Academia and education advocates have reported a concern about the elimination of art and music education classes from high school curriculums in the United States. Studies using mean SAT test scores from 1984 and 1994 versions of the SAT test indicated participants who had art and music education classes had higher verbal and mathematical SAT…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between student enrollment trends in elective secondary music ensembles and music ensemble teacher job turnover. Although student enrollment is widely accepted as an important concern for music educators and a crude proxy measure of music teacher quality, these normative…

The emphasis on testing within the curriculum in high schools in the United States has led to fewer opportunities for students to participate in elective courses. Federal and state testing mandates have contributed to the trend of students taking higher-level courses such as Advanced Placement (AP) and College in the High School (CHS) at the…

Despite existing research in popular music education, a gap exists in the literature concerning popular music education for rural East Tennessee high school band programs. The purpose of this qualitative research was to address the history of societal acceptance of popular music styles as well as changes within the field of music education…

This article describes music educators' conceptions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We collaborated with six music teachers to consider ways in which DEI is conceptualized and practiced in their own teaching settings. The teachers were carefully selected to encompass a multitude of identities, including race, ethnicity, gender,…

Capitalism and its offspring, neoliberalism, are omnipresent in modern and postmodern societies. Illich, Giroux, and McLaren, among others, point to the futility and inequity of current models of education that focus on standardization, vocationalism, and conformity. Running counter to these powerful hegemonic systems, critical pedagogues and…

Researchers found in 2014 that only about 15 percent of students who participated in music in high school continued to participate in college as non-majors. Even when adding in the smaller number of students who continue as music majors, there is still a 75 to 80 percent attrition rate for the profession among the students who should be the most…

While choices of musical repertory are key to challenging the historical ethnocentrism of school music curricula, ethnocentrism manifests as powerfully in the way a curriculum defines and structures musical knowledge. This article examines the knowledge divisions used to structure one of the most popular and reputable high school music curricula…

The purpose of this review of literature was to investigate the unique issues facing female band directors at the high school and college levels. A search of 5 different databases was conducted, and 39 studies met the inclusion criteria for this study. Results of this review of literature are presented according to the following themes: (1)…

This study sought to understand the skills and qualities a student needs to be successful in a music education career from a high school choral teacher's perspective. Pre-service music teachers must be prepared to teach and organize a music classroom in any K-12 setting when graduating college with a music education degree (Franzblau, 2013).…

This study examined belongingness as it related to academic achievement. The need for research in this area derives from a sense of urgency and commitment to advocate for academically struggling African-American males with the hope that they will graduate high school in a timely manner. This study utilized the perspectives of 12 African-American…

Fine arts high schools are schools that form the basis for vocational music education given in higher education institutions. These schools form the basis for higher institutions; therefore, it is of great importance that the contents of their curriculum be of a quality that will prepare them for higher education institutions. Based on this…

What should the core purpose of educational wind bands in the United States be? Many music students may not pursue the activity in college (or may not even play a band instrument again after their formal schooling). Musical and artistic values, however, can be applied in creative practice throughout one's life. This dissertation explores what it…

This dissertation aimed to better understand how violin and viola private instructors teach Mental Practice in their studios, investigating different approaches on how to apply and teach auditory, motor, and visual imagery, score study, and auditory modeling, as well as its benefits. This research was divided into two different stages. In the…

This study examined the effects of an academic intervention, associated with music, on the conceptual understanding of musical notation and arithmetic of fractions of first-year students of high school from a mixed Spanish multicultural and socioeconomic public school. The students (N = 12) had previous concepts about musical instruction, as well…