Attitude Assessment of Upper Elementary Students in a Process-Oriented Music Curriculum

The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether attitudes among students engaged in a Process-Oriented Music Curriculum (POMC) differ as a function of gender, grade level, socioeconomic status, and musical aptitude. The research questions the writer sought to answer were: 1. How do music attitudes differ among students engaged in a POMC according to grade level, gender, and socioeconomic status? 2. Are there any relationships between low, average, or high musical aptitude and classroom music attitudes? 3. Is there a relationship between a measure of global attitude toward music class and a measure of attitude toward classroom musical experiences? 4. Are classroom music attitudes of students related to (a) membership in a school performing organization and (b) private study of a musical instrument? Subjects ( N = 411) were derived from intact fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade classes from three suburban elementary schools where a curriculum modeled after the Manhattanville Music Curriculum Program had been in use for at least 2 years. The three measures used to collect data were (a) the Music Class Attitude Index, (b) the Musical Attitude Inventory, and (c) Melody and Rhythm subtests of the Musical Aptitude Profile. Data resulting from the two attitude instruments were analyzed by two repetitions of a 3 × 3 × 2 analysis of variance for grade level, socioeconomic status, and gender. Pearson product-moment correlations were computed to analyze the relationship between the two attitude instruments and the relationships between each of the attitude instruments and the remaining variables. Among the findings of the study are: 1. Classroom music attitudes vary as a function of grade level, socioeconomic level, and gender. 2. Classroom music attitudes and musical aptitude are essentially unrelated to each other. 3. A close correspondence exists between students' global attitudes toward music class and attitudes toward their music class activities. 4. Classroom music attitudes are not strongly influenced by the participation of students in performing groups or private instrumental study.