David Potter (Michigan State University) Music Teacher Perceptions of Assessment: A Phenomenological Study of the Tennessee Fine Arts Portfolio
In an era of high stakes testing, music teachers are strug- gling to cope with the mechanisms put in place to measure their effectiveness. Furthermore, these systems of account- ability have been shown to contribute to increased levels of stress for music teachers (Shaw, 2016; Doss, 2016). Some reasons for this stress can be connected to administrators with non-music backgrounds being responsible for mea- suring music teacher effectiveness (Berberick, Clementson, Hawkinson, & Rolandson, 2016; Smith, 2017), while other studies attribute the problems to high-stakes assessment and standardized testing in music education (Bernard, 2015; Koza, 2002).
Some scholars have studied how these mechanisms impact teachers’ classroom practices (Gilbert, 2017, p. 18; Hansen & Imse, 2016), while others have investigated the influence that teachers’ backgrounds have on their perceptions of their own effectiveness and career stability (Robinson, 2014, p. 19). Most of these researchers agree that to achieve prog- ress in music teacher assessment, there must be a greater degree of consistency for music teachers, especially given the high stakes nature of today’s assessments (Koza, 2002; Robinson, 2015, p. 20). Furthermore, the National Associa- tion for Music Education has provided a number of resourc- es on the subject of assessment and continues to discuss emerging assessments practices, including the Tennessee Fine Arts Portfolio (TNFAP), at their national conferences (SMTE, 2017).
Te assessment tools used for music teachers vary both by state and within specific states. One of the emerging tools is the TNFAP, which was developed as a blind peer-reviewed alternative to the use of standardized test scores in Tennes- see (Parkes, Rohwer, & Davison, 2015). Due to TNFAP’s relatively recent genesis, few studies have looked specifically at this initiative, and the results are mixed between favor- able (Foust, 2017, p. 17; Sterling & Carter, 2014, p. 17) and questioning (Shaw, 2016, p. 6). None of the studies focused purposefully on teacher perceptions of the portfolio.
In order to understand the variations of teacher assessment practices better, the purpose of this phenomenological study is to examine perceptions of music teachers regard- ing the two different means of teacher assessment (student reading/math test scores and TNFAP) used within the state of Tennessee. To accomplish this, participants in the study will answer the following grand tour questions: (1) How has assessment impacted you as a music educator in Tennessee? (2) How do you feel about the practices of music teacher assessment in Tennessee? (3) How would you describe the
strengths and weaknesses of music teacher assessment in Tennessee? Te two participants in the study will be sam- pled purposefully based on their experiences using the portfolio and student test scores. Each participant will be interviewed using the questions above along with related sub- and follow-up questions. All evidence will be trian- gulated by, having another informed researcher check the analysis and participants will member check the transcripts of their interviews. I will code the data and analyze it for emergent themes.
Terese Volk Tuohey, Professor Emerita (Wayne State Uni- versity) Te Genealogy of a High School Band: Plymouth, MI, 1857-1930
Te historical development from town bands to high school bands in the United States is one that oſten occurred in the United States. Plymouth High School, the oldest high school in Plymouth, MI, will serve as an exemplar of this kind of genealogy. Research questions included, but were not limited to: the background leading to the founding of the Plymouth HS band; the details surrounding the first years of the band; the band’s first director; the repertoire from this early period; and the impact the band had on both the community and the school.
Plymouth, MI, had a history of town bands dating back to 1857, and morphing over the years into the Plymouth Cornet Band, the Plymouth Brass Band, and, finally, the Millard Band. Te Millard Band ceased in 1923, and with no instrumental program at the high school, there was no band at all in Plymouth.
In 1925 the Kiwanis International/Plymouth was looking for a community project, and decided to help establish a band at the high school. In 1926, Claude Dykhouse was hired as the high school science teacher. Te Kiwanis learned that he had marching band experience from his college days, and approached the school principal with the offer to supply instruments if Dykhouse would teach the band. For the next four years, Dykhouse, with the support of the Kiwanis, brought his band from beginning players to a group capable of participating in the state band contest. Dykhouse became the High School principal in the fall of 1930. He never again taught music, but the legacy he estab- lished continued.
Tis history of the beginning of the HS Band, assisted by the Kiwanis or other service groups, is one that was replicated in many school districts. However, it takes a combination of the right time, the right school district, and the right person to make a band happen. With Dykhouse in Plymouth, all these came together: the lack of a town band, the founding
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