<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate principals’ perceptions of the status of music education in secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. The guiding questions were (a) What are secondary school principals’ perceptions of music learning outcomes as they are currently being met and as they should be met under ideal conditions, (b) What are secondary school principals’ perceptions of broad educational goals as they are currently being met and as they should be met under ideal conditions, (c) Is there a difference between principals’ perceptions of current and ideal conditions for the learning outcomes and the educational goals, and (d) What are secondary school principals’ perceptions about the degree to which eleven selected variables impact music education?</p><p> A descriptive research design was used in which secondary school principals (<i>n</i> = 93) were provided with the survey instrument. The survey is organized into four sections based on the questions that are derived from the research purpose and questions. Cronbach’s alpha was used to test for internal consistency of the survey items. Data, related to the first two guiding questions, was fielded via Likert-type scales where the responses represented the principals’ perceptions of the level of realization of the standards for the music learning outcomes and the broad educational goals. For the third guiding question, data analyses included repeated <i> t</i>-tests and Cohen <i>d</i> value measurements to describe differences between the current and ideal perceived conditions of the realization of the standards for the music learning outcomes and the broad educational goals. A Spearman correlation was used to describe the consistency between the current and ideal perceived conditions of the realization of the standards for the music learning outcomes and the broad educational goals. Chi-squared analyses, on the two open-ended questions presented to the principals, were used to examine the differences in how principals perceive certain factors affect their ability to support music programs.</p><p> Results from the repeated <i>t</i>-tests showed that principals believe there is a difference between how the music learning outcomes and broad educational goals are currently being met and how they should be met, under ideal conditions. Chi-squared analyses revealed that there were moderately positive associations between the current and ideal conditions, with the music learning outcomes yielding <i>r<sub>s</sub></i> = .71 and the broad educational goals yielding <i>r<sub>s</sub></i> = .65.; however, results were statistically significant only for the broad educational goals.</p><p> Chi-squared analyses revealed that there were no significant differences in the ways principals perceived how 11 variables (a) Medium-Term Policy Framework 2011-2014, (b) Students, (c) Parents, (d) Budget/Finances, (e) Scheduling, (f) Standardized tests, (g) School Board, (h) Governing Office/Ministry of Education, (i) Music Teacher, (j) Classroom Teacher, and (k) Educational and Scientific Research were impacting the music programs. Results showed that the principals were mostly inclined to remain neutral about the effects of most of the variables and that they did not consider any of the variables to either strongly positively or strongly negatively affect the music program. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3745857 |
| Date | 15 January 2016 |
| Creators | Blackman, Eldon |
| Publisher | Temple University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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