Music education and objective measures of effectiveness

Music Education

By any objective standard, K-12 public school music programs are in trouble. Due to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act that renewed the Elementary Education Act 1965 under then president George W. Bush, music programs are being cut due to an increased emphasis on core subjects. Also, music programs are perhaps seen as being less relevant today than they were in previous years and student opinions of music programs are dwindling constantly. The picture is grim and this results in a dichotomy in the dwindling support/interest in K-12 music programs and the overall positive attitudes people have towards music. In a review of the scholarly literature on K-12 public school programs, this author will focus on 3 essential themes as follows:

Trends in student enrollment in public school music programs (student enrollment is down as are programs).

No Child Left Behind and the impact on public school music programs (the angle here is that music programs are hurting b/c of the emphasis on "core curriculum" such as English, Math, Sciences.)

3) Student opinion on public school music programs (emphasis on negative opinions) vs. students/general population's overall attitudes towards music (emphasis on positive)

Some hope for the reconstitution of music education programs have been pegged on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization of 2011 by the administration of President Barack Obama passed on March 13, 2010. More than a year and a half since the passage of the reauthorization, the "jury" is still out so to speak as to the effect of the reauthorization on "non-core" programs such as music education. However, what is very disappointing to this author is the lack of any mention of music education in the materials on the Department of Education website concerning the new ESEA and the NCLB ("Elementary & secondary," 2011). However in a news release dated October 20, 2011, the information was that Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) led a move to pass a resolution in the Senate specifically recognizing afterschool programs. Sen. Boxer remarked that the "Afterschool programs keep our children safe and help them learn. In so many communities, afterschool programs are needed to give students access to physical education, arts, music and so many other enriching activities that are increasingly being cut from the school day." Sen. Collins seconded this by saying that "Afterschool programs can provide a safe and enriching environment for children after the school bell rings. They not only continue to engage young people in academic and physical activities, but they also provide a peace of mind to hard-working parents ("Afterschool alliance, policy," 2011)." However, this has where things have ended. The FY2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act was approved by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 67 to 32 on December 17, 2011 (ibid.). Obviously, the results will have to be researched in future inquiries.

Literature Review

1) Trends in Student Enrollment in Public School Music Programs

Dr. David Williams in an article in the Music Educator's Journal remarks about the increase in attention that has been focused on the subject of K-12 music education in the public schools. In the article, Dr. Williams laments what he feels is the failure of the National Standards for Music Education have been since 1994. As a music educator, he sees a major disconnect between public school teachers that are not teaching to the 1994 standards but instead are covering only the minimal standards mandated in federal regulations. While basic standards such as singing and performing are taught, creative aspects of the National Standards such as improvisation get short shrift. For instance, singing and instrumentation in one study received 40-50% of class time investment, 11% were dedicated to reading and notating music, while less than 7% of class time is being spent on any one of the National Standards (Williams, 2007, 19-20).

In an article in the journal Arts Education Policy Review, Cydney Spohn investigates the degenerated condition of the public school arts education programs under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act Further, Spohn obtains teachers' perspectives on their various experiences under NCLB. The author used both qualitative and quantitative approaches in order to conduct a case study of an Ohio public school district. The data collected further revealed changes in the music education curriculum. Teacher interviews provided the background in which changes occurred and also a more accurate representation of cuts in arts learning opportunities as well as challenges existing for arts education funding opportunities under NCLB. The available information illustrated how such administrative decisions were made to improve student test scores and accommodate mandated policies (Spohn, 2008, 3).

For the above reasons, a study by the Public Policy Institute of California launched an investigation into the issue of balancing issues such as academic finance, academic standards and the maintenance of the course curriculum. Even in an attempt to find this "balance," specialty arts teachers such as those in music programs do not have their own home rooms. Courses such as music are not considered to be the "core courses (Sonstelie, 2007, 13)." Given that the total expenditures of $6,000 per pupil, only $90 per pupil are allocated to the category of "other expenditures" (including music) (ibid., 42).

In a doctoral dissertation by Caron L. Collins she studied instrumental music education programs at the secondary Catholic schools in the United States. He results revealed that 88.9% of the parochial schools have instrumental music education programs. Forty-seven percent of these are located in the urban areas, forty-one percent in the suburban areas and twelve percent in the rural areas. Many secondary parochial school enrollments were small where forty-eight percent had less than 500 students, of which forty-nine percent were located in the urban areas, forty-two percent in suburban areas and seventy four percent in the rural areas. Many parochial high schools had small instrumental programs with 50 or less students participating in instrumental music programs. It was found that factors of school scheduling, administrative and parental support and feeder school instrumental programs affected the security and strength of the programs. Recommendations that were derived from the results included the development of stronger feeder school programs, promoting supportive parent booster groups, designing better school schedules and in increasing the administrative support through the provision of proper rehearsal facilities and the necessary equipment (Collins, 2007, 94).

