NEW SupportMusic Glossary
March 01, 2010 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Building Parental Support For Music Education
February 01, 2010 Advocacy for Arts Education Begins at Home
January 01, 2010 A Case for Middle School Arts
December 01, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: When Is A Loss A Loss?
November 01, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Solid Advocacy Groundwork Saves Two School Music Programs in Nevada School District
October 01, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Three-Step Action Plan to Make ‘Music Education For All Students’ a Goal in Your School District
September 01, 2009 FOCUS ON COALITION-BUILDING: Back-to-School Inspiration: Elementary String Program Saved!
August 01, 2009 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Award-winning Student Essays Highlight the Unifying Powers of Music
July 02, 2009 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Music Education Advocacy for the Digital Generation
June 01, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Keeping Your Momentum, Even in Troubled Times
May 01, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Are YOU Ready to Write a Letter in Support of Music Education?
April 01, 2009 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Research Study Links Music Making and Music Education with Improved Academic Performance
March 01, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Moving from Survival to Vision
February 02, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: NOW MORE THAN EVER…
January 05, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Develop an Annual Report Featuring Your Music Education Program
December 01, 2008 ADVOCACY IN TIMES OF FISCAL CRISIS: Your Local Music Coalition
November 01, 2008 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Research Study Indicates Teenagers’ Strong Commitment to Music & Music Making
October 01, 2008 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: The Purpose of Arts Education
August 01, 2008 MUSIC ADVOCACY: Singing Through the Dark Times
July 01, 2008 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Students Express Why Music is Important to Their Complete Education
June 01, 2008 Reflections on Advocacy as the SupportMusic Coalition Celebrates Five Years
May 01, 2008 FOCUS ON BUDGET: Reverse Economics – Developing a Fiscal Case for Your Music Program (Part 2 of 2)
April 02, 2008 FOCUS ON BUDGET: Reverse Economics - Developing a Fiscal Case for Your Music Program (Part 1 of 2)
March 01, 2008 Focus on Issues & Decision-making: Educational Reform Movements - Tax Vouchers and Their Impact on Music Education Programs
February 01, 2008 ARTS ADVOCACY LESSONS FROM THE 2008 IOWA PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUS: #1 Take-Away ñ Let the Candidates Hear From You!
January 03, 2008 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: NJ Arts Education Census Project Offers Model for Other States
December 01, 2007 FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: Advocate for Music Education
October 30, 2007 FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION MAKING: Music Education Research 101, Part II
September 17, 2007 FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION MAKING: Music Education Research 101, Part 1
August 07, 2007 FOCUS ON ISSUES AND DECISIONMAKING: Do Your Elected Officials View Music Education as a National Priority?
July 13, 2007 FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: American Symphony Orchestra League Launches Historic Statement of Common Cause to Support In-School Music Education
June 03, 2007 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Music & Arts Education is Essential to Development of Creative Economy & 21st Century Skills
June 03, 2007 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Music & Arts Education is Essential to Development of Creative Economy & 21st Century Skills
May 03, 2007 FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: Think Globally, Act Locally ñ and Why Reading This is NOT an Advocacy Action
March 21, 2007 FOFCUS ON BUDGET: FTE and the Staffing Ratio, Part 2 ñ The Music Teacher
February 21, 2007 FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: From Anytown, USA to Washington, DC . . . All Music Advocacy Is Local
January 17, 2007 FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: How to Create School Board Support for Music Programs
January 07, 2007 FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: How to Create School Board Support for Music Programs
December 15, 2006 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Why Music Technology Enhances Student Success
November 16, 2006 FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: These Parents Made A Difference ñ You Can Too!
October 18, 2006 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: The Study Hall Game
September 27, 2006 FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION MAKING: The Music Administrator, Part 2 of 2
September 20, 2006 FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION MAKING: The Music Administrator, Part 1 of 2
September 08, 2006 Back-To-School Primer: The Local Music Coalition
August 30, 2006 Focus on Budget: FTE ñ A Case Study on Teacher Seniority & The Fallacy of Average
August 24, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making:Educational Reform Movements: Middle Schools, Part 3 of 3
August 15, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making:Educational Reform Movements: Middle Schools, Part 2 of 3
August 08, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Middle Schools, Part 1 of 3
August 08, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Middle Schools, Part 1 of 3
August 01, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Trimester System and Year-Round Schools
July 18, 2006 NEWS FLASH!! CA Advocates Secure Historic Funding for Arts Education
June 30, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 10 of a series Decision Time!
June 22, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 9 of a series Three Perspectives on Block Scheduling
June 18, 2006 NEWS FLASH!! CA Advocates Secure Historic Funding for Arts Education
June 13, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 8 of a series Two Options for Four-Period Block Scheduling
June 06, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 7 of a series Block Scheduling and the Music Student
May 30, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 6 of a series Rotating Schedules
May 18, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 5 of a series Two Options for 7-Period Scheduling
May 08, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 4 of a series Scheduling Myths & the Grades 9-10 "Bottleneck"
April 27, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform movement: Part 3 of a series Scheduling & The Traditional Six-Day Period
April 19, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform: Part 2 of a series Scheduling
April 12, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 1 of a series An Overview & Some Advice
April 04, 2006 FOCUS ON BUDGET: Actual FTE Value & Individual Student Load
March 27, 2006 PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS: A Slippery Slope
March 15, 2006 Music Advocacy 101: Do YOU Have "The Right Stuff"?
