizen participation. Encourages social studies teachers to become aware of their vocabularies, using the Highlander example in the discourse about the nature of knowledge and the…

Reports a study designed to encourage classroom teachers to use research-based criteria in evaluating curriculum materials for middle school economics. Criteria used for material selection stressed (1) product characteristics, (2) economic content, (3) middle school student focus, and (4) pedagogy. Found that materials were not particularly suited…

Examines the theory of a causal relationship between classroom environments and junior high school students' attitudes towards the social studies, replicating the research methodology of a high school study. Environmental dimensions found to be related towards positive attitudes include teacher support, affiliation, innovation, and involvement,…

Examines views expressed in "Godey's Lady's Book," a U.S. nineteenth-century women's magazine, about the role of music and music instruction. Ideologies, biases, and controversies were expressed in the magazine. Comments that music instruction and decisions about who should receive musical training was highly controversial. Identifies values and…

Administers an experimental college version of the Musical Aptitude Profile (CMAP) and 2 motivation measures to 187 nonmusic majors in a music appreciation course. Eliminates CMAP results from analysis resulting from low reliability. Includes data table that were significantly related. (NL)

Reviews the combined efforts of the National Bureau for the Advancement of Music and the Music Supervisors National conference (MSNC), who together contributed to the musical developments of the 1920s. Credits the organizations with obtaining high school credit for private music study, forming high school bands and orchestras, and state and…