The Development of a Quantitative Music Skills Test …forms.gradsch.psu.edu/diversity/sroppapers/2005/CulpMara.pdf · of Female High School Choral Students Mara Culp Siena Heights

The Development of a Quantitative Music Skills Test

to Diagnose the Tonal Music Reading Abilities

of Female High School Choral Students

Mara Culp

Siena Heights University in cooperation with

Pennsylvania State University

Abstract

A music skills test was developed to measure the tonal music reading abilities of female high

school choral students Tonal music reading was defined as the ability to recognize a tonal

pattern presented aurally by identifying it from a set of possible answers in music notation Test

items were developed using the tonal taxonomy developed by Edwin Gordon (1976) Public

school music teachers completed the test and reported feedback about test clarity ease of

administration for the teacher ease of score for the teacher and efficacy of measuring tonal

music reading ability in a high school choral classroom The length of the student directions was

of most concern to teachers Teachers felt that the student directions included on the

administration CD were too long and that the average high school student would not pay

attention for the full two minutes and 40 seconds (240) However teachers appreciated the fact

that the test could be administered to all students simultaneously in one class session (22 minutes

and 38 seconds) The finished test will be piloted with a group of female high school choral

students to establish validity reliability ease of administration and clarity of content

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the people who played a part in the development and completion of

this research topic Dr Joanne Rutkowski had the most significant role in this project By

mentoring this project Dr Rutkowki provided crucial guidance in the specific area of test

construction and constructive suggestions for improvement Dr Ann Clements assisted in the

allocation of appropriate research modules and citation sources by providing opportunities to

participate in graduate level research courses and experiences Dr Evelyn Ellis Curt Marshall in

cooperation with the Summer Research Opportunities Program at Penn State University placed

me in the path of knowledgeable professionals and a plethora of resources and materials

The Development of a Quantitative Music Skills Test to Diagnose the Tonal Music Reading Abilities of Female High School Choral Students

Introduction

Purpose of the Study

Improving public school education became an issue of high interest when ldquoeducation

reform came to national prominence in the early 1980rsquosrdquo (Duerksen 1991 p 50) In 1995

Daugherty reported that ldquostate boards of education in many states [had] accepted the standards

movement as a way to improve the quality of education for students in their respective public

schoolsrdquo (p 3) To enhance learning in the area of music the Consortium for National Arts

Education Associations developed national standards for what every child should know and be

able to do in music (The Consortium for National Arts Education Associations 1994) The

national content standards for grades 9-12 in music include

Content Standard 1 Singing alone and with others a varied repertoire of music

Content Standard 2 Performing on instruments alone and with others a varied

repertoire of music

Content Standard 3 Improvising melodies variations and accompaniments

Content Standard 4 Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines

Content Standard 5 Reading and notating music

Content Standard 6 Listening to analyzing and describing music

Content Standard 7 Evaluating music and music performances will be the skills

Content Standard 8 Understanding relationships between music the other arts

and disciplines outside the arts

Content Standard 9 Understanding music in relation to history and culture (Consortium

for National Arts Education Associations 1994 pp 98 - 109)

The ability to read music is one aspect of a thorough music education (Consortium for

National Arts Education Associations 1994) Content standard 5 lsquoreading and notating musicrsquo

specifically supports the importance of instruction of music reading for all students Ten years

after the development of the national standards Asmus (2004) suggested that music students are

not meeting the goals set forth by the national standards in music because music educators across

the nation are reporting increases in the number of students they come across who are unable to

read music accurately and efficiently Despite the development and acceptance of national

standards in music it seems that true music literacy for all public school students across the

nation is not being realized

I was involved in numerous instrumental and choral ensembles throughout middle and

high school Since my family moved several times I participated in three different public school

music programs While each program was unique it seemed that in all three programs the band

students read music significantly better than many of the choral students even after equal years

of public school instruction To investigate my observation I developed a measurement tool to

administer to choral students at ten high schools within 130 miles of Adrian MI (Culp 2004)

The test was in two parts theoretical skills test and sight reading test At least one day of

observation in the classroom where the test was being administered and an interview with the

teacher were also components of the study

Preliminary findings suggested that students who completed written homework in the

music theory area scored higher on that aspect of the test Students who were taught to sight read

by using a system of tonal syllables (ie solfege numbers etc) and rhythm syllables seemed to

sight read with more ease Applying theoretical skills to daily warm-ups (ex asking the alto

section to change the modality of a sustained chord to major or minor) seemed to aid in

theoretical and sight reading skills Students who were in classrooms where teachers made their

expectations of the students very clear demonstrated more efficiency overall (Culp 2004) Many

conclusions drawn were in line with current theories of music pedagogies (Hoffer 2001)

Teaching students to read music in a choral setting can provide unique challenges ldquoVocal

reading is an awesome task one far more complex and demanding than might be suspected at

first involving a series of processes highly intangible in naturerdquo (Miller 1980 p 11) So

awesome is the task that Miller (1980) reported ldquoa significant number of beginning and

intermediate school choirshellipfilled with singers who cannot read the music they performrdquo (p 11)

One component of this problem may be associated with the fact that numerous choral students at

the high school level are not enrolled as consistently from semester to semester or year to year as

are instrumental students Often students will participate in choir when and if it fits into their

schedules (Clements 2002) In many choirs students of all ability levels are grouped in the same

choir and students can join at any point during high school (Clements 2002) regardless of

experience This ldquorevolving doorrdquo effect may contribute to the wide variety of music reading

abilities of high school choir members When a point is reached where the majority of students in

a high school choir are musically illiterate ldquocountless hours of rehearsal time are wasted spent in

grueling tasks associated with rote teaching a necessarily restricted repertory The resultant

inefficiency produces within these ensembles a deterioration of discipline enjoyment respect

and enthusiasmrdquo (Miller 1980 p 11)

Many researchers note the importance of assessment in the music education classroom

(Conway 2002 Darrow Johnson Miller amp Williamson 2002 Daugherty 1995 Radocy 1995

Stauffer 1999) Radocy (1995) noted the importance of thorough assessment stating that ldquomusic

educators must give considerable attention to planning assessmentrdquo (p19) Teachers use various

methods to assess their students often seeking informal and eclectic measures for use (Asmus

2004) such as ldquoratings of ensembles at festivals and contests and the publicrsquos evaluation of

appearances by school ensemblesrdquo (Daugherty 1995 p 4) However often such assessment

methods ldquoare not used systematically to assess what students know and can do musicallyrdquo

