reference list, 280 titles.The purpose of the meta-analysis was to address the varied and somewhat stratified study results within the area of singing ability and instruction by statistically summarizing the data of related studies. An analysis yielded a small overall mean effect size for instruction across 34 studies, 433 unique effects, and 5,497 participants ranging in age from 5-to 11-years old (g = 0.43). The largest overall study effect size across categorical variables included the effects of same and different discrimination techniques on mean score gains. The largest overall effect size across categorical moderator variables included research design: Pretest-posttest 1 group design.Overall mean effects by primary moderator variable ranged from trivial to moderate. Feedback yielded the largest effect regarding teaching condition, 8-year-old children yielded the largest effect regarding age, girls yielded the largest effect regarding gender, the Boardman assessment measure yielded the largest effect regarding measurement instrument, and song accuracy yielded the largest effect regarding measured task. Conclusions address implications for teaching, research pedagogy, and research practice within the field of music education.

The purpose of the study was to describe elementary music method choice and certification method choice overall and across the elementary music career cycle. Participants (N = 254) were categorized as Level I or Elementary Division in a southwestern music education association database. The questionnaire included 25 four-point Likerttype items that measured music curriculum alignment to given methods and agreement with statements concerning respondent school district curriculum, personal method practices, and motives concerning the pursuit of one or more method certifications. Gathered information was converted into descriptive statistics. Kodály and Orff were the method certifications of choice overall and across the elementary music career cycle. Perceptions and motives varied little across the career cycle. Conclusions include suggestions concerning professional development.

The purpose of the study was to describe research leaders' perceptions of the relative importance of various research preparation opportunities for future music education professors. The 122 questionnaire respondents answered 38 Likert-type and open-ended content questions that asked about research experiences, research skills, research resources, and research coursework. The highest rated research experience was having each doctoral student do an oral presentation of his or her research, the highest rated research skill was the ability to choose an important research question for a study, the highest rated research resource was SPSS, and the most common response for what coursework should be required for doctoral students was a basic course that introduced the students to research concepts. Conclusions address the possible programmatic applications of the results.

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Recent research describing the practices of specialist elementary general music teachers and students is limited, and few research studies specifically examine how practicing music educators think about their music teaching practices. In this mixed-methods case study, we bridged these areas of research by examining music educators’ expressed beliefs about music teaching and learning in light of descriptive analysis and hierarchical linear models (HLM) of time sampling data of their teaching practices in elementary music classrooms. Participants ( N = 7) shared beliefs that everyone is musical and that music educators must therefore create an environment in which children develop their musicianship by singing, moving, and playing. Time sampling data indicated that teachers spent most of their time talking, while students spent most of their time sitting still and silent. Children in younger grades spent significantly more time in movement activities than those in older grades. HLM analyses provided predictive implications for teachers’ use of singing and movement. In this article, we present findings from qualitative analysis of planning artifacts, reflections, and interviews and from HLM of time sampling data, and discuss potential meanings for music teaching and music teacher education.