A Demographic Profile of High School Music Courses in New York

This quantitative study examined access to school music instruction with regard to race in two urban areas: Detroit, MI and Washington, DC, in 2009-2010. We found significant differences in provision of music instruction between schools with high and low proportions of non-White enrollment in categories including curricular offerings, extracurricular offerings, and resources. In the Detroit area, only 31-60% of schools with high percentages of non-White students offered any music instruction at all. This paper contrasts our findings to a National Center for Educational Statistics report (Parsad & Spiegelman, 2012) to demonstrate how regional/national averages can obscure information that should guide policy, such as the influence of location and racial demographics of schools on the provision of public school music instruction. The paper concludes with discussion of the implications of using flawed data on policy and suggestions for more comprehensive and accurate data collection and analysis.

Journal of Research in Music Education, 2020

Researchers attempting to show that music has positive effects on children need to understand and control for preexisting differences between those who do and do not select into musical participation in the first place. Within a large-scale, communitywide, prospective, longitudinal study of predominantly low-income, ethnically diverse students ( N = 31,332), we examined characteristics of students who did and did not enroll in music elective courses (band, choir, orchestra, guitar, other) in public middle schools (sixth, seventh, and eighth grades) in Miami. Predictor variables included gender, ethnicity, poverty, special education, English language learner status, fifth-grade English proficiency, prior academic performance (fifth-grade grade point average [GPA], standardized math and reading test scores), and initial school readiness skills (social, behavioral, cognitive, language, and motor skills) at age 4. Only 23% of middle school students enrolled in a music class in sixth, se...

School Music NEWS: The Official Publication of the New York State School Music Association, 2017

This paper reports one of three parallel investigations in a large study funded by the Sounds of Learning project and designed to investigate the outcomes and values associated with an effective K-12 public school music program. The word " effective " was included in the call for proposals, and the researchers chose to define " effective " in certain ways. These decisions and the data collected led to questions of access and equity, and point to the complexities of social justice in both research and practice. Demographic data (gender, ethnicity, SES) were obtained for all secondary students attending 19 schools in a single district. The same variables were calculated for students enrolled in secondary school music courses, then compared to district aggregates. Approximately 15% of the total secondary school population was enrolled in music. The sample of music students was composed of more females, more students of white ethnicity, fewer students of other ethnicities except Asian, and fewer students of low-SES backgrounds. Similar findings occurred when data were examined by school. While words such as " opportunity, " " access, " and " offered " appear in national documents and reports to describe secondary school music, social justice problems arise when these terms are misconstrued to mean equitable and just.

As music educators are faced with an increasing number of students with various exceptionalities, their ability to differentiate instruction for those with special needs becomes paramount. The purpose of this survey was to investigate how music teacher preparation programs addressed the topic of differentiation for exceptional populations at the undergraduate level. Specifically, the survey asked if NASMaccredited universities that granted doctoral or master's degrees in music education (a) required a course, (b) offered a course, or (c) in some other significant way systematically addressed the topic of teaching music to special populations. A link to a brief online survey was e-mailed to representatives of 212 institutions. Of 109 respondents, 29.6% required a course in teaching music to special populations, 38.9% indicated that this type of course was available, and 59.8% reported purposefully integrating the teaching of exceptional populations throughout their coursework. Respondent comments led to further literature review and discussion of the lack of consistent instruction with regard to this topic in undergraduate music education programs.

2017

Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Volume 25, Number 1, 2006

British Journal of Music Education

The issue of inclusion is currently a hot topic in music education both in the UK and elsewhere. There are many discussions about what it means, what it should involve, and how it can be enacted. This is to say nothing of the positive effects inclusion can have on the lives of young people in terms of personal fulfilment, as well as musical participation. For a journal concerned with educational research in music education, as is clearly the case with the BJME, there is, or there should be, more to it, however, than just these simple matters. After all, having children and young people in wheelchairs participating in a musical event is all very well – even if it does not happen often enough - but is this really all we mean by inclusion? And it is this aspect which needs problematisation for music education. After all, having young people who are disabled in some form, visible or invisible, taking part in music education should be something which just happens, we shouldn't need, ...

2015

MUSIC EDUCATION CONTEXT AND SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS AS DETERMINANTS OF STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN HIGH SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAMS: BASIS FOR A MUSIC PROGRAM FRAMEWORK Chipo Namaiko Master of Arts in Education Major in Music Education Adventist University of the Philippines Putting Kahoy, Silang, Cavite

There is an alarming gap between rising numbers of minority students and a shrinking minority teaching force. The purpose of this research was to explore the question: Why are so few students of color preparing to teach music in the public schools? Black and Latino music students and teachers who graduated from urban high schools in northern New Jersey were interviewed about their race/ethnic related experiences in college along with their ideas about the scarcity of music students of color in music teacher education. Data, presented in narrative form, indicated a complex web of factors that discourage high school students from considering a career in music teaching. Consequently, this research emphasizes the importance of listening to the voices of those who have been marginalized before suggesting solutions for how we recruit and educate students of color.