(Daugherty 1995 p 4) Asmus (2004) asserted that ldquoensemble music instruction tends to be

based on the teacherrsquos desires rather than a prescribed curriculumrdquo (p 8) Therefore when

written assessment is warranted the teacher often administers self-constructed tests based on

those desires rather than carefully planned curricula In many cases a test developed by the

school music teacher has not been evaluated for content validity or reliability because ldquolocally

developed tests often do not have the extensive refinement characterizing published standardized

measuresrdquo (Radocy 1995 p 23) Additionally these methods of assessment can contain many

types of questions (eg fill in the blank short answer labeling etc) requiring a large time

commitment to complete and grade

Teachers could assess the choir members at the beginning of the semester so the musical

literacy levels of all members can be diagnosed ldquoMeaningful assessmenthellipdoes not always

occur at the endrdquo (Conway 2002 p 56) By using a standardized measure of musical

achievement teachers who agree with the measuresrsquo underlying philosophies can ldquoobtain reliable

data for assessing their students in accordance with those philosophiesrdquo (Radocy 1995 p 23)

With the obtained information the teacher can hone the curriculum more appropriately to keep

the advanced students interested and simultaneously assist the remedial students resulting in less

time wasted

It seems the music profession is in need of a reliable valid standardized music reading

test ldquothat can be administered to large numbers of studentsrdquo (Darrow et al 2002 p 8)

simultaneously in one class session and scored with ease Accurately and thoroughly assessing

the ability levels of the students in the group would allow the teacher to adjust the curriculum in

such a way that it covers issues pertinent to that particular mix of ability levels ldquoAn effective

assessment framework should containhellipa statement of purpose and outline of the specific

content area to be measured examples of test exercises and scoring guidesrdquo (Sandene 1995 p

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this study was to develop a quantitative music skills test to diagnose the

music reading abilities of high school choral students However there are many aspects of music

reading Understanding concepts such as meter and rhythm tonality chord structure key

signatures etc is very important in learning how to read music Once these concepts are aurally

understood a musician is more capable of interpreting the symbols in music and using those

symbols such as written notes dynamic indicators and key signatures through applied activities

like sight reading music or notating music heard Performance is enhanced by interpreting the

composersrsquo written suggestions for aesthetic features such as dynamics and phrasing Choir

members do not have the ability to depress a key on their instrument to produce the correct aural

experience of the notated music Therefore it is very important for choir members to develop

musical tonal reading and listening skills

Statement of Problem

The specific problem of the study was to develop a quantitative music skills test to

diagnose the tonal reading abilities of female high school choral students Females were selected

so only one clef (treble) would need to be included on this initial test Typically female voice

parts (ie soprano alto) are written in treble clef whereas typically male voice parts (ie tenor

bass) could be written in either treble or bass clef Once this test is valid and reliable then bass

clef for males will be added The pilot test will allow for validity and reliability to be

established The pilot will also demonstrate the approximate length of time the test might take to

administer to a group the ease of administration and ease of scoring With the necessary

adjustments the final product will be a music skills test that is able to accurately diagnose the

tonal reading abilities of female high school choral students Specific questions that guided the

study included

1 Is the test easy to administer

2 Do the students indicate that the test is clear and easily understandable

3 Is the test reliable

4 Is the test valid

Definition of Term

Music reading can be defined in many ways Miller noted that some ldquotake such a liberal

or broad view of the term that their methods incorporate little more than common rote

proceduresrdquo (p 11) while ldquoothers may take such a conservative view that their methods duplicate

those of the college solfege classrdquo (p 11) Bernstorf and Hansen (2002) defined musical ldquosymbol

readingrdquo (p17) as a process by which students ldquorespond to symbols paired with or representing

musical elements or soundsrdquo (p17) For the purposes of this study tonal music literacy was

defined as the ability to listen to a tonal pattern comprised of three four or five tones and

determine how the pattern is represented in musical notation from a set of choices

Previous Tests

Tool 1

In the fall of 2004 Tool 1 was developed to help answer the question ldquoHow do students

learn to read music in a choral settingrdquo (Culp 2004) The test was designed and developed to

measure the theoretical music reading abilities of high school students All content chosen for

evaluation on the test was drawn from the personal experience of the researcher such as music

encountered throughout years of choral singing and The Elements of Music Concepts and

Applications Vol I by Ralph Turek (1995) The purpose of the test was to collect data to

compare high school choral and instrumental studentsrsquo music reading abilities

The test had many sections Circling Circling and Labeling Drawing Identification and

Short Answer Drawing Fill in the Blank and Hand Signing Each section measured a different

theoretical skill including Intervallic structure of major and minor scales and chords Symbol

Reproduction Symbol Recognition Key Signature Structure Note Value and Kodaacutely Hand

Signals (see Appendix A)

Pilot of Tool 1

Factors determining school selection included having a high school choral program with

male and female involvement and a location within 130 miles radius from Adrian MI Ten

schools that met the criteria were selected for the study The primary researcher explained the

purpose and procedures of the study to each choir teacher by phone Teachers were informed that

the researcher would require one male and one female student with no previous instrumental

training to complete a test developed by the researcher for the purpose of gathering data on how

students learn to read music in a choral setting Testing dates were agreed upon by both the

researcher and the teacher Out of the ten choral teachers contacted eight agreed to participate

two did not return the initial or follow-up calls Three schools were visited in the time frame

allotted for data collection Teachers in the participating classrooms were interviewed about their

individual methodologies procedures and philosophies The teacher was observed for at least

one class session to establish validity of information reported and actual classroom practices All

student participants were volunteers selected by the choir teacher of the program

One of these schools was chosen as the pilot group for Tool 1 The researcher was

introduced to the choir before students were selected for testing The choir teacher briefly

explained the purpose and procedures of the test Next the teacher listed the criteria for

involvement in the study and asked for volunteer student participants The choir teacher asked

the students to indicate interest in participating by raising a hand From this pool the teacher

selected two subjects to be tested individually by the primary researcher

Results of Pilot 1

After the initial pilot some problems with the structure of Tool 1 were realized When

areas of the test were not completed or left blank it was not possible to accurately determine why

the area was left blank For example in the key signature section of the test students were asked

to physically write in the key signature for C major and A minor in any clef of their choosing

Since neither key contains sharps or flats it was not known if the section was left blank because

the student indicated a correct response the student did not want to guess or the section was

overlooked

Problems with the wording of test questions and possible answers occurred For

example the third question asked students to indicate the half step and whole step markings for a

minor scale lettered C through C This question was particularly a problem since the notes to be

labeled represented the typical format of a major scale and directions were not given about

marking flats or sharps

Tool 2

Based on the results of the pilot study with Tool 1 a revised tool was constructed (see

