Readability formulas are used widely in education, and increasingly in business and government. Over 30 years of research on more than 200 readability formulas has demonstrated moderate to strong predictive correlations with reading comprehension. In this study, five well-known readability formulas correlated highly with each other when applied to selected recent historical articles (N = 22) from two music education research journals. The mean level of difficulty (readability) for all 22 articles was grade 14.04, near the beginning of the second year of college. Since research shows that most people read below their highest completed school grade and also prefer easier materials, this is probably an appropriate level of difficulty for the presumptive readers of these two journals (i.e., holders of undergraduate and graduate degrees). Professors, librarians, and others responsible for guiding students toward reading material at appropriate levels of readability could benefit from these results.

The purpose of this study was to examine the professional contributions of Alice Carey Inskeep (1875-1942), who contributed significantly to music education through her positive and effective teaching, supervising, community service, and leadership in music education. Inskeep was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, and taught for five years in that city's school system after graduating from high school. She served as music supervisor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for most of the remainder of her career, and she provided progressive leadership to the schools and community. She was one of three people appointed to plan the initial meeting in Keokuk, Iowa, for what eventually became MENC: The National Association for Music Education, and she was one of sixty-nine founding members of the organization in 1907. The Keokuk meeting served as an impetus for Inskeep to to travel to Chicago, where she studied with several notable music educators. Later, she sat on the organization's nominating committee, the first Educational Council (precursor to the Music Education Research Council) board of directors, and provided leadership to two of the organization's affiliates, the North Central Division and the Iowa Music Educators Association. She served as a part-time or summer faculty member at Iowa State Normal School and Coe College in Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, respectively, and the American Institute of Normal Methods in Evanston, Illinois, and Auburndale, Massachusetts.

This invited speech was about various aspects of the world of music education in the United States, including how European art music continues to be emphasized, how music educators think it is their job to improve people's taste in music, the folly of top-down curricular initiatives, especially federal ones, and more.