2) NCLB and the Impact Upon Public school Music Programs

In a special publication of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform published in the Summer of 2009, the organization is advocating that federal attention to after-school music programs. Such programs would conceivably help to provide access to poor families in a more effective manner (Weiss, Little, Bouffard, Deschenes & Malone, 2009, 1-2) What are the core features of such a music educational system? Complementary learning is systemic and intentionally integrated with both in-school and out-of-school learning supports. While a number of stakeholders is involved, the local schools have the primary responsibility to organize these programs from a network of funding streams (some from the federal government). Therefore, the federal role is as an enabler of these educational programs (ibid., 35-36).

In a recent study in the Journal of Research in Music Education, secondary school music programs in the United States were profiled in order to investigate the principals' perceptions of those curricula under the NCLB Act. During the study, a survey form was sent out to some 1,000 secondary school principals thereby producing a fifty-four percent response rate. The form was designed to answer these questions: 1) What is the characteristic profile for secondary music programs in the United States? 2) How effectively do principals think that their music programs are in helping their students to attain specific learning outcomes as well as broad educational goals? To what degree do certain standard variables (e.g., standardized tests, teacher and parent interventions) impact upon a given secondary school musical program? Ninety-eight percent of respondents indicated that their schools offered music courses, yet thirty-four percent required music. There were many major significant differences in the diversity of course offerings based on school socioeconomic status profiles. Standardized tests and NCLB were thought to have the most negative impact upon music programs (Abril, 2008, 68).

The issue of after-school music programs was the subject of a Harvard Family Research Project report. It found that after-school music programs had a positive effect overall upon music education. A decade of research and evaluation studies, as well as large-scale, rigorously conducted syntheses looking across many research and evaluation studies. This confirms that children and youth that participate in after school programs reap a whole host of positive benefits that occur in a number of interrelated outcome areas, such as academic, prevention, socio-emotional and health and wellness areas. The Harvard Family Research Project has developed and maintains an intensive, accessible national database of after school music program evaluations, and this narrative review draws from that set, as well as from recent meta-analyses and syntheses of after school evaluations. Hundreds of after school evaluations have been conducted in the past 10 years and are included in the HFRP database, this review is based on the subset of seminal research and evaluation studies employing an experimental or quasi-experimental design to determine effects. Studies here included in this set are evaluations of large multisite and single site after school programs; evaluations of school- and community-based models; evaluations assessing a narrow to a broad range of outcomes; key developmental research studies; and key meta-analyses and research syntheses (Little, Wimer, and Weiss, 2007, 3).

In Music for Citizenship, David J. Elliott, he elaborates upon the vision of Paul Woodford in Democracy and Music Education who lays out a vision for music education to take a "radical liberal" turn in order to "prepare [music] students to participate in democratic society and thereby contribute to the common good" (Elliott, 2008, 45). Such a vision is in keeping with the traditions of John Dewey who held that critical thinking was a moral and political kind of thinking. He wants the profession to reclaim a democratic purpose for music education by contributing to intellectual and political conversations about the nature and significance of music education (ibid.) This type of philosophy is directly opposed to No Child Left Behind. Elliott feels that this vision could provide the organizational energy to oppose the degradation of music education in America, at least partially. While it is not a panacea, it is a start (ibid., 70). While this may seem preachy, there are times when things become desperate, an ideological vision and mission is necessary to organize and rally around. Unfortunately, Elliott writing in 2008 at the start of the present economic downturn gives no concrete political or policy moves to make the vision a reality.

