Teachers in American schools have substantial autonomy in grading students in their courses. Music teachers have historically used a plethora of grading criteria that include non-academic and non-achievement data such as participation, attendance, and behavior. This study aims to show how music teachers in the state of Missouri are calculating…

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…

The purpose of our mixed-methods study was to examine the motivations and obstacles associated with curricular revisions in music education degree programs. During Phase I, we surveyed a nationwide sample (N = 533) of music education program coordinators. Participants who had engaged in the curriculum revision process within the previous decade…

Preparing to become a music teacher educator is a complex process and one component of this process should be learning to model, demonstrate, and teach assessment practices to preservice music educators. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to discover how, and to what extent, music teacher educators (MTEs) are educated about…

The purpose of this study was to examine music education majors' perceptions of lesson planning in the university curricula. Specifically, the author was interested in which classes the respondents were taught to construct and use lesson plans, their perceptions about the importance of lesson planning, and how prepared they felt to use lesson…

This study investigated collegiate voice instructors' approaches for teaching practice strategies to their students. Voice instructors (N = 46) from accredited institutions in three Midwestern states participated in a researcher-designed survey, which described (a) the types of practice strategies addressed in lessons, (b) the methods used for…

Career counselor. Life coach. Holder of the occasional tissue box. It is all part of being a National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Collegiate advisor. Carla Jo Maltas, collegiate chapter advisor for the University of Central Missouri, would not have it any other way. Although the duties of an advisor vary depending on the institution…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence and impact of budgetary cutbacks to music teaching positions and district funding in three Midwestern states, namely Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri. The results revealed cuts to staffing and district funding of music programs without a reduction in student enrollments in 2011-2012…

A growing number of students in Blue Springs, Missouri, are joining the band, drawn by a band director who emphasizes caring and inclusiveness. In the four years since Melissia Goff arrived at Blue Springs High School, the school's extensive band program has swelled. The marching band alone has gone from 100 to 185 participants. Also under Goff's…

In this article, the author profiles Dr. Elisabeth Caspari (1899-2002). As a teacher of teachers, Caspari traveled extensively for 50 years, sharing the wisdom she had gleaned from her training under Dr. Maria Montessori in Adyar, India, and from 4 years of frequent association with Montessori and her son, Mario, in Kodaikanal. The threads of…

After nearly a decade as band director at St. James High School in St. James, Missouri, Derek Limback knows that the key to building a successful program is putting the program itself above everything else. Limback strives to augment not only his students' musical prowess, but also their leadership skills. Key to his philosophy is instilling a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with enrolling, continuing, and completing alternative certification programs in music education. Data were collected via surveys and semi-structured interviews of music teacher candidates from 43 program completers from seven alternative certification programs in three states. In…

This journal is devoted to the needs and interests of the school and college music teachers of Missouri and the United States. Articles in Number 26 are: "The Effect of Instrument Type, Stimulus Timbre, and Stimulus Octave Placement on Tuning Accuracy" (Jane W. Cassidy); "The Relationship of Music Opportunity at the Common School…

This journal is devoted to the needs and interests of the school and college music teachers of Missouri and the United States. Articles in Number 32 are: "Developing Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Projects in Eighth Grade Band: An Observational Case Study" (Martin J. Bergee; Judith L. Crawford); "Student Teaching Programs in Music…

To determine how music teachers perceive various modern music forms, as well as the extent to which they teach popular music, a questionnaire was mailed to all 313 music educators in a 24-county area of southwest Missouri. The completed test forms were returned by 167 of the educators. (Author)