Finding Aid for Richard Colwell Audio Recordings and Papers, 1965-2001 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Title: Richard Colwell Audio Recordings and Papers, 1965-2001

ID: 12/5/89

Primary Creator: Richard Colwell (1930-)

Extent: 2.15 cubic feet

Arrangement: Audio tapes in Boxes 1 & 2 are arranged alphabetically by test and chronologically thereunder, with some misceallaneous tests at the end of Box 2 (n.b. Box 1, Item 9 through Box 2, Item 6 are presumed to be part of the development of the MAT, and are placed thereunder in the order). Papers in Box 3 are arranged chronologically.

Date Acquired: 07/18/2025

Subjects: Education, Educational Psychology, Faculty, Faculty Papers, Music, Music, School of, Music instruction, Music teachers, Music teachers - Training of, Testing

Formats/Genres: Papers, Sound Recordings

Languages: English

Consists of magnetic audio tapes, test documents, correspondence, and notes documenting Richard Colwell's work with music standardized tests, especially the development of the Music Achievement Test (MAT).

Richard Colwell was born on May 27th, 1930 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Colwell earned his BFA and MM in 1953 from the University of South Dakota. He taught at the University of Montana, Billings, from 1957 to 1961. In 1961, he earned his EdD from the University of Illinois and accepted a position as the chair of music education at the U of I, where he remained until 1989. After leaving Illinois, he taught at the University of Northern Colorado (1989-1990), Boston University (1990-1993) and the New England Conservatory of Music (1993-2005).

Much of Colwell's research is foscused in music education assessment. He is the author of several books and papers on music education, incuding the textbook Basic Concepts in Music Education, as well as the creator of the Musical Achievement Test (MAT) series.

Education
Educational Psychology
Faculty
Faculty Papers
Music
Music, School of
Music instruction
Music teachers
Music teachers - Training of
Testing

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Method: Transfer from SSHEL

Related Materials: See the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library's Test Collection for related material, including the MAT and the experimental files for the Elementary Music Achievemnet Test (EMAT), also by Colwell.