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October 1, 2009 FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Three-Step Action Plan to Make ‘Music Education For All Students’ a Goal in Your School District By Anne Fennell Combine a struggling economy with rigorous academic accountability and you’ve got a challenging mix, one that leaves many arts programs and children hanging in the balance. Now is the time for everyone to raise their voices and ask their school district to make music education for all students a priority and an achievable goal. This past summer, I used a simple three-step plan to encourage school board members in my community to take positive steps to support music education for all 23,000 students in our district. My district has never had equitable music and arts programs. In some schools, every child has a vast educational experience and in others, only the bare minimum is taught. This inequity has been visible for years, but now, given the numerous demands, it is clearly obvious that some schools and students receive more and others receive a great deal less. A site-specific decision making process determines which students can and cannot have arts electives or whether the arts program is even worthy of time on the master schedule. STEP ONE: DOCUMENTING A PROGRESSION OF CUTS TO THE ARTS PROGRAMS This summer, with my frustration mounting, I decided to take action. With no arts administrator in place to pave the way, arts teachers in my district have slowly learned how to advocate for our students and the programs that serve them. I spoke with many of the arts teachers to compile a list of hits the programs had taken in the past several years. Here’s what I discovered (keep in mind that 30-60 students are directly affected for each class cut): • In June, two middle school band teachers lost two periods of band. • One school lost several music classes; one of the instrumental music teachers is now teaching a section of English 12. • Another school lost three full time arts teachers in the past three years; just one full time dance teacher and one full time visual art teacher remain. • Four roving elementary school music educators will be terminated at the end of 2010 school year leaving all elementary school students in the district without music. • Two years ago, the band program at one school was eliminated, as was the full time choir program, and an art program was moved to another school; only two periods of arts elective remain. STEP TWO: INFORMATION-SHARING IN OPEN, HONEST DIALOGUE WITH SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS Armed with these eye-opening facts, I e-mailed four of our five school board members and invited them to meet me individually for coffee. Prior to these meetings, I thought a lot about how to conduct these conversations and talked about it with friends. If these meetings were going to move anyone, we realized we had to be able to mitigate the gaps so that the arts could create win-win situations that would provide quality education for all children while meeting the board's goals. I wasn't adversarial but literally just stated the facts and asked for help. I was passionate and ready with arts education research. I was prepared to connect this information to the needs that existed within our own school district. At each meeting, I was really comforted by each member’s desire to have a strong arts program and the fact that they all truly valued the arts. I spent an hour with each of them, sharing stories of our children and their artful life experiences. When I gave each of them the above list of cumulative district-wide cuts, they were truly surprised by the degree of site-based decisions that were being made in relation to the arts. I discussed with each of them the idea that we were doing a disservice to our students by not offering fair access and equity in arts education offerings. And, as was the case in one school, students were pulled from arts elective courses if they were either far below basic or below basic in test scores, we were narrowing their academic opportunities and, in fact, using academic profiling. In profiling, data “indicates the extent to which something matches tested or standardized characteristics.” In academic profiling, students are separated into groups/scores or levels. This ‘level’ becomes a label and is used to determine whether or not a child receives a whole education, one that includes music and the arts. This type of academic profiling leads to academic segregation: those students who test well or know more will get more; those who do not, will not receive more. I suggested that if we do not give every child every artful opportunity to become and discover whom they are as learners, they (and we) may never know what they could have become. Research proves that we become amalgamations of our lifetime of experiences, and arts education provides students with the skills to be a part of – and to create – their culture. Culture is the single determining factor in a population’s level and quality of civilization. I have to say I truly enjoyed every coffee meeting. Each board member I met with was kind and receptive and commended me for just talking and sharing, without accusation or negativity and for having a broader perspective than my single program. For me, conducting these conversations was a fine dance because I knew it had to include our children, all of our arts program(s), our school as a whole and the entire district's demands and needs. Being aware and ready with possibilities and seeing challenges as opportunities was vital to each conversation. STEP THREE: PUBLIC PRESENTATION AND SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME After these meetings, the board president suggested I give my same talk at the upcoming school board meeting so that the general public could realize what has happened and begin to see how it could change. Because I knew I would have only about three minutes to speak, I read my speech aloud at home several times with a stopwatch, marking sections to omit if less time was allowed. Prior to my talk, I e-mailed the superintendent, assistant superintendent, and other leaders at the district office to let everyone know that I was going to speak. I didn't want it to be a surprise to anyone. On the way into the meeting, the superintendent thanked me and said she appreciated the openness. The best decisions – those that are not reactive but truly responsive – are made when everyone is informed. The public board meeting was vital to give everyone a sense of ownership and understanding. I wanted each listener to know that each of us has a role, that no one person or program in isolation has created this downfall. More importantly than that, I wanted everyone to feel that all of us, working together, can create the pillars to support solutions and move forward. I’m happy to report that, following this public board meeting, school board members decided to place “arts education for all students” as an addendum to their board goals to be approved in September. After weeks of meetings with each board member, and lots of honest open dialogue, I’m convinced our personal conversations and the presentation for the school board and the community have now opened a new door for our students. I encourage each and every one of you to do the same in your district – get started today! Our students deserve to receive everything we can give and the direct result will be our community, our city, our state, and yes, our country. -- Anne Fennell is a music educator in Vista, CA and has taught K-12 music in public schools for 22 years. She is a curriculum writer for the GRAMMY Foundation and Pearson/Scott Foresman, and also presents at conferences and workshops nationwide. Read the entire transcript of Anne Fennell’s presentation to the Vista Unified School District board here www.supportmusic.com/Fennell_Speech.pdf. |
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