Scott Joplin: A Guide for Music Educators Part III—Ragtime Spaces

Scott Joplin was an African American composer and pianist of singular merit and influence. This article is the final entry in a three-part series considering the biographical, artistic, and cultural contexts of Joplin’s life and work and their use in K–12 general music education. “Ragtime Spaces” focuses on cultural globalization and the modernist entertainment aesthetic which supported Joplin’s work. Scott Joplin’s creative and entrepreneurial activities embodied humanism, racial uplift, and craftsmanship at a time when society became increasingly racially segregated and dehumanized. The discussion is followed by suggested student activities written in accordance with National Association for Music Education’s 2014 National Music Standards.

Scott Joplin: A Guide for Music Educators PART II—King of Ragtime Composers

Scott Joplin (1868–1917) was an African American composer and pianist of singular merit and influence. This article is the second in a three-part series considering the biographical, artistic, and cultural contexts of Joplin’s life and work. “King of Ragtime Composers,” focuses on Scott Joplin’s artistic processes, including his structuring of melodic and harmonic content and his novel contributions to ragtime. The discussion is followed by suggested student activities written in accordance with NAfME’s 2014 National Music Standards, including performing a ragtime accompaniment, playing an original Orff arrangement of Joplin’s “The Easy Winners,” improvising within a ragtime framework, and listening to and analyzing performance choices.

Scott Joplin: A Guide for Music Educators PART I—A Ragtime Life

Scott Joplin (1868-1917) was an African American composer and pianist of singular merit and influence. Academic interest in Joplin has increased in recent years, leading to new discoveries about the composer’s activities, yet teaching materials have not been updated at the same pace as 21st-century findings. Joplin was an entrepreneur, a performer, and a philanthropist, yet his biography is often reduced to a “celebratory” narrative of a composer creating toe-tapping music for the masses. Ragtime Lives, the first in a three-part series, presents a modern understanding of the biographical context, which shaped Scott Joplin’s music thought and practice and provides suggested classroom activities for exploring Joplin’s life and works written in accordance with NAfME’s 2014 National Music Standards.

How Music Education Policies Come to Be and What Teachers Can Do

Policies often directly impact teachers’ lives and practice, requiring them to engage in spite of extremely busy schedules. This article offers encouragement to music educators wanting to be active—and become activists—in education policy. Before becoming active, one must understand how music education policies come to be. I argue that arts education policies mostly come to be indirectly, as an afterthought. This operates in numerous ways, involving collateral damage in other policy-making processes; nongermane, eleventh-hour negotiations; and incomplete or subverted policy implementation. To demonstrate these processes, I reference examples including access to a high-quality music education, content of national and state music standards, and music graduation education requirements. I also offer general recommendations for music educators who wish to advocate for positive change.

Composition in the Ensemble Classroom: Ideas From Eight Researcher-Designed Methods

Composition is a natural human activity that can both support other music instruction and help students develop creativity that is applicable to their extramusical endeavors. It also constitutes a major strand within national and state music standards. However, it is not consistently taught in ensemble classrooms, which are often students’ only form of music education past elementary school. In this article, I briefly summarize arguments in favor of composition instruction, then describe and analyze eight composition units and activities developed by researchers for use in the ensemble classroom. I conclude the article with a synthesis of the implications of the methods, along with other research on composition, into eight key ideas to help ensemble directors implement composition instruction in their classrooms. This article serves as a starting point for ensemble directors hoping to implement composition while also directing them to several other resources they might use.

Assessment Practices of American Band Directors

American band directors are often tasked with preparing their ensembles (often large) for many performances throughout a year while providing meaningful relevant curricula, creating meaningful and effective assessments, and delivering all of this in an inspirational way. Band directors currently do so in a myriad of ways. To begin to address these challenges, in 2014 the National Core Music Standards (NCMS) were published while Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs) continue to be developed. When completed, alongside the NCMSs, the MCAs will serve to maximize the efficacy and efficiency of classroom assessment and provide model assessments and assessment models to teachers. State large ensemble performance assessments serve as summative assessments for many band directors and their ensembles. Some states use the assessment results as a part of yearly teacher evaluations, but there are validity and reliability concerns that must be addressed before this becomes a common practice.

“I Dream a World”: Inclusivity in Choral Music Education

This article explores how choral music educators can facilitate access to meaningful music experiences for all students in their schools. In a changing landscape that honors equity and diversity, music education environments must also change to align with these values. To provide the optimal environment for successful inclusive practice, choral music educators should evaluate barriers to access in terms of scheduling, reconsider current curricular offerings, and imagine new solutions that support music learning for all students. Instead of structuring choral programs around traditional choral concerts and adjudications, directors can use the 2014 Music Standards and the framework of Universal Design for Learning to drive classroom content and acquire the flexibility needed to build inclusive classrooms.