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Do declining enrollments predict music teacher turnover?

Article
Kenneth Elpus & David S. Miller
Journal of Research in Music Education
Publication year: 2023

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between student enrollment trends in elective secondary music ensembles and music ensemble teacher job turnover. Although student enrollment is widely accepted as an important concern for music educators and a crude proxy measure of music teacher quality, these normative beliefs have not been thoroughly examined empirically. This study tested these beliefs using data from a State Longitudinal Data System to link statewide high school student ensemble enrollment data to teacher workforce data for the academic years 2012 to 2013 through 2019 to 2020. Two-way fixed effects estimators with logistic and multinomial logistic regression showed that decreasing enrollments in high school music ensembles predict music teachers’ departure from the profession. A comparative interrupted time-series analysis showed that a change in music teacher does not significantly affect the future enrollment trend of a high school music ensemble program. An exploratory analysis examining the postteaching careers of former high school music teachers showed that the majority of music teachers who exited the profession earned considerably higher wages in their new careers.

School music and the transition to college

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Journal of Research in Music Education, 69(4), 402–424.
Publication year: 2022

Abstract
This study explored the transition from secondary to postsecondary education among a national sample of students who had and had not studied music in high school. Using evidence from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, a nationally representative longitudinal study of N = 21,440 American high school students who were ninth graders in the 2009-2010 school year, music and non-music students were compared for college admission outcomes. Specifically, music and non-music students were compared in terms of participation in the college admission process, selectivity of colleges applied to and attended, scholarship and grant receipt, and election of either an arts or STEM major. Comparisons controlled for the well-documented preexisting differences among those students who do and do not elect high school music study. Results showed that music and non-music students dropped out of high school, applied to college, attended college, received college scholarships and grants, and majored in STEM fields at statistically similar rates. Music students were, however, considerably more likely to major in a visual or performing arts field than non-music students. These results suggest that school music study does not disadvantage students in the transition to college, even when compared with peers who elected additional “academic” subjects in lieu of music.

Middle school music uptake and achievement: Evidence from the 2016 Arts National Assessment of Educational Progress

Article
Kenneth Elpus
in press, Journal of Research in Music Education
Publication year: 2022

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the demographic characteristics and music achievement of eighth-grade students in the United States using evidence from the 2016 National Assessment of Educational Progress in the Arts (NAEP). Analyzing NAEP data from a nationally representative sample of 4,340 eighth-graders attending public and private middle schools in the United States in 2016, The author estimated enrollment percentages in various kinds of music classes and compared Music NAEP scores across various individual characteristics. Results showed that 64% of eighth-graders enrolled in a school music class, with 34% of eighth-graders enrolling in an ensemble class. Among ensemble students, there was underrepresentation of Black and Latinx students and underrepresentation of students of lower socioeconomic status. Students who were enrolled in general music and not an ensemble did not follow this pattern: Black and Latinx students and students of lower socioeconomic means were overrepresented among general music students. Controlling for contextual and demographic characteristics, ensemble music students significantly outscored nonmusic students on the Music NAEP, but students enrolled in general music as their only music course scored statistically indistinguishably from their nonmusic peers.

Access to arts education in America: The availability of visual art, music, dance, and theater courses in U.S. high schools

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Arts Education Policy Review, 123(2), 50–69.
Publication year: 2022

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to understand the contextual, school-level factors associated with the availability of arts education courses in the high schools of the United States. In the study, course offerings for a nationally representative sample of N = 940 high schools that were part of the National Center for Education Statistics High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS) were analyzed to understand whether there were common school characteristics linked to the availability of visual art, music, dance, or theater courses. Results suggest that the strongest and most consistent school factor related to arts course availability was school size. As enrollment increased, so did the likelihood of offering any arts course or more than one of the arts disciplines. Traditional public schools had the greatest likelihood of offering arts education, followed by Catholic schools, and non-Catholic private schools. Public charter high schools were the least likely to offer courses in the arts. Proportion of students eligible for free- or reduced-price lunch was also associated with the probability of offering arts courses, with decreased arts availability at schools serving greater proportions of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program. Neither urbanicity nor region of the country were significantly associated with arts availability. The analyses reported in the article are both aggregated across all disciplines and disaggregated for each art form.