In an article in the Journal of School Choice, an article on charter schools suggested that this type of public school may provide a way for music education to get a toehold to necessary funding and latitude to reconfigure curricula for special programs such as music education. Charter schools are popular with parents because public pressure can be applied directly upon school-based educators in charter schools to manage, grow and improve th equality of their schools. This is a radical change from traditional public schools which are not so user friendly. Typically, district administrators decide where the students will attend school and satisfying the "customer" has not been much of a priority in field of public education in the past. This article reports upon both the different process of development and the information gained from a field test of a parent stakeholder driven satisfaction survey for charter schools (and other schools of choice). The survey has been designed to assist schools with the recruitment and retention of educational student consumers by providing information both for external accountability and internal accountability. Findings from the first stakeholder group surveyed, that is parents, suggested positive levels of satisfaction overall with the quality of the charter schools (Wohlstetter, Nayfack & Mora-Flores, 2008, 66). It seems as though administrators are not as likely to throw away all of their arts education programs when they have to deal directly with complaining parents.

The parents probably know by direct experience what educators are just finding out. Arts education programs like music enhance the overall academic experience for a child as well as in some specific target areas. In a dissertation study by Juanita J. Huber, she found a correlation between music instruction and reading scores for public middle school students. Overall, the findings revealed a significant positive relationship between the study of music and reading development among public middle school students. In a comparison of test scores level to music instruction programs lasting longer than two years, performance with a brass or woodwind instrument and an active participation in band and chorus reflected similar results to the benefits of general music appreciation studies (Huber, 2009, 89).

In a dissertation by Christopher J. Heffner, he found high-stakes testing involved with the NCLB Act has negatively impacted upon the number and variety of music classes, public funding for music programs, the amount of instructional time that is allotted for music programs and upon the number of students participating in music classes. Specifically, students were offered a higher number and variety of music classes before the enactment of the NCLB Act. Since the enactment of the act, a majority of public school music programs have experienced a decrease in funding nationwide since 2001. In the Heffner study, it was found that there was more instructional time spent in music classes in 2001 than in 2007 as a result of NCLB. More students participated in public school music classes in 2001 than did in 2007 due to the enacting of NCLB (Heffner, 2007, 78).

Unfortunately, the negative impact of the NCLB has found its way down into specialty music programs in the selection of music directors. According to the findings of a dissertation by Jonathan R. Hinkle, it was revealed that many Florida public high school music programs (38.5%) do not offer their students opportunities in jazz music. Also these programs parallel the deficiencies found in public high schools in other states. The data was gathered from Florida high school directors suggest that a teacher's actual or perceived level of training in jazz music (e.g., performance experience) is the greatest factor in the retainment of jazz-related courses in high school music curricula. Additionally, the teachers' degree of jazz performance experience/training may have a considerable impact upon their level of comfort or anxiety and with jazz music. A music directors' lack of background in jazz inhibits the potential for jazz-related courses to be included in high school programs. Thus, these directors limited the musical experiences of the students. The data also suggests that music teachers may be more willing to initiate courses in jazz music if they were required to or were offered opportunities to participate in jazz ensembles during their teacher preparation programs. To facilitate such program participation, college-level jazz ensembles that are specifically designed for the experiences and pedagogical needs of future music teachers may be helpful to prepare music education majors for teaching in the field. Also, jazz could be more widely appreciated and understood if the current and future public school instrumentation music teachers strive to provide equal opportunities in jazz instruction and performance to as many students as they can. Such efforts can be accomplished by the incorporation of appropriate balances of different types of ensembles and the requisite courses in these programs (Hinkle, 2011, 102).

Sometimes, we also need to consider foreign examples find solutions to our contemporary music education problems. Eun Jew Kim did just this in a dissertation which considered the inclusion of students with disabilities in public school music programs. The current curriculum requirements of university of education programs with regard to general education music instruction and special education are very limited. Furthermore, the South Korean government-mandated "Seventh Music Curriculum" (used in every ROK public primary school) indicated no accommodations for use students who have disabilities. As a result, the primary school general educators are expected to provide inclusive general music instruction. They have little preparation or resources available to them to assist them in making the appropriate curricula modifications. Because of the limited research or pedagogical information available within South Korea, the additional information regarding the school's accommodation of students with disabilities was obtained from the special education and music education resources in the U.S. These resources provided the instructional basis for sound pedagogical strategies developed for adapted lesson plans for grades three through six (Kim, 2009, 1-2).

As the above findings suggest, such initiatives as improved preservice and in-service training are needed in order to prepare general educators in the effective instructional methods and accommodations necessary for inclusive music education. In-service training for such general education teachers could possibly be provided by music therapists. This could work if the therapists are fully conversant with the instructional difficulties the teachers face. With the current development of the Eighth Curriculum by the ROK government, there is provides is an excellent opportunity to include the necessary information on students with disabilities in the teacher's manuals when are written. Additional resource materials for the teachers also would be beneficial. Future studies are needed with regard to teacher competencies, preservice preparation, in-service training, and needs assessment regarding inclusive music education (ibid.).