Appendix B) The purpose of the alterations was to make administration and scoring more time

efficient and effective Revisions were made to increase clarity for students who took the test and

the researcher who scored the test A header was inserted so the researcher could be more certain

that negated information was intentionally negated Note names A and B were added to the

scalar sections Labeling was added to the section where students had to draw music symbols to

help prevent students from guessing the correct answers by drawing various kinds of notes

Labeling responses helped the researcher to better understand the knowledge each student

possessed and to correct the expressed knowledge more accurately (ex If a quarter note symbol

was drawn but labeled as a half note the response would be marked as incorrect)

Pilot of Tool 2

Students in the pilot of Tool 2 were not involved with pilot of Tool 1 The remaining

two schools were chosen to pilot tool 2 For the piloting of Tool 2 one female student was

selected at each location and tested Participants in the second pilot were selected using all

criteria from pilot one All participants were volunteers selected by the choir teacher of the

program At both sites pilot procedures of Tool 2 were identical to the pilot of Tool 1

Results of Pilot 2

Analyzing the tool with a greater knowledge of proper test construction information than

during the previous revision processes uncovered significant points of weakness The directions

were too vague for effective administration Overall it seemed that students did not understand

what they were supposed to do in each section of the test Since the test items were not numbered

there was much confusion about where a new section started and the previous ended Even

though directions were provided for every section students asked many additional clarification

questions It was concluded that directions consisting of only three or four words were not

sufficient enough to clearly indicate what was expected of students amidst the various sections

Administering the test was took a significant amount of time due to the various question and

answer formats More detailed instructions making expectations and procedures clear were

needed to eliminate the necessity of an individual testing session where the administrator guided

various sections of the test As it was the test would not able to be administered a group of

students in a large classroom setting

Scoring a test with many different kinds of answers to various types of questions was

very time consuming difficult and tedious Each item had to be looked at individually for a

specific type of answer (ex short answer sketch or labeling) The test proved to be sometimes

impossible to accurately score and when scored only yielded vague approximations of ability

In order to condense the test to fit the allotted time the measurement of each skill was very

superficial The various types of questions caused insufficient and generally shallow

measurement of multiple aspects of music reading

Design of New Tool

Introduction

Miller (1980) stated that the ldquomost viable approach to teaching vocal reading includes the

separation and study of rhythm pitch and textrdquo (p 11) Gordon (1997) also advocated the

separation of pitch and rhythm as evidenced in his Learning Sequences Following this logic the

various attributes of music should be separated for the purposes of assessing achievement

Radocy (1995) defined assessment as ldquoa process for rating or judging a person or event in

accordance with specified or implied criteriardquo (p 19) It is important to use an assessment that

provides ldquoinformation concerning studentrsquos initial status in relation to the goalsrdquo (Duerksen

1995 p 58) specified by certain criteria Effective assessment tools use procedures such as

recognition and ldquoidentificationhellipof tonalhellipmusic contentrdquo (Saunders 1991 p 131) to

demonstrate student understanding of music

The Female Tonal Music Test (FTMT) was designed to isolate pitch and measure tonal

music reading abilities using a set of carefully selected criteria The test utilizes both audiation

and notational audiation Audiation a term coined by Edwin Gordon (1997) is defined as

ldquohearing and comprehending in onersquos mind the sound of music that is nothellipphysically presentrdquo

(p 361) ldquoThe audiation of music notation is called notational audiationrdquo (p 8) further defined as

the ability to ldquohear the musical sound ofhellipmusic notationrdquo (p 8) before it is played

Overview of Test

FTMT was developed to be a time efficient way to assess the tonal music reading

abilities of students to be easy to administer to a large group simultaneously scored quickly and

provide clear assessment of studentsrsquo tonal music reading abilities Major and harmonic minor

tonal patterns consisting of three four and five tones at the easy moderate and difficult ability

levels in a variety of keys were included on the test All patterns were notated in treble clef

without rhythmic indicators Each tonal pattern is played from an administration CD three times

during each test question Students identify the tonal pattern from a set of four possible choices

Developing Criteria for in Test Items

Thorough development of criteria to be measured is a key element of a well constructed

test Properly constructed tests consist of ldquoitems that are related to contentrdquo (Walsh amp Betz

1990 p73) and used to measure that specified set of criteria Knowledge and skills assessed

should be varied and representative of real-life situations (Duerksen 1995 Walsh amp Betz 1990)

Movement criteria One consideration for items was the ways in which three tones move

determined by analyzing a) the initial tone b) a tone that moves away from the initial tone and

c) a resolving tone This three note movement could occur anywhere in sequence within the

pattern in sequence Twenty movement criteria were derived using the premise of steps skips

chords and scalar diatonic motion Possibilities were arranged in a table (see Appendix C)

Eighteen movement criteria were chosen to be assessed on the test The remaining two

movement criteria were adapted as examples and placed at the beginning of the test

Ability levels number of tones and mode Before tonal patterns were selected an even

distribution of easy moderate and difficult ability levels for major and minor modes was

determined to thoroughly assess student ability levels The two practice examples were to be of

easy difficulty The final distribution of difficulty levels is shown in Table 1 An even

distribution of tonal patterns in major and minor modes containing 3 4 and 5 tones was chosen

One 4 tone and one 5 tone pattern were developed as practice examples The final distribution of

tonal patterns is shown in Table 2

Table 1 Table 2 Distribution of Ability Levels Distribution of Tonal Patterns

Number of Examples Number of Examples

Major Minor TotalAbility Level

Major Minor TotalPattern Type

8 3 tone 4 4

Moderate

6 4 tone 3 3

Difficult

6 5 tone 3 3

10 10 20

Total 10 10 20

Total includes practice example(s) Total includes practice example(s)

not scored on the test not scored on the test

Selection of specific tonal patterns Edwin Gordonrsquos ldquofocus on tonal and rhythm

audiation has a profound influencerdquo (Shuler 1991 p53) in music education Gordon (1976)

developed taxonomies of rhythmic and tonal patterns in major minor and modal tonalities The

tonal taxonomy was developed by playing various 2 3 4 and 5 tone patterns for over 10000

fourth fifth and sixth graders Results of the study helped to determine the ability level

(Difficult Moderate or Easy) and the growth rate (Typical High or Static-Regressive) of each

pattern Patterns in the taxonomy were notated without flats or sharps written in the key signature

(Gordon 1997)