Who enrolls in high school music? A national profile of U.S. students, 2009–2013

Article
Kenneth Elpus and Carlos R. Abril
Journal of Research in Music Education, 67(3), 323-338.
Publication year: 2019

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to construct a complete demographic profile of high school music ensemble students using nationally representative data for the U.S. graduating high school class of 2013. We make use of restricted-use data from the National Center for Education Statistics High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS). Results showed that 24% of the class of 2013 enrolled in at least one year of a course in band, choir, or orchestra at some point during high school. Music students were 60% female and 40% male, and the racial/ethnic composition of music ensemble students was 58% White, 13% Black or African American, 17% Hispanic or Latino, 4% Asian or Pacific Islander, 8% two or more races, and under 1% American Indian or Alaska Native. Students from the highest socioeconomic status quintiles were overrepresented among music students. Fully 61% of music ensemble students participated in some form of arts activity outside of school, and 71% of music students attended a play, concert, or live show with their parents as ninth graders. Complete results presented in the article include disaggregated profiles by type of ensemble and a multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Music booster groups: Alleviating or exacerbating funding inequality in American public school music education?

Article
Kenneth Elpus and Adam Grisé
Journal of Research in Music Education, 67(1), 6-22
Publication year: 2019

Abstract
As fundraising has become a key component of American public school music educators’ professional responsibilities, in many places, parent organizations have taken an increasingly outsized role in raising private funds to supplement public school music budgets. The purpose of this study was to understand the finances of public school music parents’ associations and music booster groups and to understand the relation between the socioeconomic status of school communities and the amount of money raised by their local music booster groups. Using Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fiscal 2015 data for 5,575 music booster groups throughout the United States, we found evidence that, collectively, music booster groups raised at least $215 million in support of public school music education. At least four groups raised over $1,000,000; at least 31 raised over $500,000; and at least 723 raised over $100,000 each. We found that total booster revenues were significantly associated with local median household income. Each additional $1,000 of local median household income was associated with an additional $305 in revenue for booster groups filing IRS Form 990-EZ (“short form”) and with an additional $1,637 in revenue for booster groups filing the full IRS Form 990.


Data Availability Statement
An anonymized version of the data analyzed for this study and the statistical code to replicate the analyses are available at the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland, https://doi.org/10.13016/ M25X25H02.

Estimating the effect of music and arts coursework on college admissions outcomes

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Arts Education Policy Review, 119(3), 111-123.
Publication year: 2018

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine postsecondary admissions outcomes for music and arts students as compared to their non-arts peers using nationally representative data (N = 14,900) from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. Controlling for certain observable differences between students who do and do not elect arts courses, music students were more likely to apply to college and to attend college than their non-arts peers. Arts students were similar to non-arts students in terms of college selectivity and pursued science, technology, mathematics, and engineering majors at similar rates to non-arts students. This analysis suggests taking arts coursework in high school does not hinder successful college admissions outcomes as may be feared by well-intentioned guidance counselors or parents. Implications for college admission and local policies are considered.

Funding Statement
This analysis was supported in part by an award from the Research Grants in the Arts program of the National Endowment for the Arts: Grant #13-3800-7006.

Music education promotes lifelong engagement with the arts

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Psychology of Music, 46(2), 155-173
Publication year: 2017

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of school-based music education on later adult engagement with the arts using nationally representative data from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. The probability of adult arts engagement as performer/creator and patron/consumer was estimated as functions of prior school-based music and arts education participation with statistical covariate control applied for demographic variables known to vary with music education status. Results suggest that both music performance and music appreciation courses are strongly associated with later arts participation as patron/consumer and performer/creator, even after controlling for socioeconomic status, sex, and race/ethnicity. Former music appreciation students were 93% more likely to attend classical music or opera performances as adults and 255% more likely to play a musical instrument as adults than were non-participants. Former music performance students were 342% more likely to play a musical instrument, 258% more likely to sing, and 186% more likely to take photographs as an artistic endeavor than were non-participants. Results of this study suggest that lifelong engagement with music and the arts is one measurable outcome of school-based music education in the United States.


Funding

This analysis was supported in part by an award from the Research Grants in the Arts program of the National Endowment for the Arts: Grant #14-3800-7020.

