Kelly Jo Hollingsworth, PhD

Kelly Jo Hollingsworth holds music education degrees from the University of Mobile (BME) and Auburn University (M.Ed., Ph.D.). She has 17 years of experience in early childhood and elementary music classrooms. Kelly was chosen as Teacher of the Year at three schools and made it to the Sweet 16 for Alabama’s Teacher of the Year in 2014. She teaches elementary music methods courses as an Associate Professor of Elementary Music Education at Baylor and won Baylor’s university-wide 2021 Tenure-Track Teaching Award. Kelly also serves as the master teacher for Baylor’s Oso Musical, a general music class for children with disabilities in grades K-12. She has completed Kodály Level I and Orff-Schulwerk Levels I, II, III, and Master. Kelly mentors undergraduate music education majors in research projects. Her students have presented their findings at state and national conferences, given professional development clinics on their research, and have been published in state and national journals. Kelly is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, and the Texas Music Educators Association. Her research is found in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, GIA’s Assessment in Music Education book series, Texas Music Education Research, and Journal of Singing.