To create a proper assessment tool ldquowritten exercises and performance tasks must be

created or adapted from outside sourcesrdquo (Sandene 1995 p 48) To develop a measurement tool

for the purposes of this study 3 4 and 5 tone patterns of easy moderate and difficult ability

levels with a typical growth rate were taken from the major and minor sections of the Gordon

tonal taxonomy and adapted or used as a guide to create new patterns Of the 18 tonal patterns

chosen to be assessed in the test 12 patterns were taken from the Gordon tonal taxonomy The

primary researcher developed 6 patterns and two practice examples

Notation of tonal patterns Once the examples were located or created they were notated

in a variety of keyalities Five major keys (see Table 3) and five minor keys (see Table 4) were

included on the test The included keys did not contain more than two sharps of flats in the key

signature Some patterns from the Gordon taxonomy were transposed to different keyalities (see

Appendix D) while retaining their original intervallic integrity

Table 4 Table 3

Minor Tonalities Major Tonalities

Minor Major Name b Times

used Name

D 2 1 G 1 2 C 0 4 F 1 2

Bb 2 1 Total 10

b Times used

b 1 2 e 2 1 a 4 0 d 1 2 g 2 1

Total 10

Total includes a practice example that is not scored on the test

Structuring the Written Test

Multiple choice format A multiple choice format was selected to provide a teacher with a

result that can be easily scored in a short amount of time Three distracters were developed for

each practice example and test pattern Distracters were notated with the same key signature

clef and tonality as the correct answer The distracters consisted of three types 1) Pattern that is

not close to being correct 2) Pattern that is close to being correct 3) Pattern that is very close to

being correct (primary distracter) Some music educators believe that the results of ldquomultiple

choicehelliptesting provides little data for the improvement of instructionrdquo (Darrow et al 2002

p11) However the results of a multiple choice test used to diagnose a specific skill in line with

philosophies the teacher agrees with are not intended to show the teacher exactly which methods

to use or procedures to change to reach the student who is not learning Instead the information

provides the teacher with knowledge of the various student ability levels present in the

classroom In this way the teacher is more informed when making adjustments in a particular

area of teaching and learning

Order of questions and answers The two practice examples were placed at the beginning

of the test and ordered by random placement A random placement was also chosen for the 18

patterns evaluated in the test The 18 patterns were drawn out of hat and ordered accordingly

Once the pattern order was established an even distribution of A B C and D answer choices

were randomly matched to the patterns and examples An equal number of correct answers (A ndash

D) were determined to account for the guess ratio (see Appendix E)

Aesthetic features Two patterns were placed per page Each page is one sided Possible

answers were placed vertically and lettered A through D All patterns included a treble clef key

signature and accidentals in minor keys Elements which indicate rhythm such as rests note

tails and time signatures were negated (see Figure 1)

Figure 1 Aesthetic Features

Directions for Administering

To make administration of the test as easy and convenient as possible ldquoDirections for

Administering the Female Tonal Music Testrdquo (see Appendix F) were included as a guide for the

teacher The handout contains all the information the teacher needs to administer the test For the

most efficient use of class time the teacher should read the instructional handout at least one day

before administering the test

Development of Administration CD

Listening examples The administration CD was recorded and formatted by the primary

researcher A click track set at 60 beats per minute (bpm) was created in Finalereg 2005 and played

over speakers to provide a consistent beat when tonal patterns were recorded Musical elements

were played into a computer with a Macintosh OS using the Sound Studio audio recording

software To ensure tonal accuracy a Yamaha W7 midi enabled keyboard was used to input tonal

patterns An Electro-Voicereg 635A dynamic omni-directional microphone was used to record

spoken directions into Sound Studio Spoken elements and musical elements were combined to a

single audio track (see Appendix G) and formatted using the Sound Studio The finished audio

tracks were recorded to a Memorexreg CD-R using iTunes CD burning software (see Appendix

The verbal directions for FTMT included at the beginning of the administration CD (see

Appendix I) were modeled after the directions Gordon (1976) provided for students who

participated in his tonal study A tempo of 60 bpm was chosen to make inserting silence between

examples more accurate It is also a tempo that allows students to hear every tone individually

Stating the pattern number at the beginning of every pattern helps students follow as the test

progresses The word ldquotonicrdquo is stated to remind students that the tonic tone is not part of the

pattern they are about to hear Playing the tonic of each key before the pattern is heard allows

students to orient themselves to the tonal center of the key and to make intervallic judgments

more effectively

Steps were taken to ensure that students were always given enough time to audiate a

pattern before it was presented the second time First one second of silence was inserted after

the first hearing this allows student a beat to rest before audiation Next one second of silence

was inserted for every tone in the pattern to allow for accurate real time audiation Finally an

additional second of silence was inserted to allow a beat of rest so student audiation is not

interrupted before the pattern was played again After the pattern was played for a second time

10 seconds of silence was inserted for the all tonal patterns to allow students to audiate the

pattern again and select an answer After the pattern was played for the third time students were

given enough time to audiate the pattern and check their answer

Feedback from Teachers

Administering the Test

Public school music teachers enrolled in a graduate class at Penn State University took

the test and reported feedback No recruitment script was necessary since the professor Dr

Joanne Rutkowski made it part of the class Teachers received the student pilot test packet

containing a general information questionnaire the test and a posttest questionnaire (see

Appendix J) The ldquoDirections for Administering the Female Tonal Music Testrdquo was read aloud

by the primary researcher The test was administered using the administration CD

Suggestions from Teachers

Some teachers found the electronic keyboard used to record the tonal patterns

disagreeable They noticed the vibrato and suggested that a human voice be used instead

Overall teachers preferred the sound of an acoustic instrument to a digital one One teacher

remarked that the quality of the notation on the written test was not of a professional grade Most

agreed that directions both read live and on the CD were too wordy and should be shortened if

possible Many of the teachers who reported that they ldquolost interestrdquo or ldquozoned outrdquo during

directions made suggestions for improvement on issues that were addressed in the directions

Teachers were also concerned about the words major minor tonic resting tone and key

signature Most thought such terminology would be too advanced for high school students and

cause unnecessary confusion They also commented that the terminology used on the assessment

CD should be consistent throughout It will be interesting to compare their comments with those

of high school students after the initial pilot of the Tool

Pilot of New Tool

Selection of Participants

Schools located within 130 miles of Adrian MI will be contacted either by phone call or

letter (see Appendix K) and extended an invitation to participate in the pilot of FTMT All

selected schools must have a high school choral program with female involvement The first

school to accept an invitation to pilot and schedule administration dates will be chosen for the

initial pilot If successive pilots are needed the order in which schools accept the invitation will

determine the order in which schools are visited for piloting revised tools All males will be

excluded from the pilot

Procedures

Approval for use of human participants If an institution that grants permission for the

use of human participants in a study exists at my University all materials related to testing

procedures and volunteer recruitment will be reviewed and approved by that institutionrsquos IRB