Just ask me: Convergent validity of self-reported measures of music participation

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Journal of Research in Music Education, 65(2), 129-138
Publication year: 2017

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the convergent validity of self-reported and objective measures of school music ensemble participation. Self-reported survey responses to a question about high school music ensemble participation and administrative data in the form of high school transcript-indicated ensemble enrollments were compared across N = 62,110 observations. Cohen’s kappa (κ) showed substantial agreement between self-reports and the administrative data. Evidence from the study suggests that self-reports are a valid measure of music ensemble participation, suitable for use in social scientific music education research.

Bullying victimization among music ensemble and theatre students in the United States

Article
Kenneth Elpus and Bruce Allen Carter
Journal of Research in Music Education, 64(3), 322-343
Publication year: 2016

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence of reported school victimization through physical, verbal, social/relational, and cyberbullying aggression among music ensemble and theatre students in the middle and high schools of the United States as compared to their peers involved in other school-based activities. We analyzed nationally representative data from five waves (2005–2013) of the biannual School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, a joint project of the U.S. Bureau for Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics. Logistic regression results showed that music ensemble and theatre students were significantly more likely to be victimized by in-person bullying than their non-arts peers. A significant interaction between sex and arts status showed that male music and theatre students faced the greatest risk of being subjected to physical bullying aggression while female music and theatre students faced the greatest risk of victimization through social/relational aggression. Though incidents of experiencing hate speech were rare, music and theatre students faced a significantly greater risk of hate speech victimization than non-arts students. The overall probability of a music student being victimized by any type of in-person bullying was .34 compared to .25 for non-arts students.

National estimates of male and female enrolment in American high school choirs, bands and orchestras

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Music Education Research, 17(1), 88-102
Publication year: 2015

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to estimate, at a national level and over time, the participation rates of males and females among those students who formally enroll in American high school music ensembles. Ten cohorts of nationally representative samples of students from 1982 and 2009 were analyzed using data from High School Transcript Studies conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. Results of the present study indicated that, for the time period studied, females were significantly overrepresented in all three traditional US high school music ensemble areas: choir, band and orchestra. As might be expected, choral music enrollment was the most consistently imbalanced by gender across the cohorts, with roughly 70% female and 30% male enrollment in each of the cohorts under study. The results of this study suggest that the US music education emphasis on ensemble music making promotes gender sorting of females into music at the high school level. This finding raises questions about the dominance of males among the ranks of working instrumental music educators and the efficacy of the profession’s attempts to recruit more males into choral singing.

Music teacher licensure candidates in the United States: A demographic profile and analysis of licensure examination scores

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Journal of Research in Music Education, 63(3), 322-343
Publication year: 2015

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze the demographic profile of candidates seeking music teacher licensure in the United States and to understand whether performance on the Praxis II music teacher licensure tests varies systematically as a function of various demographic characteristics. Praxis II music test data and background questionnaire responses, provided by the Educational Testing Service, were analyzed for all examinees from 2007 through 2012 (N = 20,521). Results showed that music teacher licensure candidates were a highly selected subset of the population. Candidates identified as 86.02% White, 7.07% Black, 1.94% Hispanic, 1.79% Asian, 0.30% Native American/Alaska Native, 0.32% Pacific Islander, 0.82% Multiracial, and 1.74% Other. Compared to various populations of interest with known ethnic/racial compositions, people of color were significantly underrepresented among music teacher licensure candidates, while White people were significantly overrepresented. Analyses of Praxis II music exam scores showed that Praxis II score was significantly associated with race, sex, and other demographic characteristics. Analyses indicated that White candidates earned significantly higher Praxis II scores than did Black candidates and that male candidates earned significantly higher scores than did female candidates. Implications of these results for music teacher education and the diversity of the music teacher workforce are discussed.

Evaluating the effect of No Child Left Behind on U.S. music course enrollments

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Journal of Research in Music Education, 62(3), 215-233
Publication year: 2014

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate nationwide enrollment in high school music courses from 1982 until 2009 to determine what trends in music enrollment existed and whether these trends were affected by the passage and implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). With data from 10 separate nationally representative high school transcript studies conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, a unique data set was constructed that tracked the transcript-indicated 9th- through 12th-grade music course enrollment patterns for the U.S. graduating classes of 1982, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, and 2009. Descriptive results showed that overall music enrollment patterns were relatively stable in the public schools, with roughly 34% of all students consistently enrolling in at least one music course during high school across all cohorts. Abbreviated interrupted time series analyses suggest that NCLB had no effect on overall music enrollment rates but exacerbated the preexisting underrepresentation in music courses of Hispanic students, English language learners, and students with Individualized Education Plans.