March 01, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Who Really Calls The Shots?
February 16, 2006 Focus on Budget: FTE and The Danger of Using Averages
February 07, 2006 Focus on Budget: Identifying Potential & "Hidden" Music Budget Cuts
January 24, 2006 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Music - Curricular, Co-curricular or Extra-curricular?
January 10, 2006 Focus on Budget: FTE and the Staffing Ratio
January 04, 2006 Focus on Students: Advocacy and the Music Student
December 27, 2005 Focus on Budget: How to Develop & Use Impact Statements
December 20, 2005 FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION-MAKING: Central and Site-based Management
December 05, 2005 Focus on Budget: How "Average" FTE Value Creates Budget Problems
November 28, 2005 Focus on Coalition Building: The Public School Music Participation Survey
November 21, 2005 Focus on Coalition Building: 8 Strategic Errors in Music Advocacy & How to Correct Them
November 14, 2005 Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Is My Music Program Vulnerable to Cuts?
November 07, 2005 Focus on Budget: FTE & Staffing
October 31, 2005 FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Putting Students First
October 10, 2005 Decision Making: The Politics of Process
October 04, 2005 SCHOOL BUDGET PRIMER: UNDERSTANDING "FTE"
September 09, 2005 Back-To-School Primer: Creating a Local Music Coalition
August 12, 2005 The Public School Music Participation Survey
August 01, 2005 The Right Stuff?
July 19, 2005 Advocacy and the Music Student
June 29, 2005 The Danger of Public Opinion Surveys
June 22, 2005 Music: Curricular, Co-curricular, or Extra-curricular? (Part II)
June 16, 2005 Music: Curricular, Co-curricular, or Extra-curricular? (Part I)
June 09, 2005 Developing Impact Statements
May 25, 2005 News Flash: The Crisis in Minnesota
May 12, 2005 Identifying Potential Music Cuts-Part II: "Hidden" Cuts
May 12, 2005 Identifying Potential Music Cuts-Part II: "Hidden" Cuts
April 25, 2005 March 23, 2005
March 23, 2005 Decisions: Adult or Student-centered?
March 23, 2005 Decisions: Adult or Student-centered?
February 23, 2005 Case Study: "Block Schedule ? The Perils"
February 16, 2005 Educational Reform
February 09, 2005 The Public Survey Trap
February 02, 2005 Strategic Errors in Music Advocacy
January 27, 2005 Uncovering the Mystery of the School Budget: Glossary
January 19, 2005 A Glossary of Terms for the Music Advocate: The Art of "Educese."
December 28, 2004 Decision Making: The Politics of Process
December 22, 2004 Decision Makers: Who's really calling the shots?
December 15, 2004 Is My Music Program Vulnerable to Cuts?
December 08, 2004 What is the Single Most Important Isssue in Music Advocacy? YOU!
December 01, 2004 MUSIC ADVOCACY: Caring Enough to Put the Student First
July 19, 2005 Advocacy and the Music Student
How can students work effectively to support their music
programs?
Here are three examples of the
creative potential of student advocacy.
The board meeting was to decide the fate of the music
program. The auditorium was standing-room-only. No one was ever able to count the number of
people outside. A high school student
stepped forward to "speak" on the open microphone. He followed protocol: "My name is _________. I have nothing to say. I just brought my trumpet and would like to
play 'Taps' for the music program." It was the most effective "speech" of the evening.
In another district in which the music program was targeted
for elimination, the high school students obtained a legal parade permit. In cooperation with the local radio station,
they arranged to have Sousa marches played for the duration of the parade. Down main street they came…no
instruments…only boom boxes! The message
was very clear.
In a third district the marching band performed on stage as
people were coming into the auditorium. As they continued playing, members of the band gradually left the stage
leaving only a remnant of the former group. The demonstration effectively portrayed the potential demise of the
program that would have resulted from the elimination of the elementary feeder
program.
Other potential actions that students have used include the
following.
Playing
outdoor and/or indoor concerts before board meetings. Attending
board meetings in uniform, but remaining silent. Presenting
petitions and/or brief accompanying speeches. Make
any presentations at board meetings brief. Select one or two speakers carefully. Write them out. Avoid repetition and
overkill. Students
may also decide to take on advocacy as an assignment for political science
classes. CAUTION: DANGER AHEAD! They can
backfire, establishing revenge cycles that may place your program in annual
jeopardy. Some words of warning:
NO
MUSIC TEACHERS OR PARENTS SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR INSTIGATING SUCH
ACTION. Aside from the fact that
the teacher placed in a position of possible reprimand or dismissal, it
undermines the credibility of the student action. The
students should seek adult counsel to make sure that what they do is
legal. No
action of any type should be implemented that brings embarrassment or
attack to any individual or specific group. Don't
get into a music vs. athletics contest. It has the effect of identifying music as extra-curricular . Make
sure that any activities are age-appropriate for the students involved. From my personal perspective, the most effective actions
that students can easily accomplish is getting them to join the local
coalition, and bringing their parent(s) to the school board meeting!
Organizations:
Artists:
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