November 28, 2005
 
Focus on Coalition Building: The Public School Music Participation Survey

I developed this Public School Music Participation Survey as a result of over 20 years of working with community groups and school music programs. It has been effective in the analysis of a single school or district. It may also be used in the development of statewide data: <The Georgia Project>, which focused on the arts in general, not just music, compiled information from 33 districts serving over 641,000 students.

Get on board… this survey will help you see that music is beneficial not only to the student but to the entire district and community!

Will Completing This Survey Help Save or Create Music Programs?

Yes! The information requested in Part I (pages 1-2) will help you understand and analyze issues that arise in the development or defense of a music program.

The information collected in Part II (page 3) relates specifically to the music program and is to be completed by each music teacher. If music teachers complete Part II at the beginning and the end of each school year, you’ll have a complete profile of student participation and attrition, faculty loads and the economic viability of the music program. And, even more importantly, you’ll have the statistical data you need to examine student attrition and its causes and to defend your school or district’s music program in times of financial threat.

Information Central

All information requested will be available through the central administration of your school district. By law, it is public information, so your request for these materials may not be legally denied.

I recommend your music coalition establish a policy with your school board and administration to regularly collect this data for an annual report on the status of the music program. If collection becomes a district policy, then this data can be included as part of its required reporting procedures. Even if no such policy is adopted, a member of the music coalition Statistics and Finance Committee in each school or curricular area should be responsible for collecting the completed forms from the central administration and all music teachers.

[Note: Some additional information is mentioned in the General Survey Instructions: list of schools, list of music teachers (with FTE assignments), school board documents related to music, etc. These materials should be maintained by the music coalition for reference because they may assist you in interpreting the data or defending your program in a case of crisis.
If you’ve been reading the articles in my ongoing series on <FTE (full time equivalent)>, you’ll see, once again, how important it is to understand how FTE relates to both programs and positions.

OK, click here to view and print copies of the <<PUBLIC SCHOOL MUSIC PARTICIPATION SURVEY>> and let’s get started!

GENERAL SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS

1. Please complete all information as requested and check for accuracy before returning surveys.
2. Please PRINT or TYPE all information.
3. Please provide copies of all budget and/or budget cut information and related publicity.
4. Please provide a separate list of all music teachers in the (school or) district.
5. Provide a list of all schools that are a part of the district.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PART I: Pages 1-2 - to be completed by one individual. Information in this section, which relates to the school district as a whole, will be available from the central administration office.

Page 1

1. Enter the academic year, district name, district number, and name/daytime phone number of person completing the survey.

2. Enter the number of students enrolled in each grade. Do NOT include those students enrolled in special education, unless "mainstreamed". If possible, attach a copy of the district enrollment census summary.

3. Indicate the starting grade for Middle (Junior) High School and High School.

4. Indicate the appropriate (Yes/No) response to the next four questions. The "starting grade for band and orchestra as regular classes" is the first grade in which students are not "pulled out" of another class. Generally this is the first year of Middle or Junior High School.

5. Enter the average overall class size. This is the number of students in the average classroom, not the entire grade. Also provide this by curricular area if available.

Page 2

1. Teacher Information: Enter the district number.
-The questions related to minutes/teaching periods are the basis for how your district defines one full time classroom teacher – or 1.0 full time equivalent (FTE) teacher. Include any responsibility given to the teacher that is part of the (1.0 FTE teacher point) teaching load. In some cases this may include study hall, supervisory duties, or other non-music classes.
- Do NOT include extra-duty assignments that are not a part of the regular (salaried) teacher load, planning time or non-teaching assignments.
- Indicate the average teacher salary. Do NOT include benefits or extra-duty stipends.

2. Socio-Economic Information: please provide the median family income in the district and the race/ethnic proportions as a percentage of student population.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PART II: Page 3 – make copies of this page to be completed by every full-time or part-time music teacher (general music, band, choir, orchestra, etc.) and each music supervisor/coordinator or music department/area chair. This section requests information related to students and teachers in music. To insure accuracy, enter the District Name and District Number before you duplicate and distribute this page.

1. Enter the name and employment status (full or part time) of each teacher. If part time, enter the percent of the part time assignment.

2. Teacher Load information: Enter the School Name. Do NOT enter the School Code #. MAKE A SEPARATE LINE ENTRY FOR EACH CLASS (COURSE TITLE) AND/OR LOAD BEARING ASSIGNMENT OR RESPONSIBILITY.
- Enter the length of the class/responsibility in minutes.
- Enter the number of times per week that the class/responsibility meets.
- Enter the percentage of the load each class/responsibility carries.
- The total for a full time teacher should be 100%, or 1.0 FTE teacher point. (For example, if the full time teacher load is five (5) classes, one class would be 20% or .2 teacher point.)

3. Student Participation information:
- For each class indicated under the teacher load, enter the number of students from each grade who participate in each class.
- Enter the total number of students for each class/responsibility listed.
- Please list student enrollment numbers for band and orchestra (strings) separately at all levels, including elementary.

Accuracy = the Key to Success

PLEASE DO NOT GUESS OR ESTIMATE! As with any survey, the usefulness of the information collected depends upon accuracy. Please work with each of the people involved in your survey to ensure they provide the most complete and accurate data possible. The future of your school district’s music programming depends upon it!



Until Next Time,
John Benham