Music in U.S. federal education policy: Estimating the effect of “core status” for music

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Arts Education Policy Review, 114(1), 13-24
Publication year: 2013

Abstract
This article reviews the political and empirical record within music education surrounding the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and reports a new study evaluating the effects of the law on music and arts education policies in U.S. high schools. School-level data (N = 670 schools) from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 were independently pooled to estimate the effects of Goals 2000 on the number of unique music courses high schools offered, the probability that schools would enforce a local arts graduation requirement, and the number of arts courses required for graduation. Results showed no effect on the number of unique music courses offered. However, for schools in states that prior to Goals 2000 had no arts education mandate or had a flexible arts education mandate, Goals 2000 significantly increased the probability of schools requiring the arts, as well as the number of arts credits required for graduation. The article concludes with implications for the arts in the current Common Core Standards movement.

Is it the music or is it selection bias? A nationwide analysis of music and non-music students’ SAT scores

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Journal of Research in Music Education, 61(2), 175-194
Publication year: 2013

Abstract
This study examined the college entrance examination scores of music and non-music students in the United States, drawing data from the restricted-use data set of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS), a nationally representative education study (N = 15,630) conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. Analyses of high school transcript data from ELS showed that 1.127 million students (36.38% of the U.S. class of 2004) graduated high school having earned at least one course credit in music. Fixed-effects regression procedures were used to compare standardized test scores of these music students to their non-music peers while controlling for variables from the domains of demography, prior academic achievement, time use, and attitudes toward school. Results indicated that music students did not outperform non-music students on the SAT once these systematic differences had been statistically controlled. The obtained pattern of results remained consistent and robust through internal replications with another standardized math test and when disaggregating music students by type of music studied.

Merit pay and the music teacher

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Arts Education Policy Review, 112(4), 180-190
Publication year: 2011

Abstract
Current proponents of education reform are at present seeking to fundamentally change the system of teacher compensation by eliminating the traditional single salary schedule and instituting a merit pay system that directly links teacher pay to student achievement. To date, the scholarly literature in music education has been silent on the subject of teacher compensation reform. This article reviews the political arguments and empirical evidence on teacher merit pay while considering these reforms’ potential deleterious effects on music educators. After examining the potential pitfalls of a merit pay system for music educators, I propose one possible framework for evaluating music teachers in a merit pay system.

High school music ensemble students in the United States: A demographic profile

Article
Kenneth Elpus and Carlos R. Abril
Journal of Research in Music Education, 59(2), 128-145
Publication year: 2011

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to construct a national demographic profile of high school band, choir, and orchestra students in the United States using evidence from the 2004 follow-up wave of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. Results indicate that 21% of seniors in the United States’ class of 2004 participated in school music ensembles. Significant associations were found between music ensemble participation and variables including gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), native language, parents’ education, standardized test scores, and GPA. Certain groups of students, including those who are male, English language learners, Hispanic, children of parents holding a high school diploma or less, and in the lowest SES quartile, were significantly underrepresented in music programs across the United States. In contrast, white students were significantly overrepresented among music students, as were students from higher SES backgrounds, native English speakers, students in the highest standardized test score quartiles, children of parents holding advanced postsecondary degrees, and students with GPAs ranging from 3.01 to 4.0. Findings indicate that music students are not a representative subset of the population of U.S. high school students.

Organizing your parents for effective advocacy

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Music Educators Journal, 95(2), 57-61
Publication year: 2008

Improving music education advocacy

Article
Kenneth Elpus
Arts Education Policy Review, 108(3), 13-18
Publication year: 2007

Abstract
Music education has always required advocacy to solidify its place in the school curriculum. Music teachers are increasingly called on to justify their existence and importance in the schools, and yet, are often unprepared to advocate on their own behalf without the use of advocacy materials that are created on the basis of questionable research, questionable interpretations of valid research, or materials that demean the profession. This practical advocacy crisis is created by the lack of a solid philosophical basis for music education advocacy, the profusion of questionable advocacy materials available, and the lack of lobbying at the federal and state levels for meaningful laws that give arts education true core status. In the article, the author discusses suggestions for improving advocacy methods and materials.