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Description
The end of the nineteenth century was an exhilarating and revolutionary era for the flute. This period is the Second Golden Age of the flute, when players and teachers associated with the Paris Conservatory developed what would be considered the birth of the modern flute school. In addition, the founding

The end of the nineteenth century was an exhilarating and revolutionary era for the flute. This period is the Second Golden Age of the flute, when players and teachers associated with the Paris Conservatory developed what would be considered the birth of the modern flute school. In addition, the founding in 1871 of the Société Nationale de Musique by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) and Romain Bussine (1830-1899) made possible the promotion of contemporary French composers. The founding of the Société des Instruments à Vent by Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) in 1879 also invigorated a new era of chamber music for wind instruments. Within this groundbreaking environment, Mélanie Hélène Bonis (pen name Mel Bonis) entered the Paris Conservatory in 1876, under the tutelage of César Franck (1822-1890). Many flutists are dismayed by the scarcity of repertoire for the instrument in the Romantic and post-Romantic traditions; they make up for this absence by borrowing the violin sonatas of Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and Franck. The flute and piano works of Mel Bonis help to fill this void with music composed originally for flute. Bonis was a prolific composer with over 300 works to her credit, but her works for flute and piano have not been researched or professionally recorded in the United States before the present study. Although virtually unknown today in the American flute community, Bonis's music received much acclaim from her contemporaries and deserves a prominent place in the flutist's repertoire. After a brief biographical introduction, this document examines Mel Bonis's musical style and describes in detail her six works for flute and piano while also offering performance suggestions.
ContributorsDaum, Jenna Elyse (Author) / Buck, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
This study examined the intended and unintended consequences associated with the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) as perceived and experienced by teachers in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). To evaluate teacher effectiveness, HISD is using EVAAS for high-stakes consequences more than any other district or state in the country.

This study examined the intended and unintended consequences associated with the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) as perceived and experienced by teachers in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). To evaluate teacher effectiveness, HISD is using EVAAS for high-stakes consequences more than any other district or state in the country. A large-scale electronic survey was used to investigate the model's reliability and validity; to determine whether teachers used the EVAAS data in formative ways as intended; to gather teachers' opinions on EVAAS's claimed benefits and statements; and to understand the unintended consequences that occurred as a result of EVAAS use in HISD. Mixed methods data collection and analyses were used to present the findings in user-friendly ways, particularly when using the words and experiences of the teachers themselves. Results revealed that the reliability of the EVAAS model produced split and inconsistent results among teacher participants, and teachers indicated that students biased the EVAAS results. The majority of teachers did not report similar EVAAS and principal observation scores, reducing the criterion-related validity of both measures of teacher quality. Teachers revealed discrepancies in the distribution of EVAAS reports, the awareness of trainings offered, and among principals' understanding of EVAAS across the district. This resulted in an underwhelming number of teachers who reportedly used EVAAS data for formative purposes. Teachers disagreed with EVAAS marketing claims, implying the majority did not believe EVAAS worked as intended and promoted. Additionally, many unintended consequences associated with the high-stakes use of EVAAS emerged through teachers' responses, which revealed among others that teachers felt heightened pressure and competition, which reduced morale and collaboration, and encouraged cheating or teaching to the test in attempt to raise EVAAS scores. This study is one of the first to investigate how the EVAAS model works in practice and provides a glimpse of whether value-added models might produce desired outcomes and encourage best teacher practices. This is information of which policymakers, researchers, and districts should be aware and consider when implementing the EVAAS, or any value-added model for teacher evaluation, as many of the reported issues are not specific to the EVAAS model.
ContributorsCollins, Clarin (Author) / Amrein-Beardsley, Audrey (Thesis advisor) / Berliner, David C. (Committee member) / Fischman, Gustavo E (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This project includes a recording and performance guide for three newly commissioned pieces for the clarinet. The first piece, shimmer, was written by Grant Jahn and is for B-flat clarinet and electronics. The second piece, Paragon, is for B-flat clarinet and piano and was composed by Dr. Theresa Martin. The

