Alice-Ann Darrow

Culturally Responsive Teaching Understanding Disability Culture

To be culturally responsive teachers, we must first have an understanding of other cultures and how students from these cultures differ from one another. As we consider the many cultures represented in our classrooms, we might also consider students with disabilities as a cultural group. Within any main culture are subgroups differentiated by status or factors that functionally unify the group. Culturally responsive teachers understand that students with disabilities may represent a subculture within the classroom—and consequently follow certain guidelines that facilitate their inclusion.

Effects of Performer Attractiveness, Stage Behavior, and Dress on Evaluation of Children's Piano Performances.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether selected nonmusical attributes of sixth-grade pianists would affect ratings of their performances. Twenty pianists (10 girl and 10 boys) were videotaped. They and their performances were rated by 123 musically trained evaluators. Members of the visual group viewed a videotape with the sound turned off. They rated pianists on appropriateness of dress, stage behavior, and physical attractiveness. These ratings were the basis for grouping students as being high or low on each of these three attributes. Audiovisual and audio group members rated musical performance on five test items. Results revealed support for the existence of a bias: although high pianists were rated higher than low pianists under the audio condition for all three attributes, the differences between them often were significantly greater under the audiovisual condition than under the audio-only condition. In addition, and unlike finding of earlier studies, videotaped performances were not rated higher than audiotaped performances. Also, female judges were more lenient than male judges. Finally, male and female pianists were affected differently by nonmusical attributes for about half of the test items.

Perceived Effectiveness of Mainstreaming in Iowa and Kansas Schools

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived status of mainstreaming among music educators in Iowa and Kansas. A questionnaire was developed with items concerning years and type of teaching experience; area of music instruction; amount of educational preparation in special education; extent of instructional support in main-streaming students into regular music classes; the extent to which musical and nonmusical goals are primary concerns of music educators; the degree of difficulty in mainstreaming students with various handicapping conditions; and the perceived success of mainstreaming. Results of the study revealed the following: (1) slight differences among general, choral, and instrumental music specialists in their perceptions regarding mainstreaming; (2) no significant difference in responses among music educators with varied experience in working with mainstreamed students; (3) a low level of educational preparation for most music educators working with mainstreamed students; (4) a positive correlation between perceived success in mainstreaming and extent of instructional support; (5) consensus that students with certain types of handicapping conditions are more difficult to integrate into the music classroom; and (6) lack of consensus in primary instructional objectives for handicapped students.

The effects of various physical characteristics of high-level performers on adjudicators’ performance ratings

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physical attractiveness and performance ratings of high-level pianists. Eighteen of the 30 competitors who participated in the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition were rated by undergraduate and graduate music students and faculty. Participants were divided into three groups who rated the performances under either audio, audiovisual, or visual-only conditions. Visual-only participants rated performers on physical attractiveness, dress, and stage behaviour. Results suggest that high-level pianists are not affected in the same way by the apparent attractiveness bias that has been found in studies of novice and college-level musicians. Performers rated low on behaviour received consistently higher performance scores than high behaviour performers regardless of treatment condition (audio or audiovisual). Performers who rated high on each of the visual components benefited from the audiovisual condition, as compared with the audio-only condition, on note accuracy, but not on five other measures of performance. Interactions between each visual component (attractiveness, dress, and behaviour) and gender of the rater raise questions about gender differences in the perception of attractiveness.

Effects of Selected Variables on Musicians’ Ratings of High-Level Piano Performances

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether judgments of solo performances recorded at a well-known international piano competition would be affected by musical characteristics such as style (classic period versus early 20th-century Russian) and tempo (slow versus fast). Evaluators rated performances on six test items: tone quality, note accuracy, rhythmic accuracy, expressiveness, adherence to style and overall impression. The effects of four between-subjects variables were examined: audio versus audiovisual presentation, undergraduate versus graduate/faculty, gender, and pianists versus non-pianists. Results from the 227 evaluators revealed main effects for treatment, style and major: audiovisual presentations were rated higher than audio only presentations, performances of Russian music were rated higher than performances of classic music, and pianists rated performances higher than did non-pianists. The treatment effect was due to a significant treatment by major interaction, and applied only to non-pianists. Gender was involved in a number of three- and four-way interactions that are difficult to interpret. Pearson r correlations were calculated for ratings of the 16 performances on the overall impression test item. The mean correlation for the 120 pairs of ratings was .33 – low but statistically significant. Intraclass correlations revealed no significant differences between the two levels of all four between-subjects variables.

Effects of Excerpt Tempo and Duration on Musicians' Ratings of High-Level Piano Performances

The purpose of this study was to determine how judgments of solo performances recorded at an international piano competition might be affected by excerpt duration (20 versus 60 seconds) and tempo (slow versus fast). Musicians rated performances on six test items. Results indicated that piano majors rated slow excerpts higher than they rated fast excerpts, and that they rated slow excerpts higher than nonpiano majors rated either slow or fast excerpts; undergraduates rated long excerpts the same as or slightly higher than they did short excerpts, but graduate students and faculty rated long excerpts markedly higher than short excerpts; and undergraduate piano majors rated performances lower than did undergraduate nonpiano majors, but graduate piano majors and faculty rated performances higher than did graduate/faculty nonpiano majors. Also, accuracy items correlated with each other more highly than they did with other items, and judge ratings were higher for accuracy items than they were for other items. Finally, judge consistency was shown to be related to excerpt duration, excerpt tempo, instrumental major, and level of education. Results generally show that ratings taken after 60 seconds differed from ratings taken after 20 seconds, and that ratings provided evidence that judges were able to distinguish between different test items. November 23, 2004 April 27, 2005.

