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A Tale Of Two Good Bands: Students’ And Directors’ Perceptions Of Middle School Non-Varsity Band, Carson Ross

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This action-research study was conducted with two middle school bands in West Texas. The researcher primarily studied student and director perceptions in the non-varsity band to identify recurring themes within the ensembles. Fifteen non-varsity band students were given a survey, and eight were interviewed. Four directors participated in small focus groups at each of the two campuses. Data was coded to observe any major themes that occurred simultaneously in the collection process. The findings of this study indicated UIL was a contributing factor to these schools’ non-varsity bands. Another significant factor was the importance of challenging music and social relationships …