This project includes a recording and performance guide for three newly commissioned pieces for the clarinet. The first piece, shimmer, was written by Grant Jahn and is for B-flat clarinet and electronics. The second piece, Paragon, is for B-flat clarinet and piano and was composed by Dr. Theresa Martin. The third and final piece, Duality in the Eye of a Bovine, was written by Kurt Mehlenbacher and is for B-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, and piano. In addition to the performance guide, this document also includes background information and program notes for the compositions, as well as composer biographical information, a list of other works featuring the clarinet by each composer, and transcripts of composer and performer interviews. This document is accompanied by a recording of the three pieces.
ContributorsPoupard, Caitlin Marie (Author) / Spring, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Gardner, Joshua (Thesis advisor) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / Oldani, Robert (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The primary objective of this research project is to expand the clarinet repertoire with the addition of four new pieces. Each of these new pieces use contemporary clarinet techniques, including electronics, prerecorded sounds, multiphonics, circular breathing, multiple articulation, demi-clarinet, and the clari-flute. The repertoire composed includes Grant Jahn’s Duo for

The primary objective of this research project is to expand the clarinet repertoire with the addition of four new pieces. Each of these new pieces use contemporary clarinet techniques, including electronics, prerecorded sounds, multiphonics, circular breathing, multiple articulation, demi-clarinet, and the clari-flute. The repertoire composed includes Grant Jahn’s Duo for Two Clarinets, Reggie Berg’s Funkalicious for Clarinet and Piano, Rusty Banks’ Star Juice for Clarinet and Fixed Media, and Chris Malloy’s A Celestial Breath for Clarinet and Electronics. In addition to the musical commissions, this project also includes interviews with the composers indicating how they wrote these works and what their influences were, along with any information pertinent to the performer, professional recordings of each piece, as well as performance notes and suggestions.
ContributorsCase-Ruchala, Celeste Ann (Contributor) / Gardner, Joshua (Thesis advisor) / Spring, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
ABSTRACT Many musicians, both amateur and professional alike, are continuously seeking to expand and explore their performance literature and repertory. Introducing new works into the standard repertory is an exciting endeavor for any active musician. Establishing connections, commissioning new works, and collaborating on performances can all work

ABSTRACT Many musicians, both amateur and professional alike, are continuously seeking to expand and explore their performance literature and repertory. Introducing new works into the standard repertory is an exciting endeavor for any active musician. Establishing connections, commissioning new works, and collaborating on performances can all work together toward the acceptance and success of a composer's music within an instrument community. For the flute, one such composer is Daniel Dorff (b. 1956). Dorff, a Philadelphia-based composer, has written for symphony orchestra, clarinet, contrabassoon, and others; however, his award-winning works for flute and piccolo are earning him much recognition. He has written works for such illustrious flutists as Mimi Stillman, Walfrid Kujala, and Gary Schocker; his flute works have been recorded by Laurel Zucker, Pamela Youngblood and Lois Bliss Herbine; and his pieces have been performed and premiered at each of the National Flute Association Conventions from 2004 to 2009. Despite this success, little has been written about Dorff's life, compositional style, and contributions to the flute repertory. In order to further promote the flute works of Daniel Dorff, the primary focus of this study is the creation of a compact disc recording of Dorff's most prominent works for flute: April Whirlwind, 9 Walks Down 7th Avenue, both for flute and piano, and Nocturne Caprice for solo flute. In support of this recording, the study also provides biographical information regarding Daniel Dorff, discusses his compositional methods and ideology, and presents background information, description, and performance notes for each piece. Interviews with Daniel Dorff regarding biographical and compositional details serve as the primary source for this document. Suggestions for the performance of the three flute works were gathered through interviews with prominent flutists who have studied and performed Dorff's pieces. Additional performance suggestions for Nocturne Caprice were gathered through a coaching session between the author and the composer. This project is meant to promote the flute works of Daniel Dorff and to help establish their role in the standard flute repertory.
ContributorsRich, Angela Marie (Contributor) / Novak, Gail (Pianist) (Performer) / Buck, Elizabeth Y (Thesis advisor) / Hill, Gary W. (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
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Description
Teacher evaluation policies have recently shifted in the United States. For the first time in history, many states, districts, and administrators are now required to evaluate teachers by methods that are up to 50% based on their "value-added," as demonstrated at the classroom-level by growth on student achievement data over