Could economies in lower level functions in the music curricula be found (such as in music appreciation courses) be redirected to other music programs? Bill Tucker has suggested just this in a report by the education think tank Education Sector. New online music venues such as iTunes, Apple Computer's immensely popular music software, for example, has radically changed the way people collect, listen to, and share music. With its online store and management system for listening to music and watching videos, consumers (music enthusiasts or just casual listeners) no longer are confined to the selections in stores. Nor does a consumer have to purchase an artist's predetermined collection of songs on an album. Rather, they can personalize their music experiences. As a result, the entire music industry changed and most noticeably in retail. This is where brick-and-mortar stores are finding new and innovative ways to integrate the online music options into their more conventional settings Tucker is suggesting that asynchronous delivery online of general course selections such as music appreciation could be delivered in a similar way (Tucker, 2007, 1).

Kevin W. Gerrity in his doctoral dissertation focuses on the impact of NCLB upon the music education programs of the public schools that are in the State of Ohio. School principals' attitudes regarding the relative status of music programs with regard to staffing, student access, instructional time, and course offerings. Gerrity found that the overall attitude toward music education among Ohio principals was very favorable. He further found that there were verysignificant differences between the attitudes of principals serving in "excellent" or "effective" schools as opposed to the principals of "academic watch" or "academic emergency" schools. When investigating the expectations that public school principals have of their music teachers, it was found that the principals expect the teachers to devote some of their instructional time to other subjects. Forthy-three percent of Ohio's music programs record a weaker status since the inauguration of NCLB. Also, the testimonials provided by several of the principals confirm that NCLB remains a contributing factor to the principals' policy decisions that affect Ohio music education programs (Gerrity, 2007, 83).

In a journal article in the Psychology of Music, Joseph M . Piro and C. A m I l o O. rt I z state that a number of studies have reported that there are positive associations between music experience and the increased abilities in non-musical abilities in children. These transfer effects will continue to be probed by the use of a variety of experimental designs. The major aim of this experimental type of study in examining the effects of scaffolded music instruction program upon the verbal and vocabulary sequencing skills of two cohorts of second-grade students. One group that was studied formally was that of the piano. This lasted for a period of three consecutive years as a part of a more comprehensive instructional program. The second group had absolutely no exposure to music lessons in either school programs or in private study. Both of the groups were assessed on two the subtests from the Structure of Intellect measurement. The results revealed that the experimental group had measurably better verbal and vocabulary sequencing scores at the post-test than the control group did. The data from this study should help to clarify the role of music study programs on cognition. It should also shed light on the question of music programs' potential to enhance public school students' performance in the areas of language and literacy (Piro & Ortiz, 2009, 340-341).

Tina Beveridge and article in the Arts Education Policy Review writes that since the Bush administration enacted the NCLB Act in 2002, both lawmakers and school administrators have questioned what changes, if any at all, the Obama administration will make to help school music programs. This article discusses the effects of NCLB on untested subjects, specifically arts and music programs in the general curriculum. Major effects upon the scheduling and also funding policies have forced the educators to reconsider how that advocacy programs for the arts should be approached and provided for. There is a pressing need for better advocacy programs by music educators to their legislators and administrators (Beveridge, 2010, 6).

Pamela Burnard in a journal article in Research Studies in Music Education promotes the drive for 'inclusion' that has become a prominent feature in the promotion of UK instruction education policy agendas and school improvement programs. This term refers to all the children participating and achieving despite challenges that stem from poverty, race, class, religion, cultural and linguistic heritage or factors of gender. While much in the literature has been written about inclusion, evidence about how teachers perceive the inclusive education practices among the young people who are disengaged from the learning and educational opportunities. This was manifested by non-attendance or under-achievement at school and has been much less thoroughly explored (Burnard, 2008, 71).

Burnard's multiple case study further draws upon its research on public secondary school music teachers that are in 'poorly performing' areas and the so-called 'under-achieving' areas. These included three comprehensive secondary schools in the study that were located in the east and south-east regions of England. The study reports what the three music teachers related about their opinions and their approaches to inclusive teaching and learning in their instructional settings. They used an approach that was phenomenological. The study employed a semi-structural interview in order to explore the music instruction teachers' perceptions of what they think that they do in their response to and the overcoming of the challenges of re-engaging disaffected youths. Also, in order to explore the teachers' perceptions further, some prompts in interviews (such as in curriculum planning documents) were employed to provide opportunities to discuss key the factors concerning the content of the music courses. The study's findings emphasize that inclusive pedagogies for teachers involve more than just the accumulation of teaching strategies that were employed by the teachers for supporting troubled learners (ibid., 72).

