The Council of the Bulletin for Research in Music Education is pleased to announce the results of the 2023 and 2024 Outstanding Dissertation Awards. Sponsors nominated 13 dissertations each year, 2023 and 2024, encompassing an array of theoretical, topical, and methodological dissertations hailing from institutions in Canada and the United States. Dissertation authors included voices from young children through adults, studied contexts including one-to-one instruction to large group ensembles, and embraced approaches spanning autoethnography to mixed methods. Outstanding Dissertation Award review panels began their work in May and concluded in early September 2026. Please join us in thanking panelists: Beatriz Ilari, Mark Montemayor, Peter Miksza, Sean Powell, Lauren Kapalka Richerme, and Margaret Schmidt who worked together with Elizabeth Cassidy Parker, Outstanding Dissertation Award Director.
The recipient of the 2023 Outstanding Dissertation Award is Dr. David S. Miller, “Music Teacher Labor Markets: Three Studies on Maryland Early-Career Music Teachers.” Dr. Miller’s three study dissertation analyzes data from the Maryland Longitudinal Data System to understand relationships between early career labor markets and Maryland’s ongoing music teacher shortage. Conceptually framing teacher retention around ‘leaks’ and ‘filters’ within a pipeline consisting sequentially of stages, Miller situates personal reasons and structural barriers within broader concerns of equity and participation in American music education programs. With the three papers, Miller wrestles with questions such as teacher characteristics associated with entry into the profession, mobility patterns and factors associated with teacher movement, and analysis of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on teacher shortage.
The recipient of the 2024 Outstanding Dissertation Award is Dr. Jonathan Edan Dillon, “On the Purpose(s) of Elementary General Music Education: An Exploration of Subject-ness Among Children Engaged in a World-Centered Curriculum Project.” Dr. Dillon’s study focused on an critical educational action research project carried out with kindergarten students in an elementary school to examine emergence of subject-ness using Biesta’s world-centered education. Dillon details an eight-week songwriting project illuminating children’s voices using a polyphonic approach recorded in split screen with multiple perspectives. Snapshots of emerging subject-ness feature interactions among children and their teacher in the classroom offering rich implications for music educators and teacher educators.
Congratulations to Dr. Miller and Dr. Dillon!
In conclusion, Outstanding Dissertation Award Review panels recognize the following finalists for each dissertation award year:
2023 Finalists
- Dr. Clayton L. Dahm, “Postcolonial Music Teaching and Learning: Children’s Engagement with Global Pop in an Elementary School Music Program”
- Dr. Lily Man Lee Lung-Grant, “Counterstories of Seven Chinese American String Students: A Narrative Tapestry”
- Dr. Giulia Ripani, “The Effect of Acculturation, Social Support, and Music Self-Perceptions on Latino Immigrant Children’s Acculturative Stress in Music Classes: A SEM Model”
2024 Finalists
- Dr. Christina Haarala Herman, “A Conversation Analysis of Social Interactions in High School Concert Band Rehearsals”
- Dr. Rainamei A. Luna, “Exploring the Musical Experiences of Young Autistic Adults: A Multiple Case Study”
- Dr. Allison Mella Paetz, “A Mixed Methods Exploration of Perfectionism, Stress, and Burnout Among PreK-12 Music Educators in the United States”
Calls for 2025 and 2026 Outstanding Dissertation Award submissions will be released in March 2027. Keep an eye out for information about nominations on the BCRME webpage!
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The Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education provides a forum where contemporary research is made accessible to all with interest in music education. The Bulletin contains current research, and reviews of interest to the international music education profession.
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