To prepare for that process materials to be used in the future pilot were prepared by the primary

researcher and approved by the Office of Research Protections at Penn State University

Student piloting The choral teacher will introduce the researcher to the choir group The

choral teacher may opt to remove males from the room before testing procedures begin If males

are present during any part of the testing procedures they will not participate As no 2 pencils

ldquoParticipant Consent Letterrdquo (see Appendix L) and prepaid envelopes containing the ldquoParental

Notification Letterrdquo (see Appendix M) are dispersed to all female participants the Participant

Consent Letter will be read aloud to participants Students will then be informed of the contents

of the envelope and asked to address the letter to their primary caregiver at that personrsquos home

residence and told that the letters will be mailed home following participation in the study

Copies of the parental notification letter will be available upon student request When students

finish addressing the envelopes the envelopes will be sealed by students and collected by the

primary researcher Letters will be sent out through the school office after pilot completion

After envelopes have been collected a pilot test packet will be passed out to students (see

Appendix J) Students will be instructed to complete the General Information Questionnaire

They will also be instructed to not open to the first page of the test until told instructed to do so

Next the ldquoDirections for Administering the Female Tonal Music Testrdquo will be read and the

administration CD will be started After the administration CD stops students will be instructed

to complete the posttest questionnaire When the entire pilot test packet has been completed

students will come to the front of the room to turn the packet in to the primary researcher The

entire pilot is expected to take approximately 35 minutes to distribute If males are removed from

the testing area the pilot could take up to 45 minutes

Data Analysis

The data will be analyzed by a computer program to determine means standard

deviations standard errors of measurement KR-20 reliabilities and item analyses Data provided

on the general information and posttest questionnaires will be analyzed compared to the

comments previously provided by the teachers and used to alter the tool to improve clarity and

administration

Results

In the fall of 2004 a test was developed in order to discover correlations between ldquoHow

students learn to read music in a choral settingrdquo and the content of the class taught as part of a

research project The test developed and administered by the primary researcher consisted of

two parts theoretical skills test and sight reading test The first version of the test Tool 1 was

piloted at a high school in the Southern part of MI After the first pilot the researcher revised

problems and vagaries discovered The second version of the test Tool 2 was piloted at two

more schools near Adrian MI After meeting with much adversity pertaining to test

administration scoring and establishing correlations the test was deemed ineffective The most

significant problems were that the test measured multiple aspects of music reading at a very

superficial level and it was difficult to administer and score

A new test FTMT was designed to measure tonal music reading abilities for high school

female choral students A group of public school music teachers took the test provided feedback

The future pilot of the tool was outlined and is scheduled to commence in the fall of 2005

Results of the pilot will provide answers to the research questions Preliminary results based on

procedures used to develop FTMT and feedback from experienced teachers is provided below

Question 1 Is the test easy to administer

The primary researcher administered FTMT to a group of public school music teachers

Given the fact that music teachers are not the target group the administration procedures can still

be estimated Since students are guided through the test with an automated administration CD

the total test time of 22 minutes and 38 seconds (2238) could be determined However this total

does not include the time it would take for 1) Distribution of materials 2) Reading the excerpt

directions (see Appendix F) 3) Collection of materials Overall the administration process went

well The test was simple to administer and the process took only a small time commitment (23

minutes of a single period) to complete

Question 2 Do the students indicate that the test is clear and easily understandable

Public school music teachers reported opinions about clarity for high school choral

students tested in a group The written test received positive feedback from all participants

regarding issues of clarity All participants knew which pattern was playing and when All

participants could see the notation provided clearly and distinguish individual notes without

problem All tests were returned with all answers indicated in the same way indicating that

instructions about how to mark a correct answer were clear and easily understood

The administration CD worked very well and all participants reported that they could

hear the tonal patterns clearly and that all spoken instructions were clear as well However there

were mixed responses about the clarity of the content included in the verbal directions While all

participants except one reported that they understood the directions clearly the majority of

participants expressed concerns that students would not be able to understand some of the

terminology used However none indicated opinions that a language barrier would keep students

from being able to achieve highly on the test The majority of the teachers felt that students

would not be able to focus for the two minutes and 40 seconds (240) of verbal instructions

provided Some teachers specifically reported their current students having such concentration

issues It will be interesting to see how the students respond to the ldquolengthyrdquo directions No

adjustments will be made until after the test is administered to high school students

Question 3 Is the test reliable

The reliability of FTMT cannot be determined at this time until the test is piloted with the

target group

Question 4 Is the test valid

Test criteria and items were carefully developed using some of the latest research

regarding test construction and tonal ability level However the validity of FTMT cannot be

determined at this time until it is piloted with the target group

Recommendations

Future Research

Five more tests will be developed piloted and finalized using similar methods outlined

in this article Each individual test will be made available for teachers to use to assess ability

levels of their students Those tests will be combined and condensed to make one comprehensive

test which will efficiently measure all areas Various tests can also be combined to form tests to

measure only certain abilities the teacher wants to assess The combined test will be used by the

primary researcher to help investigate if instrumental students read music significantly better

than choral students as I have observed

Tests might be developed where the distracters in the multiple choice format are

weighted Each answer would carry a weight of either four points for a correct answer to one

point for the most incorrect answer Possible points would be out of 72 rather than 18 With a

weighted test the teacher could establish how close students are approximating each criterion

For Teachers

Teachers should provide instruction that is most beneficial to students Hence the

development of curriculum and the selection of appropriate materials should follow a thorough

assessment of student need It is not enough to assess students at the end of each semester Early

assessment is key to discovering the ability levels present in each new group of students To

improve efficacy in the classroom teachers need to know what information the students

currently posses and provide instruction that meets their needs as a class

Conclusions

Developing proper assessment tools can be a daunting task Many music educators do not

have the ldquotimehellipneeded for brainstorming deliberating over questions of designhellipgathering

sample resources developing assessment measures and reflecting on the processrdquo (Conway

2002 pp 58-59) Every day music educators have to make decisions about ldquohow to teachrdquo and

ldquowhat to teachrdquo FTMT was designed to help answer some of these questions for teachers by

providing a means for them to assess the current achievement of their choral singers With this

information perhaps teachers will be able to better address the ldquowhatrdquo which can help change the

ldquohowrdquo In its final draft FTMT may provide music educators with the information they need to

enhance music learning in the classroom

References

Asmus E P Jr (2004) Commentary Music teaching and music literacy Journal of Music Teacher Education 13(2) 6-8

