use of vocal vibrato in choral tone. For those who prefer either the blended approach or the soloistic approach, there are a number of opinion- and research-based articles both the development of healthy vocal tone and vibrato. All of these articles focus on the healthy connecting and balancing of the vocal folds, the breath and the core of the body. Key areas of concern are breathing motion, breath management, and breath/phonatory control. From these areas, the author of this project identified five vocalises for consideration by high school choral directors.


Utilizing an online survey method, choral directors will evaluate and prioritize the author-provided vocal exercis- es—presented both visually with notation and narrative explanations and aurally with singer demonstrations—on the bases of their merits for developing a clear path to body, voice, and breath connection. An additional and equally important second question will examine if there are differ- ences in prioritization and preferences of exercises based on choral directors’ self-identified philosophies of choral tone (soloistic vs. blended). All subjects will be selected from the membership of the Michigan School Vocal Music Associa- tion. Because vocal development is a slow process, the sub- ject pool will be limited to teachers who have completed a minimum of five years teaching in a choral setting. Statisti- cal analyses will include chi-square to identify: 1) significant differences in the frequencies of selected exercises and 2) significant differences in selection of exercises as a function of choral tone philosophies. In a roundtable format, the author seeks feedback primarily on subject selection, survey design and formatting, and the related statistical analyses.


Kevin Tutt/Grand Valley State University Music Teacher Observation Reliability


Research results from the past twenty years have demon- strated that teachers are a key factor in student learning and correlate with a higher variance in measures of student success than organizational or environmental factors. Te federal education legislation of No Child Leſt Behind and Race to the Top has resulted in increased pressure on school districts and teacher-preparation institutions to measure teacher quality effectively. In the United States, one constant method of evaluating teacher quality has been observations of teaching, which can be used to determine merit pay and, in the case of negative evaluations, even be cause for termi- nation. While education researchers have suggested that the sole reliance on observations may not be an accurate mea- sure of teacher effectiveness, many education institutions still rely on the observation as a key, or only, part of evalu- ation, making both the observation tool and the observer essential factors in evaluating teacher quality.


A frequently used observation tool either in its entirety or as a basis for locally developed tools is the Framework for Teaching by Danielson. Researchers have found that general inter-rater scoring to be reliable, but a key component of the Framework for Teaching and related models is for observ- ers to make judgments about the accuracy and appropri- ateness of classroom instructional content appropriate to the discipline being observed. Te primary, or frequently only, required observer would be the school principal, who typically has many other administrative duties. Recent re- search suggests that high school and collegiate graduates are increasingly having less experience in and knowledge of arts performance-based classrooms, but they would be expected to apply knowledge of such content when observing arts performance teachers.


Te purpose of this study was to examine the inter-rater reliability of the Danielson model of teacher observation as it applies to music performance classrooms, across repeated observations by educators who have varying backgrounds in music, but regularly observe in-service teachers. To an- swer the research questions, and based on research show- ing effective results from fiſteen-minute observations, the researchers gathered fiſteen-minute sample teaching videos from six public school teachers. Two teachers had less than five years of teaching experience, two had between five and ten years, and two had more than fiſteen years of teaching experience. Ten secondary school administrators were selected to participate in the project. Administrators were selected based on their willingness and ability to participate in the study, confirmation that they had no previous contact with the selected teachers, and their lack of undergraduate or graduate degrees in music. Each of the nine administra- tors had more than five years of administrative experience in which they regularly reviewed music teachers and had at least one full year of experience using a Danielson-relat- ed model of teaching performance assessment. Data was calculated to determine inter-rater agreement both by item and by total score. IRA was calculated by both agreement between paired administrators and between all scores combined. Suggestions for policy implications and future research were discussed.


MEET THE AUTHORS POSTER SESSION – FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017


Charlotte Anderson Resources for Teaching Elementary Music in Rural Public Schools: A Review of Literature


In 2015, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) published a document titled Opportuni- ties-to-Learn Standards that outlined important resources


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