Teacher evaluation policies have recently shifted in the United States. For the first time in history, many states, districts, and administrators are now required to evaluate teachers by methods that are up to 50% based on their "value-added," as demonstrated at the classroom-level by growth on student achievement data over time. Other related instruments and methods, such as classroom observations and rubrics, have also become common practices in teacher evaluation systems. Such methods are consistent with the neoliberal discourse that has dominated the social and political sphere for the past three decades. Employing a discourse analytic approach that called upon a governmentality framework, the author used a complementary approach to understand how contemporary teacher evaluation polices, practices, and instruments work to discursively (re)define teachers and teacher quality in terms of their market value.

For the first part of the analysis, the author collected and analyzed documents and field notes related to the teacher evaluation system at one urban middle school. The analysis included official policy documents, official White House speeches and press releases, evaluation system promotional materials, evaluator training materials, and the like. For the second part of the analysis, she interviewed teachers and their evaluators at the local middle school in order to understand how the participants had embodied the market-based discourse to define themselves as teachers and qualify their practice, quality, and worth accordingly.

The findings of the study suggest that teacher evaluation policies, practices, and instruments make possible a variety of techniques, such as numericization, hierarchical surveillance, normalizing judgments, and audit, in order to first make teachers objects of knowledge and then act upon that knowledge to manage teachers' conduct. The author also found that teachers and their evaluators have taken up this discourse in order to think about and act upon themselves as responsibilized subjects. Ultimately, the author argues that while much of the attention related to teacher evaluations has focused on the instruments used to measure the construct of teacher quality, that teacher evaluation instruments work in a mutually constitutive ways to discursively shape the construct of teacher quality.
ContributorsHolloway-Libell, Jessica (Author) / Amrein-Beardsley, Audrey (Thesis advisor) / Anderson, Kate T. (Thesis advisor) / Berliner, David C. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Over the past 20 years in the United States (U.S.), teachers have seen a marked

shift in how teacher evaluation policies govern the evaluation of their performance.

Spurred by federal mandates, teachers have been increasingly held accountable for their

students’ academic achievement, most notably through the use of value-added models

Over the past 20 years in the United States (U.S.), teachers have seen a marked

shift in how teacher evaluation policies govern the evaluation of their performance.

Spurred by federal mandates, teachers have been increasingly held accountable for their

students’ academic achievement, most notably through the use of value-added models

(VAMs)—a statistically complex tool that aims to isolate and then quantify the effect of

teachers on their students’ achievement. This increased focus on accountability ultimately

resulted in numerous lawsuits across the U.S. where teachers protested what they felt

were unfair evaluations informed by invalid, unreliable, and biased measures—most

notably VAMs.

While New Mexico’s teacher evaluation system was labeled as a “gold standard”

due to its purported ability to objectively and accurately differentiate between effective

and ineffective teachers, in 2015, teachers filed suit contesting the fairness and accuracy

of their evaluations. Amrein-Beardsley and Geiger’s (revise and resubmit) initial analyses

of the state’s teacher evaluation data revealed that the four individual measures

comprising teachers’ overall evaluation scores showed evidence of bias, and specifically,

teachers who taught in schools with different student body compositions (e.g., special

education students, poorer students, gifted students) had significantly different scores

than their peers. The purpose of this study was to expand upon these prior analyses by

investigating whether those conclusions still held true when controlling for a variety of

confounding factors at the school, class, and teacher levels, as such covariates were not

included in prior analyses.



Results from multiple linear regression analyses indicated that, overall, the

measures used to inform New Mexico teachers’ overall evaluation scores still showed

evidence of bias by school-level student demographic factors, with VAMs potentially

being the most susceptible and classroom observations being the least. This study is

especially unique given the juxtaposition of such a highly touted evaluation system also

being one where teachers contested its constitutionality. Study findings are important for

all education stakeholders to consider, especially as teacher evaluation systems and

related policies continue to be transformed.
ContributorsGeiger, Tray (Author) / Amrein-Beardsley, Audrey (Thesis advisor) / Anderson, Kate (Committee member) / McGuire, Keon (Committee member) / Holloway, Jessica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020