Effects of selected nonmusical characteristics and band festival participation,scores, and literature difficulty

The purpose of this study was to examine potential validity concerns regarding the use of music festival scores as an element of value-added assessment practices mandated by federal education policy. Nonmusical school and band characteristics of band size, school enrollment, school percentage of minority enrollment, and school percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch were compared to concert band festival participation, scores, and literature selection. Results of a one-way ANOVA revealed that schools with lower enrollments and higher percentages of minority students and students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs were less likely to participate in a concert band festival. MANOVA results using composite festival score and literature difficulty as dependent variables indicated a significant three-way interaction for school size, free/reduced-price lunch category, and band size, with an additional interaction for minority category and school enrollment. Significant main effects were found for band size and for school enrollment. Composite festival scores were found to be higher for schools with a lower percentage of minority students and larger band sizes. Smaller bands, as well as bands from schools with lower enrollment and higher percentages of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, tended to perform less difficult literature. These results suggest that policymakers should recommend caution in the use of festival results for teacher evaluation purposes.