Bernstorf E amp Hansen D (2002) Linking music learning to reading

instruction Music Educators Journal 88(5) 17-21 52 Clements A C (2002) The importance of selected variables in predicting student participation

in junior high choir (Doctoral dissertation University of Washington 2002) Consortium of National Arts Education Associations (1994) National standards

for arts education What every student should know and be able to do in the arts Reston VA MENC

Conway C (2002) Curriculum writing in music Music Educators Journal

88(6) 54-59 Culp M E (2004) How students learn to read music in a choral setting Unpublished

manuscript Siena Heights University Adrian MI Darrow A Johnson C M Miller A M amp Williamson P (2002) Can

students accurately assess themselves Predictive validity of student self-reports Update - Applications of Research in Music Education 20(2) 8-11

Daugherty E (1995) Assessment An emerging critical issue for all music

educators The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning 6(4) 3-4

Duerksen G (1991) Music teacher education reform An example The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning 2(4) 50-61

Duerksen G L (1995) Using planned assessment techniques to increase student

growth in music education The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning 6(4) 57-64

Gordon E E (1976) Tonal and rhythm patterns An objective analysis A

taxonomy of tonal patterns and rhythm patterns and seminal experimental evidence of their difficulty and growth rate Albany State University of New York Press

Gordon E E (1997) Learning sequences in music Skill content and patterns

Chicago GIA Publications Inc

Hoffer C R (2000) Teaching music in the secondary schools (5th ed) Belmont CA WadsworthThomson Learning

Miller S D (1980) Literacy for the beginning and intermediate high school

choir The Choral Journal 20(7) 11-14

Radocy R E (1995) Planning assessment in music education Its not risk free

The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning 6(4) 19-27

Sandene B A (1995) Suggestions for conducting large-scale assessments in music The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning 6(4) 45-56

Saunders T C (1991) The stages of music audiation The Quarterly Journal of

Music Teaching and Learning 2(1 ndash 2) 131-137

Shuler S C (1991) A critical examination of the contributions of Edwin Gordons music learning theory to the music education profession The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning 2(1 ndash 2) 37-58

Stauffer S L (1999) Beginning assessment in elementary general music

Music Educators Journal 86(2) 25-30 Walsh B W amp Betz N E (1990) Tests and assessment (3rd ed) Englewood

Cliffs NJ Prentice Hall

Appendix A

Tool 1

Student Survey

Sex____ Age____ Score____ What are the letters used for note names in music Label Half steps and whole steps between notes of a major scale C D E F G A B C Half steps and whole steps between notes of a minor scale C D E F G A B C Circle the notes that make up ahellip Major Chord and label intervals between notes C D E F G A B C Minor Chord and label intervals between notes C D E F G A B C Draw Bass Clef Treble Clef Label Middle C on both clefs and Circle them Whole note Half note Quarter note Eighth note Sixteenth note What is the purpose of Write out the name for

p f b mf rit gt Fill in the key signature for

C major A major F major c minor a minor g major Fill in the blank In 44 time 4 ________________ notes fill a measure while 1 ___________ note fills the same measure In 68 time 2 _________________________ notes fill a measure In 128 time _______ dotted quarter notes fill a measure Are you familiar with the solfege syllables Can you do the hand signs for the solfege syllables Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do

Appendix B

Tool 2 Highlighted Revisions

DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING BLANK CROSS OUT ANY QUESTION YOU PURPOSELY DO NOT ANSWER

Student Survey

Sex____ Age____ Score____ Teacher_______________ What are the letters used for note names in music Label Half steps and whole steps between notes of a major scale A B C D E F G A B C Half steps and whole steps between notes of a minor scale A B C D E F G A B C Circle the notes that make up ahellip Major Chord and label intervals between notes C D E F G A B C Minor Chord and label intervals between notes C D E F G A B C Draw and Label Bass Clef Treble Clef Label Middle C on both clefs and Circle them Whole note Half note Quarter note Eighth note Sixteenth note What is the purpose of Write out the name for

p f b mf rit gt

Fill in the key signature for C major A major F major c minor a minor g major Fill in the blank In 44 time 4 ________________ notes fill a measure while 1 ___________ note fills the same measure In 68 time 2 _________________________ notes fill a measure In 128 time _______ dotted quarter notes fill a measure Are you familiar with the solfege syllables Can you do the hand signs for the solfege syllables Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do

Appendix C

Distribution of Note Patterns Tonality and Difficulty

3 tone

4 tone

5 tone

Test Question

Major Minor Major Minor Major Minor Example 1 Step up resolve step up

E M D E M D E M D E M D E M D E M D

Example 2 Step down resolve step down

1Skip down resolve skip down

2Descending diatonic

3 Step down resolve skip up

4Ascending chord

5Step up resolve step down

6Skip up resolve step down

7Skip down resolve step up

8Skip up resolve skip down

9Skip up resolve step up

10 Step down resolve step up

11Descending chord

12 Step down resolve skip down

13Step up resolve skip up

14Skip down resolve step down

15Skip down resolve skip up

16Skip up resolve skip up

17Ascending diatonic

18Step up resolve skip down

Number of time used

2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Not assessed in content of test

Appendix D

Authorship and Transposition of Test Items

Pattern Author Number

of tones Difficulty level

Tonality Criteria Measured

Original Pattern Transposition used on test in bold Key Signature adjustment not bold

Example 1

Culp Four (4) Easy Major Step up resolve step up

C major NA

Example 2

Culp Five (5) Easy minor Step down resolve step down

G minor NA

1 Gordon Three

(3) Difficult minor Skip down

resolved by skip down

A minor NA (p 106)

2 Gordon Five (5) Moderate Major Descending

scalar motion G major G major

(p 103)

3 Culp Four (4) Easy Minor Step down

resolved by skip up

A minor NA

4 Culp Three

(3) Easy Minor Ascending

triad E minor G minor

5 Gordon Four (4) Moderate Major Step up

resolved by step down

C major NA (p 103)

6 Gordon Three (3)

Moderate Minor Skip up resolved by step down

D minor D minor (p 108)

7 Gordon Three (3)

Easy Major Skip down resolved by step up

C major F major (p 102)

8 Gordon Three

(3) Easy Major Skip up

C major D major (p 99)

9 Gordon Three

(3) Difficult Major Skip up

resolved by step up

C major NA (p 103)

10 Gordon Three

(3) Easy minor Step down

resolved by step up

A minor NA (p 109)

11 Gordon Three

(3) Moderate Major Descending

chord F major F major

(p 101)

12 Culp Five (5) Easy Major Step down

C major Bb major

13 Gordon Four (4) Difficult Minor Step up

resolved by skip up

A minor NA (p 107)

