Tuneful Future

My solution provides public schools lacking music education with music teachers from U.S. conservatories/universities. Placing recent music degree graduates in schools as music teachers, following appropriate training, provides teachers with post-graduate employment/professional development and benefits children through the cognitive, social, and aspirational impact of music education on their development.

     I aim to transform children’s lives across the U.S. by restoring musical arts education to public schools in the U.S. that have suffered a loss of arts programming or coursework due to cost cutting.   My solution, following the Teach for America model, would place recent music degree recipients in public schools across the country as a two-year fellowship, making music education and all of its associated cognitive, social, and aspirational benefits accessible to a much broader range of young people and providing employment and professional skill development for recent conservatory/university graduates who might otherwise be unemployed.  Use of technology in coordination with teachers’ work in the classroom would provide economical and comprehensive music education.  In-class work by music teacher graduate fellows would be supplemented with online music theory/history lessons, internet facilitated private lessons provided by volunteer music degree students across the country, access to streamed live performances, and the opportunity to form a national “internet” ensemble.  Teacher training, in order to be streamlined and economically efficient, would be carried out via online training sessions in conjunction with an in-person component. All American schoolchildren, and eventually children world-wide, deserve to reap the benefits of a music education.  The program benefits both the students and the teachers with:

• Improved cognitive function for participants
• Improved social development for participants
• Elevated aspirations for participants
• Employment opportunities for music degree graduates

           Significant research substantiates the value of arts education, and strong evidence exists that music lessons confer non-musical benefits.  Yet music is consistently one of the first areas to be cut when schools must slash budgets.  The goal of this solution give a broad range of American schoolchildren access to arts education and its associated benefits.

Research substantiates the value of music in conferring both artistic and non-musical benefits including improved cognitive function and social development and elevated aspirations.  However, music is often cut when schools slash budgets.  As of April 2014, many New York City public schools had channeled funds earmarked for arts funding to non-arts related areas in violation of New York law mandating minimum instructional requirements for the arts.  Furthermore, graduates of music degree programs face an extremely tight job market and academic debts.  My scalable, viable solution provides employment opportunities and critical teaching experience while restoring arts education to American youth. 

Music impacts society.  Schellenberg (2011) indicated students receiving musical training have higher cognitive abilities across four intellectual ability areas: reading, math, verbal, and spatial, school grades were positively impacted, with  “association between years of playing music regularly and IQ” in children and adults. Statistical significance was evident after controlling for family income, parents’ education, and nonmusical activitity involvement (Schellenberg, 2005).  Hollam noted that students who participated in music activities had strengthened concentration (Hollam, 2010).

Schellenberg, E. G. (2005). Music and cognitive abilities.

Schellenberg, E. G. (2011). Music lessons, emotional intelligence, and IQ.

Hallam, S. (2010). The Power of music.

The impact of my solution is provide all U.S. children, and ultimately children across the globe, with access to a music education and the accompanying cognitive, social, and aspirational benefits of such a music education.  Music is a universal language, and by learning music, children part of the program would understand and be part of something universal, a unifying force for a new generation.  In addition, this program offers recent conservatory graduates valuable employment and professional development experience. The program will be deployed through in-school learning and out-of-school technology music enrichment lessons and theory coursework.

Keep database on number of participant schools and # of students impacted at participant schools in the pilot music program classes and enrolled in the online theory curriculum - X# of additional students in pilot program receive music education that otherwise would not have due to a lack of music program available at their school

Track students’ progress through theory curriculum in online program, track lessons taken by each participant student via online Internet2 lessons platform, graduate fellow teachers at participant schools report # of streamed performances at their school. - Reach curriculum objective point in music theory online curriculum, x# of weekly private lessons with volunteer teachers via Internet2 distance learning software, students viewed x# of streamed live productions presented by partner institutions

Track teacher placement and teacher satisfaction with program - X# of teaching fellows receiving employment and or placement as music teachers in public schools without arts programs

My innovative solution employs technology to make music education for children economically viable on a mass scale.  Teacher-fellows trained through a rigorous but low budget online pedagogy curriculum would give students lessons at school and through internet2 distance learning – post-secondary musicians would expand pedagogy skills by volunteering private lessons to assigned students nation-wide.  In-school lessons are enhanced by online theory curriculum.  Schools could receive streamed concerts from partner conservatories/universities around the country, and students would join in a streamed end-of-year orchestra concert. Technology would provide music to underserved students on a broader national scale than other outreach programs.

This program ultimately seeks to enable all children in the public school system to have access to musical training. A musical microcosm modeled after Teach For America, the program provides students in economically disadvantaged communities with rich in and out-of-class musical learning and private lessons. This program’s use of technology allows all children, regardless of their financial background, access to a rich musical education, by making the program scalable and financially viable. 

Conservatory/university music students apply as teaching fellows, receiving a living stipend for the fellowship providing employment opportunities and teaching experience for career advancement in addition to immediate employment. School placement and online training occurs in the summer preceding the school year.  Students receive in-school music class taught by program fellows, free private lessons via internet2/Skype with volunteer teachers (post-secondary students seeking pedagogical development), and an online music theory curriculum.  Technology for teacher training and out-of-school educational enrichment makes the program affordable and scalable. Recent music graduates are optimal educators based on training, field expertise, and desire for professional development.

The team’s initial plan for sustaining itself financially during research, pilot, and growth stages is to apply for governmental and non-governmental grants. Foundations such as The Kovner Foundation, whose goals align with my proposal, would provide optimal pilot partners. The Kovner Foundation “attempt[s] to identify innovative strategies that advance forward-thinking initiatives and produce change for the better … [with] three core objectives:

• A world-class education for every child
• An opportunity society that allows the underprivileged to achieve a better life for themselves and their children
• A vibrant arts and cultural community that nurtures young artists and contributes to the well-being of the whole society” (thekovnerfoundation.org/)

The team would initially apply for grants to fund a pilot program providing music education for underserved children/teaching jobs for music graduates otherwise unemployed.   Conservatories/university music departments are ideal institutional pilot program partners.

With program growth, local governmental partnerships would be pursued.

Financial constraints are the greatest limiting factor to the success of this program.  In addition, for this program to  succeed, the schools that opt in during pilot years must truly be committed to the mission of the program and provide support to the conservatory graduate fellow.  Finally, accountability of student participation is a limiting factor to the success of the program.  Parents and other teachers at the school must stress the importance of students committing to prepare for their weekly private lessons and following their online theory curriculum.

I studied Viola for a year at Juilliard before matriculating as an undergraduate at Yale while continuing viola study with my Juilliard teacher. I work as a grant-writer, teacher, and administratively with Polyphony, a program that bridges the divide between Arab/Jewish youth in Israel through music.  Team member, Allison Elder, holds a Bachelor of Music from Cleveland Institute of Music and has extensive work experience in orchestra administration at major U.S. orchestras.  Our team lacks expertise in technology application development. This project would benefit from the mentorship afforded by the Solve community in incorporating technology in the most effective manner.

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