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 P[reparing]F[uture]F[aculty] Speakers Series, sponsored by the Arizona State University Graduate College, brings faculty to campus to speak about their careers. These two speakers, Paul Lehman, from the University of Michigan, and Jere Humphreys, from Arizona State University, are well-known experts in their respective fields. Both and university music faculty and spoke at ASU on April 21, 1995.

Professor Lehman begins by discussing teaching in general, then talks about the role of technology in teaching, discusses the relationship between higher education and K-12 education, and ends with some observations on teaching in higher education.

Professor Humphreys then offers some practical tips on securing a faculty position in music at a college. He outlines the process colleges use to select new faculty members, what colleges look for in candidates, and what steps applicants should take in applying for a position.