Counterpoint: Articles & News

  • FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Student Essay Contest Winners Pay Tribute to Influential Music Teachers

    We will do well to listen to what teens tell us about music as a common need and a constant presence in their lives. Music is their social glue – a bridge for building acceptance and tolerance for people of different ages and cultural circumstances. –- Patricia Shehan Campbell, Ph.D., NAMM Foundation “Sounds of Learning” research study, 2008

  • FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISIONMAKING: Statewide Partnership Model to Upgrade K-16 Music Education is Underway in WV

    Despite diminishing budgets, school districts nationwide are under extreme pressure to produce results on narrowly focused standardized tests. And yes, attempts to push the arts out of schools are occurring. But even under these difficult circumstances, school districts that choose to prioritize the arts for their students are able to offer, build and grow these programs.

  • FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISIONMAKING: Why Creativity Matters

    On November 15-17, 2010 leaders from around the world will converge in Oklahoma City for the 2010 Creativity World Forum. This global event will explore how creativity and innovation drive commerce, culture and education, and will feature some of the world’s greatest thinkers in this area such as The New York Times best-selling author Daniel Pink (“A Whole New Mind;” “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”) and the note

  • FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Award-winning Students Express Why Music Education is Key to a Well-Rounded School Curriculum

    Ten student essay winners captured how music education programs help keep them engaged in school and assist them on their way to becoming responsible citizens. For them, music education is about much more than simply learning to play the notes on a page: it’s about teamwork, communication, discipline, discovering the power of self-expression, joy and enjoyment, and developing respect for others.

  • FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: The Real “Crisis” in This Budget Crisis

    Virtually 100% of our nation’s schools currently face the same budget crisis. Yet this “crisis” is an opportunity for school boards and administrators to take a fresh look at our educational goals, policies and practices, and to re-evaluate what is truly important and what truly works. It’s an opportunity to re-define what comprises “the best possible education for our children.”

  • FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Develop an Annual Report Featuring Your Music Education Program

    (Editor’s Note: Successful public school music education program advocates continually highlight the positive impact these programs have on students. Now more than ever, consider presenting an annual report to administrators and school board members. When done on an annual basis, it offers an opportunity to highlight achievements and evaluate progress made. This article by Dr. John Benham elaborates.)

  • ADVOCACY IN TIMES OF FISCAL CRISIS: Your Local Music Coalition

    Because it is the most effective way to ensure that your school district provides equal educational opportunities for all students to participate in the making of music! An effective local music coalition holds a school district accountable for student-centered decision making.

  • FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: Advocate for Music Education

    Consider this: as we race willy-nilly through adulthood, today’s five year old children are right behind us; they’ll reach retirement age in 2070. If you’re like me, you have little time to consider what our global human society will truly be like so long from now – yet our actions today will absolutely shape our children’s well-being, productivity and life experiences. So it is our responsibility and privilege to help young people prepare today for their future success in work and life.

  • FOCUS ON ISSUES AND DECISIONMAKING: Do Your Elected Officials View Music Education as a National Priority?

    As a member of Congress, I represent the people of Clark County, Nevada, one of the fastest growing communities in the country. As our community has grown at a rapid pace so has the Clark County School District.

  • FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: American Symphony Orchestra League Launches Historic Statement of Common Cause to Support In-School Music Education

    As orchestras look to the challenges in their future, we cannot afford to overlook our natural allies. Whether in matters of public policy, the education of our country’s youth, or the deepening engagement with our communities, we must work closely with our partners in other music disciplines and the other arts, both locally and nationally. As we develop our agenda we need to pay increasingly close attention to how our communities are changing, and to their shifting priorities and new ways of engaging with the arts.

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