This study was conducted with first-year teachers. It provided insight into two key research questions: (1) What were the perceptions of new teachers regarding a standards-based performance appraisal system as it was implemented on their campus? (2) What factors contributed to the perceptions of new teachers regarding this system as it was implemented on their campus? This study was conducted in two phases. The first phase was an online survey consisting of 24 Likert-type, 4-point items designed to elicit responses regarding the individual teachers’ experience with the standards-based evaluation. These survey scores were then totaled and ranked to determine the top and bottom scoring participants. Extreme scoring respondents participated in individual interviews regarding the specific contributing factors behind their perceptions of the evaluation in the second phase. Interview data were then read and phenomena were coded to develop broad themes and subthemes of information that occurred during each interview. These patterns were analyzed to reveal factors that contributed to the negative and positive perceptions. This study found that the value a teacher placed on the evaluation process was influenced by the principal. In addition, teachers who felt well-prepared and well-supported by their peers and their principal viewed the experience positively, and teachers also placed a higher value on the process when they felt they received meaningful and timely feedback and/or were provided opportunity for self-reflection. Finally, this study found that the relationship teachers have with principals is not always a factor in their perception of the standards-based appraisal process.

New teachers’ perceptions of a standards-based performance appraisal system

The social psychology of musical groups is a new but emerging area of inquiry that is critically reviewed here. Professional musicians (N = 227) from 16 major orchestras throughout the United States and Canada completed a questionnaire dealing with stereotypes and personality traits of musicians from each of the four major orchestral sections (strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion). The brass and strings were consistently on opposite poles of the continua.

Stereotypes Concerning Musicians Within Symphony Orchestras

The preferences of a group of 92 fifth-grade students were compared with the preferences of a group of 14 music teachers for 20 common instructional objectives. Each objective was demonstrated for the students, who indicated on Likert-type scales how much they would like to achieve that objective. Teachers' responses on similar scales were obtained through written questionnaires. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests revealed significant disparities between students and teachers for 10 of the objectives. The students' most favored objectives included instrumental playing within a tune context. Teacher-preferred objectives for which students' attitudes were generally negative included those that required listening and knowledge of harmonic and melodic rhythm and formal structure. In order that achievement may be demonstrated through student-preferred activities, it seems that restatement of objectives low in preference is desirable.

A Comparison of Preferences for Instructional Objectives between Teachers and Students.

In the early 1 970s there was very little research into world musics in music education. Since then, research in this area has increased dramatically. A substantial number of these studies have been undertaken as part of dissertation requirements. To ascertain the current state of this research, the present study provides a review of those doctoral studies dealing with the teaching of world musics in the United States listed in Dissertation Abstracts International from 1973 to 1 993 . Recommendations for further research in this area found in Lundquist's dissertation ( 1 973) form the basis for this review. Research topics included philosophical and historical questions, studies of students' attitudes and achievement, teachers' attitudes and training, and the compilation and evaluation of materials such as lesson plans, units of study, resource books, and course outlines. Although the sheer number of studies indicates that teaching world musics is a substantive issue in music education, only the development of resource materials appears well investigated. The areas of materials evaluation, teacher preparation, attitudes, and philosophical and historical issues remain relatively unexplored.

World Musics and Music Education: A Review of Research, 1973-1993.

This study investigates the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of constructivist teaching–learning activities and of constructivist curriculum change. Data were collected from 236 primary school teachers through a questionnaire measuring the perceptions of constructivist curriculum change and of the implementation of constructivist teaching–learning activities. The questionnaire was developed by the researchers based on the related literature. It was subjected to expert review for content validity, and its reliability was established through a pilot study. The data were analyzed through bivariate correlations and linear regression analyses. Results indicated that teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of constructivist teaching–learning activities are positively correlated with and predicted by their perceptions of constructivist curriculum change.

Teachers’ perceptions of constructivist curriculum change as a predictor of their perceptions of the implementation of constructivist teaching–learning activities

Everett W. Nicholson

Papers

Principal's Influence on Teacher's Attitude and Implementation of Curricular Change.

Relationship between teacher viewpoints towards a culturally oriented music program and black pupils achievement and viewpoints towards the program.