The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine enrollment in string orchestra instruction across Texas. Three central research questions guided the investigation: (a) How well is orchestra represented in districts and schools across the state of Texas? (b) What are the characteristics (FRPL eligibility, locale, student race/ethnicity,…

Learning within public education takes place in diverse settings other than traditional classrooms. Constructivism, the dominant learning theory in Texas public education classrooms, falls short of giving those who lead musical ensembles (such as band, orchestra, choir) a solid epistemological foundation. The edusemiotic concept of coordination…

We asked school- and college-aged instrumentalists (N = 32) to imagine an ideal performance of a brief passage of music, record a performance of the passage, and describe discrepancies they noticed between their imagined and actual performances. The more experienced participants took at least as much time to imagine their idealized performances as…

Desegregation in the south had many goals, among them was creating equitable opportunities for students in schools. Much of the literature on desegregation efforts are focused on general education and little research has been done on the effects it had on school orchestra programs. Orchestra programs in Texas schools have had a historically strong…

Relations between music education structures and teacher agency are under-researched and under-theorized, and scholars have indicated that the traditions and competitions of school bands in the U. S. may constrain educator agency. The need for research on teacher agency in competitive environments is compounded by policy trends toward…

The purpose of this document is to investigate how trumpet students at the University of North Texas experience music performance anxiety and to find out how professors prepare students for controlling music performance anxiety experiences. The interviewees were ten undergraduates and ten graduate students, as well as three trumpet professors who…

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to investigate band teacher agency in a high-stakes performance environment. Research questions were: (1) What experiences and professional relationships were most salient in the past (iterative), present (practical-evaluative), and future (projective) dimensions of band teacher agency in a…

The purpose of this study was to identify and assess Texas community orchestras and create a demographic and musical profile of participants. This was accomplished through use of two online questionnaires. A director survey questionnaire determined the organizational status of each orchestra. The directors surveyed were leaders in these…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of master of music education degree program directors and alumni from selected schools regarding the ways in which their music education master's programs balance the varied needs of program participants. Findings are presented in the two broad categories of improvement in P-12 teacher…

Socioeconomic Status (SES) is defined as "the relative position of individuals, families, or groups in stratified social systems where some societal values (e.g., occupational prestige, education) are not uniformly distributed" (Bornstein & Bradley, 2003). The relationship between student achievement and SES has been a focus in…

Music participation and academic achievement have long been of interest to educators, researchers and policy makers. The literature is replete with studies linking music participation to higher state assessment scores, grade point averages, and Standardized Achievement Test (SAT) scores. If students from quality music programs academically…

The importance of music education in American schools is well established, with 93% of Americans agreeing that music should be a part of a well-rounded education (Harris, 2005). Students preparing to teach in the elementary classroom (elementary education majors) in American colleges and universities typically take a music class (sometimes two) as…

Music is often regarded as a thing of the creative realm, something that sits to the side of the main core subjects, but music in the classroom shows music can be much more than a complement to a poetry unit. The author's journey through the Country Music Hall of Fame's Words & Music program revealed that delving into the world of songwriting…

This study investigated whether use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana may be predicted from preferential consumption of particular music genres. Undergraduates (257 women and 78 men) completed a questionnaire assessing these variables. Partial correlation analyses, controlling for sensation-seeking tendencies and behaviors, revealed that…

This column offers the personal reflections of the author on being a member of the band Touch, an iPad performing ensemble composed of music education faculty members and doctoral students at the University of South Florida. The ensemble primarily performed its own arrangements of popular music selections from a number of genres including, but not…