14 Culp Five (5) Moderate Minor Skip down

A minor E minor

42 42 42

15 Culp Four (4) Moderate minor Skip down resolved by skip up

A minor

E minor

16 Gordon

(p 101) Four (4) Difficult Major Skip up

resolved by skip up

C major

17 Gordon (p 104)

Five (5) Difficult Major Ascending scalar motion

G major

18 Culp Five (5) Difficult Minor Step up

C minor B minor

Gordon E E (1976) Tonal and rhythm patterns An objective analysis A taxonomy of tonal patterns and rhythm patterns and seminal experimental evidence of their difficulty and growth rate Albany State University of New York Press

Appendix E

Teacher Answer Sheet

Example 1 (A) (B) (C) (D)

1 (A) (B) (C) (D)

2 (A) (B) (C) (D)

3 (A) (B) (C) (D)

4 (A) (B) (C) (D)

5 (A) (B) (C) (D)

6 (A) (B) (C) (D)

7 (A) (B) (C) (D)

8 (A) (B) (C) (D)

9 (A) (B) (C) (D)

10 (A) (B) (C) (D)

11 (A) (B) (C) (D)

12 (A) (B) (C) (D)

13 (A) (B) (C) (D)

14 (A) (B) (C) (D)

15 (A) (B) (C) (D)

16 (A) (B) (C) (D)

17 (A) (B) (C) (D)

18 (A) (B) (C) (D)

Appendix F

Directions for Administering the Female Tonal Music Test

It is important to read these directions at least one day prior to administering the test in order to ensure sufficient materials time and space for the test

Choosing a testing area

1 Choose an area that will hold all students comfortably and allow appropriate physical

testing space between students that will discourage looking at neighbors answers 2 Make sure the area provides students with an efficient writing surface such as a music

stand or a desk

3 The room must have a CD player and speakers that are capable of being heard effectively by every student who is taking the test in the selected area

Before Students enter the testing area

1 Be certain that you can provide writing utensils for all students 2 Make certain that you have enough copies of the test for one per student

3 Make sure every student station has a proper writing surface (it is important not to waste

valuable class time by having the students retrieve a writing surface themselves if it can possibly be avoided)

4 Have the ldquoFemale Tonal Music Test Administration CDrdquo placed in the CD player and the

volume adjusted so each student should be able to hear efficiently

5 Do a simple test by playing the first couple tracks to ensure all electrical equipment is working properly

Administering the test

1 As students enter the testing area instruct students to go directly to their seats and remain quiet so the test can start as soon as possible

2 Instruct students not to open their test booklet until instructed to do so

3 Choose students to help hand out pencils and test booklets

4 Once students are seated with a writing utensil and booklet read the following Today you will take a multiple choice test to help assess

your tonal music reading skills Voice guided directions are on the CD and it is completely automated If you are not sure of an answer it is best to mark the answer you think might be right Then double check it when you hear the pattern for the last time Listen carefully follow the directions and choose the best answer Keep in mind that you will not be graded This is a chance for you to demonstrate your knowledge and help me understand your individual reading ability so I can better attend to the needs of individuals within the group Read this section as it applies

5 Press play on the CD player Collecting Tests

1 Instruct students to make sure their name is on the test 2 Instruct students to bring tests to the front of the room Do not ask them to pass them

down where other students might be handling them

Appendix G

Elements of Each Pattern Recorded on ldquoFemale Tonal Music Test

Administration CDrdquo

Pat play3

RT 2 ss

ldquoPat ltrtfrdquo

Pat play2

ldquoPat rdquo

ldquoTrdquo 15 ss

T played

Pat play1

of tones equals of ss

ss ndash Seconds of silence ldquordquo ndash Verbally stated Pat ndash Pattern - Number T - Tonic - Music played play1 ndash Played first time play2 ndash Played second time ltrtf ndash ldquoLast time resting tone firstrdquo play3 ndash Played third time RT ndash Resting tone

Appendix H

Play List

Track Numbers for the ldquoFemale Tonal Music Test Administration CDrdquo

1 Verbal Directions for Students

2 Example 1

3 Answer to Example 1

4 Example 2

6 Pattern 1

7 Pattern 2

8 Pattern 3

9 Pattern 4

10 Pattern 5

11 Pattern 6

12 Pattern 7

13 Pattern 8

14 Pattern 9

15 Pattern 10

16 Pattern 11

17 Pattern 12

18 Pattern 13

19 Pattern 14

20 Pattern 15

21 Pattern 16

22 Pattern 17

23 Pattern 18

Appendix I

Verbal Directions Included on the Administration CD

DIRECTIONS FOR FEMALE TONAL MUSIC TEST

Hello choral singer You are listening to the directions for the tonal music literacy assessment tool During the test you will hear eighteen individual tonal patterns Each pattern is played three times You will determine which tonal pattern you are hearing by listening to the example and deciding how the pattern you heard would look if it were written on paper Before the pattern is played the first time the pattern number will be announced After the pattern number I will say ldquotonal centerrdquo and the tonal center for that pattern will be played The tonal is the pitch from which the key signature is derived The tonal center provides a reference point for the example about to be played

After the tonic there will be a pause and the pattern you will be judging will be played for the first time Enough time will be given for you to hear or sing the pattern in your mind Please do not sing the pattern aloud as it might distract others taking the test The pattern will be played a second time and you will be given enough time to hear the pattern in your brain again Then I will say the pattern number followed by ldquolast time resting tone firstrdquo You will hear the tonic again a pause and the pattern will be played for the third and final time You will be given a couple of moments to decide which tonal pattern you are hearing by circling the letter A B C or D of the corresponding answer The entire test is constructed in the same way We will begin now and do two examples These two examples are located on the first page of your test labeled Example 1 and Example 2 These two examples will not be scored they are only an aid to get you accustomed to answering the test items Wait until I announce ldquoExample 1rdquo then listen and mark your answer Letrsquos begin Example 1 is played The correct answer to example 1 is letter B Now we will do one more example Example 2 is played The correct answer to example 2 is letter C Now we will start the test Wait until I announce ldquoPattern 1rdquo then listen and mark your answer Letrsquos begin

Appendix J

Pilot Test Packet

General Information Questionnaire

1 Are you currently a member of a choir at your high school

____Yes ____No please mark all years when you were in a school choir

___ 4th

___ 5th

___ 6th

___ 7th ___ 10th

___ 8th ___ 11th

___ 9th ___ 12th

2 Do you sing in any other choirs that meet regularly (ex church choir)

_____Yes ____No if yes please list the other choirs and number of years involved in each

3 Do you or have you ever played in a band or orchestra at your school

____Yes ____No

if yes please mark all years you played in a school band or orchestra ___ 4th

___ 5th

___ 6th

___ 7th ___ 10th

___ 8th ___ 11th

___ 9th ___ 12th

4 Have you taken private music lessons

_____Yes ____No if yes please list voice or the specific instruments and how many years you have studied each

5 What grade level are you currently in

____Freshman-1st year in high school ____Sophomore ndash 2nd year in high school

rd____Junior ndash 3 year in high school ____Senior ndash 4th year in high school ____Other (please indicate)___________________

