Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin, 1969. / Typescript (photocopy). eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [108]-116).

For almost seventy years, the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS) has been the official preparatory school for West Point, yet during that time no comprehensive study has been done regarding its impact upon its graduates; moreover, no study had been done on the impact of its English Department regarding the extent to which that department has prepared its students for the West Point English program. This research project undertook the latter topic and specifically addressed the extent to which the USMAPS English Department has prepared its students for their first core English course at West Point, EN 101. This research project used a mixed methods, case study method that relied almost equally on qualitative and quantitative data for its findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The conceptual framework for this study was twofold: that of an input, intervention, and output model, in which the input was USMAPS students, the intervention was the USMAPS English program, and the output was those students’ performance in EN 101, as measured by final course grades; and a values-based framework for that intervention. The qualitative data for this study consisted of a focus group discussion, class observations, interviews, and surveys of student and faculty perceptions. A series of queries collected the quantitative data for this study; this data was centered upon EN 101 GPAs and standardized test scores. This study resulted in seven findings, and its conclusions and recommendations are grounded in five themes that focus upon data integrity, curriculum reform, assessments, school culture, and transferability of findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Although this study found that the perceptions of faculty and students clearly were that the USMAPS English program had prepared its students well for EN 101, those perceptions, combined with this study’s quantitative data, could not definitively establish the extent to which the USMAPS English program had prepared its students for EN 101. Ultimately, though, a combination of clear-cut perceptions and strongly suggestive quantitative data enabled this study to arrive at one very important, overarching conclusion: the USMAPS English program has made important contributions to its students’ preparation for the USMA English program.

The United States Military Academy Band, also known as the West Point Band is the oldest active band in the United States Army and the oldest unit at the United States Military Academy, and is considered to be one of the finest military musical organizations in the world. The band has also been instrumental in facilitating the creation of new works for wind band.As the commissioning of new music has been essential to the expansion of the wind band's repertoire, several major commissioning projects were undertaken in the mid-twentieth century by various organizations, including the West Point Band, the Goldman Band in conjunction with the League of Composers and later the American Bandmasters Association, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, the American Wind Symphony, and the College Band Directors National Association. These commissioning projects and many others have contributed hosts of new quality works to the repertoire of the wind band. The West Point Band's 1952 commissioning project celebrating the Sesquicentennial of the United States Military Academy was among the first of these mid-twentieth century commissioning projects to seek out prominent composers of the day and have them write works for wind band. The project contributed several seminal pieces to the wind band's repertoire, including Morton Gould's Symphony for Band: West Point. In 1996, as tribute to both the Academy and to the earlier commissioning project, the West Point Band sought to celebrate the Academy's 2002 bicentennial in a similar fashion by commissioning well-known composers to contribute substantial wind works. These pieces would be premiered and recorded by the West Point Band over a number of years, including a gala Bicentennial Celebration concert at Carnegie Hall in March 2002. The purpose of this study is to create a consolidated written record of the wind music composed for the West Point Band as part of the band's Bicentennial Wind Commissioning Project, and to describe the process and circumstances by which this music was created and premiered. The continuing development of a quality original repertoire is important to the wind band community as a whole, and commissioning composers to write wind band music is the primary means by which new music is acquired. By any account, the twenty-six works produced through the West Point Band's Bicentennial Commissioning Project constitute a significant contribution to this repertoire. As this project and many of these pieces are not well known, it is the author's intent to bring increased attention to this commissioning project and to this music.