These teachers' pedagogies were informed largely by the unique and particular views of music, the views of musical learning and learners, the views of the kind of knowledge that is created and also the educational outcomes that are desired in overcoming particular challenges of re-engaging disaffected learners. Inclusive instructional practices in this study were framed and foregrounded by attuning to and also re-engaging disaffected learners. This can be done by democratizing music learning as a social practice, the foregrounding of high-status and creative projects and using digital technology as instructional levers for the re-engagement of learners. The emergent instructional themes provide a preliminary basis for the theory of the role of music education in the schooling of youth who are disaffected (ibid.).

In an article in the Arts Education Policy Review, Donald A. Hodges and Mary Luehrsen write about the a research program that was designed to allow researchers to examine the roles of public music education in the lives of public school-aged children in order to expand the understanding of music instruction in a quality education. The NAMM Foundation (the sponsoring organization) has provided more than $1,000,000 in order to fund the research about the impact of music education upon student achievement and success in school. The research concerned the uses and the functions of the music in daily life and in home, community and school community environments. Quality research about the role and impact of music education conducted by experienced researchers who publish in rigorous, peer-reviewed, scientific research journals plays a vital role in moving a public policy agenda forward to achieve expanded access to music education for all children. The goal is that this music instructional research will inform the policy debates and the development to achieve policies that supported opportunities for every single child to experience both the power and benefits in learning music (Hodges & Luehrsen, 2010, 77-78).

3) Student Opinion on Public School Music Programs

In an article in the Phi Delta Kappan by Peter Campbell, it is clear that by engaging music students requires that by giving them a say in what are supposed to learn and how they are supposed to learn it. Campbell warns that this will not happen in strictly disciplined schools with test-driven curricula that are responsible to the current accountability system under the NCLB legal structure (Campbell, 2007, 438). As seen earlier with the conflict between the National Standards for Music Education and No Child Left Behind. The case of the public school that Campbell's child is in represents an interesting case because it is managed by a not for profit company called an educational management organization (EMO). This is a growing trend in America in which public schools are being run by EMOs. According to Campbell, 59 EMOs were managing some 535 schools and enrolling some 239,766 students in 24 states and the District of Columbia (ibid., 439). In the public school that Campbell was writing about, he described the children like "caged animals" under strict discipline in a yes and no black and white environment (ibid.). At that time, 71% of the nation's approximately 15,000 school districts had reduced the hours of instructional time spent with programs such as music for more time in reading and math. One administrative eye is continually on the achievement tests (ibid., 441). Music, which administrators see as an "extra" is what keeps many students in school who would otherwise drop out (ibid., 442).

A big damper on student enthusiasm about any subject is the phenomenon of racism. Any attempt to "rally the troops" breaks down when students are not treated equally. Music education is no exception to this. In an article in Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, Deborah Bradley maintains that the act of avoidance of mentioning the topic racism in even fine arts educational areas such as music perpetuates the phenomenon. Bradley maintains that many of the inequities in education (music education included) are based upon racial inequality (Bradley, 2007, 138-140). This equates then to a commitment to multicultural education in league with music education in order to make the social changes that progressives want instituted (ibid., 141). For this reason, we can not ignore non-Western sources of music that are outside of our normal comfort zones. They must not be seen as exotic add-ons. Rather, they must be treated as an integral part of the music curriculum (ibid., 143). For this reason, music education and instruction can not remain "color mute" but also must take a side in the defense of music programs for those of color (ibid., 150).

As John Kratus points out in an article in the Music Educators Journal, it is critical for music education to find ways to keep up with the changing musical culture in the United States in order to preserve the best of the country's musical past. Unfortunately, many of the troubles now plaguing the field of music education instruction date back past the present recession. We must have a command of that history if we are to know what to do in order combat it. Kratus used 1999 -- 2004 figures for music education in California public schools. In this data, he found that the total California public school student population increased by 5.8% and that the percentage of all California public school students enrolled in music education courses fell by 50%. This decline represented a loss of 512,366 students. This was the largest drop of any academic subject area in the California public schools by a factor of four (Kratus, 2007, 43).