The Perilous Path from Proposal to Practice - A Qualitative Program Evaluation of a Regional Music Program

Oct 15, 2026

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Retrospective evaluation assesses the efficacy of implementing a large-scale music education program in a regional cluster of Victorian primary schools. The initiative aimed to expand access and improve music education quality for rural students. Methods describe evaluation approaches and gaps between intended and implemented design, followed by thematic analysis from principals, music teachers, parents, and students. Results show access increased, but quality and school impact fell short, with insufficient incorporation of recipient needs and resources; sustainability-focused recommendations are provided.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Description of the proposed and implemented music program

Participants

Objectives and outline of intended program

Impact evaluation and lessons learned

The perilous path from proposal to practice: A qualitative program evaluation of a regional music program Helen Grimmett, Nikki S. Rickard and Anneliese Gill School of Psychology & Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Fintan Murphy School of Music, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Abstract The current paper retrospectively evaluates the efficacy of implementing a large-scale music education program into a regional cluster of Victorian primary schools. The program’s primary aim was to increase access and quality of music education for students in these rural schools. The methods utilized to evaluate the program and the discrepancies between intended and implemented program are first described. Thematic analyses from qualitative data from principals, music teachers, parents and students are then reported, revealing that while increased access to music education was indeed achieved, the quality of the program and its impact in schools was not as high as intended. An impact evaluation of the program revealed that the recipient needs and resources were not sufficiently incorporated into the program’s goals, and as a result, the program design may not have been the best fit for this community. A set of recommendations for implementing future music education programs is provided, with an emphasis on optimizing sustainability in regional areas. Key words: music education, program evaluation, qualitative research, string teaching. Australian Journal of Music Education 2010:2, 52-65 An evaluation of a particular project has its greatest implications for projects that will be putin place in the future. (Cronbach and Associates 1983, p. 409) Introduction In 2004, a committee of educators from a regional secondary school in Victoria, Australia, successfully applied for a government grant to implement a large-scale music education initiative. The funded project, referred to in this paper as ‘MP’, ambitiously aimed to improve provision of music education within all of the state government funded schools in their area. In addition to building a new community music centre at the secondary school and expanding the existing secondary school music program (for students aged 12-18 years), the MP proposal also included strategies to provide high-quality classroom and instrumental music programs to the primary school students (aged 5-12 years) in its cluster of‘feeder schools’, at no cost to the families involved. The aim of the first threeyear phase of the program (2005-2007) was to introduce the full program described in this paper into five of the ten primary schools in the cluster, with the remaining five schools to receive benefits from additional community music initiatives. The MP committee established a partnership with Monash University to develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation of whether implementation of an intensive music education program for school children with varied psychosocial and academic needs yielded significant benefits on a range of student potentials. The effects of the primary level music program on music-related outcomes, measures of academic and cognitive ability and psychosocial well-being were measured and analysed throughout the three-year program using quantitative research methods. Positive effects of the program on immediate recall of verbal information and self-esteem were observed, and the detail of these quantitative findings are to be reported elsewhere (Rickard, N., Appelman, P., James, R., Murphy, F., Gill, A. & Bambrick, C. 2010) . This article will report on a qualitative program evaluation, performed by a research team consisting of academics from three university disciplines (Psychology, Music and Education), which describes how this ambitious music program was implemented into the five primary schools over the three-year period and the lessons that can be learned from this initiative. As the opening quotation implies, the purpose of this evalua

FAQs

What was the main goal of the regional music education program?

To increase access to music education and raise its quality for students in rural Victorian primary schools.

How was the program evaluated in the paper?

It used qualitative program evaluation methods, including thematic analyses of data from principals, music teachers, parents, and students.

What were the key findings about access and program quality?

Access to music education improved, but the program’s quality and its impact in schools were not as high as intended.

Oct 15, 2026

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