Enhancing Literacy in the Second Grade: Five Related Studies Using the Register Music/Reading Curriculum.

The purpose of these five related studies was to ascertain the effects of a music curriculum designed to enhance reading skills of second-grade students. The dependent variables were subtest scores on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test administered pre and post the music/reading intervention. Results showed that the total test gain scores of children receiving the music/reading curriculum were somewhat higher than those for control conditions in four of the five studies, but not significantly so. At the second site, gain scores were basically the same. All sites informally observed teacher and pupil enthusiasm for the music for reading curriculum. Though postreading scores were statistically equivalent among groups, it should be noted that in most sites, the music/reading curriculum time replaced reading instruction time. The value of this project is that it demonstrates the general benefits of music as a viable methodology for teaching reading skills at a comparable level while promoting enjoyment in an important academic area.

Early Advocates of Music Education for the Hearing Impaired: William Wolcott Turner and David Ely Bartlett

Published histories of music education do not often recognize early instances of music for handicapped students. Music for the hearing impaired is more obscure than for most handicapping conditions because it is often regarded as impractical. This study recognizes the early efforts of William Wolcott Turner and David Ely Bartlett on behalf of music education for the deaf In an 1848 article in the American Annals for the Deaf and Dumb, these two pioneers showed that a hearing-impaired student could learn music and that sound reasons existed to support such an endeavor. The research confirmed both the authenticity and credibility of Turner and Bartletts work, with biographical information on the two authors and a critical analysis of the contents of their article in light of subsequent research on music for the hearing impaired.

Effects of Non-Musical Attributes and Excerpt Duration on Ratings of High-Level Piano Performances

The purpose of this study was to determine if judgments of expert piano performances would be affected by excerpt duration, non-musical attributes of performer attractiveness, dress, and stage behavior, and by an interaction between duration and these attributes. Given that non-musical attributes would be evident from the beginning of a performance but that information about performance quality would accrue with time spent listening, it was hypothesized that non-musical attribute biases would weaken with increasing excerpt length. Thirty-three undergraduate and graduate music majors rated performers on non-musical attributes by observing performers with the sound turned off. One hundred fourteen participants rated 15 performances on 6 test items, either under an audio-only condition or under an audiovisual condition. Excerpts were 25, 55, and 115 seconds. Results showing that high-attractive women held an advantage over low-attractive women for 25-second excerpts but not for longer ones confirmed the hypothesis that the importance of attractiveness declines with increased musical exposure. This hypothesis was less strongly supported for ratings of male performers, for whom differences in dress appeared to be of greater import. It was also found that there was significantly greater agreement between test items within excerpt durations than across them. Ratings were higher at 55 seconds and 115 seconds than they were at 25 seconds, although reliability declined slightly as excerpts became longer. Finally, performances judged under the audiovisual condition were rated significantly higher than performances judged under the audio-only condition.

Music and Literacy

Literacy acquisition is a primary concern for all educators—including those who teach music. Although a music teacher’s foremost task is to teach music skills, a child’s ability to read text has important implications for his or her success in learning to read music. A child’s ability to read affects not only music learning but every other aspect of academic life as well. Music educators serve their students and themselves well when they use the valuable tool of music to enhance a child’s ability to read and appreciate literature. The magic of music can entice a child to practice various reading-related tasks, often without the child even being aware of the learning objective. Currently, the nation is implementing national legislation designed to teach every child to read—the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). A major intent of this act is to screen children for early reading failure so that they can begin remediation early in their school career. Federal grants go to states that fund specific projects designed to carry out this presidential initiative. There are frequent disagreements regarding the type of instruction that should be employed to accomplish these legislative objectives. Alarmingly, 30% of children have difficulty reading, and no single method seems to be effective for all children with literacy problems. Approximately 17% of the school-age population is categorized as having a specific learning disability (SLD). This category has the greatest incidence of any of the special education areas, and it is the designation for funding and remediation of reading problems (Foorman, Fletcher, & Francis, 1997). Literacy specialists and educators have shifted among various philosophies of reading instruction (Foorman, Fletcher, & Francis, 1997). Emphasis on phonics gave way to whole-language instruction, which was replaced by scripted phonics and standardized testing preparation. In a review of the scientific literature in reading instruction, Foorman et al. cited the following results critical to understanding how reading problems occur and the relationship between auditory discrimination abilities and visual recognition skills: • Reading problems occur at the level of the single word because of failure to quickly decode visual information. • Decoding is dependent on sensitivity to the sound structure of language rather than on comprehension. That is, a child recognizes that words rhyme or sound different, a skill that is separate from recognizing the word’s meaning. • To decode language information, alphabet letter recognition must be paired with phonetic sound patterns to acquire skills in sound blending and word segmentation. • Attention, memory, and comprehension skills derive from the above.