6 What is your age __________

copy Culp 2005

The Female Tonal Music Test

copy Culp 2005

Circle Letter of Correct Answer 57

Example 1

D Example 2

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 1

Pattern 2

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 3

Pattern 4

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 5

Pattern 6

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 7

D Pattern 8

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 9

D Pattern 10

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 11

Pattern 12

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 13

D Pattern 14

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 15

D Pattern 16

copy Culp 2005

Pattern 17

Pattern 18

copy Culp 2005

Posttest Questionnaire Please answer questions fully and as indicated

1 Were the directions easily understood by you Yes___ No____

2 Do you have any suggestions for making the instructions more clear and easily understood Yes__ No___ If yes please provide suggestions below

3 Overall what do you think would be the biggest challenge for future students who take

this test

4 Was any item(s) particularly confusing to you Yes___ No___ If yes please indicate which item(s) and why

5 Was any item(s) particularly difficult for you Yes___ No___ If yes please indicate which item(s) and why

6 Do you have any suggestions for improving the test Yes__ No___ If yes please list suggestions below

copy Culp 2005

Appendix K

Recruitment ScriptLetter to Choral Teacher

Hello [Choral Teacher] I am a music education major at ________________University and investigating ldquoHow Students Learn to Read Music in a Choral Settingrdquo To help answer this question a music skills test was developed to measure the tonal music reading abilities of female high school choral students The test was carefully constructed under the guidance of doctoral professors at Penn State University over a period of seven weeks In order to pilot test the tool all administration procedures and test materials have been reviewed and approved by the Institution Review Board in order to collect data from human subjects High school choirs with female choralists are needed for the pilot of the test The purpose of the pilot is to improve the test so it can be used more effectively in the future The final version of the test will accurately assess tonal music reading abilities Teachers will be able to use this test to assess choir members at the beginning of each year to assess ability early in the year A group of experienced music teachers evaluated the test shortly after its conception and gave positive feedback pertaining to structure administration and content Overall some teachers reported that it is a tool they would use in their classrooms to evaluate studentsrsquo ability All female members or a group of female members of the choir of will be asked to complete the test Before the test students will address an envelope containing a letter to notify parents of their daughterrsquos participation that will be mailed home Students will complete a ldquoGeneral Information Questionnairerdquo which consists of questions pertaining to experience in school music The test itself is automated and played over a CD player and takes 23 minutes Students will hear 18 tonal patterns and identify the patterns from a group of possible choices After the test the students will fill out a form designed to give feedback about the test and the test taking experience The whole process is anticipated to take approximately 35 minutes The test is not graded and no identifying material will be gathered from students Responses to questions will only be used to help improve the test so it can be used more effectively in the future If you would like to accept this invitation for participation in the pilot study or if you have any further questions about this study please inquire to the primary researcher Mara Culp at __________ University Thank you for your time Mara Culp Email __________________ Phone _________________

Appendix L

Participant Consent Letter

[Pilot Date] Hello Choral Singers The ability to read music is very important in music education The ability to read and interpret music is one of the most crucial skills a music student should possess Furthermore music has the ability to bring a sense of pride and accomplishment to a studentrsquos life Perhaps most important music is a part of every day life experiences To help understand and discover students who cannot read music ________________________ has asked you to participate in the piloting of a new assessment tool for to judge music reading ability As a volunteer you will take part in a group of students who will take the test in order to make sure the test has no errors which helps to establish validity and reliability No data will be gathered or analyzed about you or your abilities Your responses will be completely anonymous and will be used for the purposes of improving the test that will eventually be used to understand the music reading abilities of high school students in choir Female high school choir students will participate in the pilot group Completing the pilot will take approximately 35 minutes Data collected will be analyzed and used to draw conclusions about the test Your participation is your choice You can stop participation at any time and you do not have to answer any questions that you do not want to All answers will be kept confidential and your name will not be recorded for the pilot study By completing and returning the pilot test you indicate consent to participate For more information about the pilot test you can contact me at ________________ or by e-mail at __________________ Thank you in advance for your help Sincerely Mara Culp Email __________________ Phone _________________

Appendix M

Parental Notification of Student Participation in Pilot Study

[Pilot Date] Dear Parent The ability to read music is very important in music education The ability to read and interpret music is one of the most crucial skills a music student should possess Furthermore music has the ability to bring a sense of pride and accomplishment to a studentrsquos life Perhaps most important music is a part of every day life experiences To help understand and discover students who cannot read music ________________________ has asked your daughter to participate in the piloting of a new assessment tool for to judge music reading ability Your daughter volunteered to participate in a group of students who took the test in order to make sure the test has no errors which helps to establish validity and reliability No data was gathered or analyzed about your daughter Her responses were completely anonymous and will be used for the purposes of improving a test that will eventually be used to understand the music reading abilities of high school students in choir Female high school choir students were used for this Completing the pilot test takes approximately 30 minutes Data collected will be analyzed and used to draw conclusions about the test Your daughterrsquos participation was of her own choosing She had the choice to stop participating at any time and did not have to answer any questions that she did not want to All her answers will be kept confidential and her name was not recorded for the pilot study Information was collected anonymously from volunteers By completing and returning the pilot test your daughter indicated consent to participate For more information about the pilot test you can contact me at ________________ or by e-mail at __________________ Sincerely Mara Culp Email __________________ Phone _________________

Research Articles

Gabriel Akec

Melissa Bebb

Carmen Capo-Lugo

Teralyn Carter

Mariela Colon-Gonzalez

Darryl Cooper amp Noelia Ortiz

Mara Culp

Andrew Dugue

Nallely Gonzalez

Jennifer Hernandez

Jeniffer Hernandez-Martinez

Karmen Herring

Curtis Johnson

Jonathan Jones

Robin Jones

Chandandeep Kaur

Michele Mallette

Kyra Miller

Jamie Monzo

Kelly Nowlin

Chidi Nwoso

Urenna Onyewuchi

Rosa Rameriz

Valerie Reinoso

Breigh Roszelle

Stewart Rouse

Camille Stephen

David Thompson

Koya Tyson

Lauren Webber

Jeremy White

Martina Wilburn

Royous Zacharias

Back to SROP 2005 Vol 13

Back to Journal Selection