scholarly journals Music Booster Groups: Alleviating or Exacerbating Funding Inequality in American Public School Music Education?

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Elpus ◽  
Adam Grisé
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Short Form ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Median Household Income ◽  
School Communities ◽  
Irs Form 990 ◽  
School Music

As fundraising has become a key component of American public school music educators’ professional responsibilities, in many places, parent organizations have taken an increasingly outsized role in raising private funds to supplement public school music budgets. The purpose of this study was to understand the finances of public school music parents’ associations and music booster groups and to understand the relation between the socioeconomic status of school communities and the amount of money raised by their local music booster groups. Using Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fiscal 2015 data for 5,575 music booster groups throughout the United States, we found evidence that, collectively, music booster groups raised at least $215 million in support of public school music education. At least four groups raised over $1,000,000; at least 31 raised over $500,000; and at least 723 raised over $100,000 each. We found that total booster revenues were significantly associated with local median household income. Each additional $1,000 of local median household income was associated with an additional $305 in revenue for booster groups filing IRS Form 990-EZ (“short form”) and with an additional $1,637 in revenue for booster groups filing the full IRS Form 990.

Statewide Public School Music Competitions/Festivals in Kansas and Oklahoma: The Beginnings of the School Music Contest Movement in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
George H. McDow ◽  
Daniel L. Stiffler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
School Students ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
University Of Oklahoma ◽  
School Music

Music competitions have an ancient history dating back some two thousand years. In the United States, early music contests mimicked the German Saengerfests and Welsh Eistoddfods; however, some of the earliest continuously running music competitions held in America are the state contests for secondary school students. This article identifies for the first time Kansas and Oklahoma as holding the two earliest state school music competitions and corrects some long-standing erroneous information. It studies these two state events through historical analysis of primary sources and triangulates the data with secondary sources. Frank Beach at Kansas State Normal School in Emporia and Fredrik Holmberg at the University of Oklahoma were found to be the two initiators. These two state music contests were influenced by several things including the state track and field meets, previous music contests, the western pioneering spirit, European music systems, and the music specialties of the founders. In the end both contests were seen as promoting the cause of public school music by increasing both the quality and numbers of music education programs and as leading to the exponential growth of state music competitions throughout the United States.

Music Education and Educators in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois

2020 ◽  
pp. 002242942096150
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Stevens Prendergast
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Phone Call ◽  
School Music ◽  
Music Class

The purpose of this survey study was to provide a demographic profile of PK-12 public school music teachers and details about the public school music teaching positions in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois. An invitation to complete a questionnaire was emailed to all PK-12 public school music teachers in these three states whose email addresses could be gathered via a school district website search or phone call to the district, yielding a 26.1% response rate in Missouri, a 35.1% response rate in Iowa, and a 31.7% response rate in Illinois. The questionnaire contained items used to gather demographic data about the music teachers and details about their class offerings. Results indicate over 93% of music teachers in these three states identify as White and approximately two thirds identify as women. The teachers in these three states who responded to the survey travel less for their positions compared with music teachers in the United States as a whole, and findings were inconsistent between the states with respect to experience level and school location. Further, 28% to 47% of secondary-level educators in these three states teach a music class that is not band, choir, or orchestra.

The Assessment of Adult Music Learning in the United States

2019 ◽  
pp. 720-736
Author(s):  
Jeremy Lane
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Recent Growth ◽  
Regulated Learning ◽  
School Music

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a foundational perspective on assessment as it relates to adult music learners. The discussion includes a brief overview of the recent growth of adult musicianship as whole, followed by analysis of adults as music learners, the contexts in which their engagement occurs, and the process used in the instruction of adults, including key differences between these settings and those found in much of public school music education. The discussion continues with the proposal of self-regulated learning as a foundational model for assessment practices with adult musicians, and the chapter concludes with suggestions for future avenues for research and investigation.

Music Education in the Era of School Choice

2018 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Martin
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Music Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Music Classroom ◽  
School Music ◽  
History Of ◽  
Teacher Workforce

School choice has become an increasingly available option for families in the United States. Given the current political climate, music educators must better understand the various dimensions of the school choice movement and how it may affect the music classroom. Following a brief history of school choice, this article offers a look at the movement’s influence on the music teacher workforce, music curricula, and funding for music education. Recommendations surrounding the equity of school music opportunities are explored.

Alternative Assessment for Music Students with Significant Disabilities

2019 ◽  
pp. 224-241
Author(s):  
Donald DeVito ◽  
Megan M. Sheridan ◽  
Jian-Jun Chen-Edmund ◽  
David Edmund ◽  
Steven Bingham
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
General Music ◽  
Significant Disabilities ◽  
School Music ◽  
K 12

How is it possible to move beyond assessment for the purposes of evaluating teacher proficiency and student performance outcomes and instead to consider assessment for understanding student musical experiences and preferences for the purpose of promoting lifelong musical engagement? This chapter includes and examines three distinct music education approaches that have been taken at the K–12 Sidney Lanier Center School for students with varying exceptionalities in Gainesville, Florida. Megan Sheridan illustrates inclusion and assessment using the Kodály approach. David Edmund and Jian-Jun Chen-Edmund examine creative lessons developed for exceptional learners in a general music setting. Steven Bingham and Donald DeVito illustrate adaptive jazz inclusion and performance for public school and university students with disabilities. This collaborative development in qualitative music assessment has taken place through (1) developing methods of communicating recognition of student engagement and affective responses during inclusive engagement in public school music education settings, specifically in Kodaly-based music instruction, K–12 general music classes, and secondary jazz ensembles; (2) using students’ interest and engagement as a means of curriculum development and assessment in inclusive public school music settings; and (3) building collaborative relationships with parents and the community for post-school lifelong music learning.

Inspiring the Next Generation of Music Educators: A Multiple Case Study of High School Music Experiences and Career Choice

2020 ◽  
pp. 002242942097578
Author(s):  
Tiger Robison ◽  
Scott N. Edgar ◽  
John Eros ◽  
Kimberly H. Councill ◽  
William E. Fredrickson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Future Research ◽  
School Music ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
High School Music

The purpose of this instrumental multiple case study was to explore the roles that high school music educators and the experiences they provide play in influencing high school students’ decisions to pursue a career in music education. Four bounded systems, consisting of programs led by ensemble directors with documented records and reputations for helping matriculate music education students into undergraduate music education programs, were studied. Findings were organized into the following themes: (a) formative attraction to the profession, (b) differing approaches to encouragement, (c) forms of encouragement, and (d) life as a music teacher. Specific implications for practice for multiple stakeholders and implications for future research are provided based on these findings.

Elsie Shawe, Music Supervisor in St. Paul, Minnesota (1898–1933)

2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-342
Author(s):  
Sondra Wieland Howe
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
National Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Accounts ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
School Music ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
Music Supervisor

Elsie Shawe (1866–1962), supervisor of music in St. Paul, Minnesota, for thirty-five years, is an example of a music supervisor in the United States who was active in the formative years of the Music Supervisors National Conference (MSNC). Although she is cited only briefly in national accounts, there is a substantial amount of material on her career in local archives. In the St. Paul Public Schools, Shawe supervised classroom teachers, organized the school music curriculum, and conducted performances in the community. She served as a church organist and choir director in St. Paul and was president of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association. At the national level, Shawe was an officer of the NEA Department of Music Education and a member of the board of directors of the MSNC. Through her committee work, Shawe promoted the standardization of patriotic national songs.May 5, 2004November 10, 2004.

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