Education Through Music, Inc.

ETM forms long-term partnerships with inner-city elementary, middle and K-8 schools that lack sufficient resources for school-wide music education. We work with each principal to design an individualized program for each partner school with the following goals: support student learning in the arts and other academic areas; and build capacity among school and community members to sustain programs. To accomplish these goals, ETM’s activities focus on: 1)Music instruction for every child, that: follows a skills-based, comprehensive and sequential curriculum, and supports cognitive thinking skills and content in other academic areas, 2)Ongoing, customized professional development services including: training and mentoring for music teachers, professional development for classroom teachers, and management guidance and leadership training for principals; 3)Ongoing assessment and evaluation; and 4)Outreach to parents and community. In 2012-13, this program serves over 14,000 at-risk children through partnerships with 28 New York City schools.

ETM believes that: 1)All children benefit from having music as part of their regular studies; 2)Children benefit most when their music education features the same rigor as other academic subjects, specifically: high-quality teaching and professionalism among music faculty; strong leadership; a comprehensive and sequential curriculum; and accountability for student learning outcome; 3)School leaders and communities who are aware of the value of music education to their children will find a way to implement and institutionalize a well-balanced curriculum that includes music for all children.  We strive for the day when all schools will employ music teachers so that every student in the nation will receive comprehensive music instruction, when those music teachers will be supported with relevant professional development to help them grow as educators and to support student development in multiple areas, and when every community will value music education as a necessary part of educating the whole child.

ETM's programs seek to achieve improvements in: 1)Student performance in music and in academics, as well as self-esteem and motivation for school; 2)Music teachers’ abilities to educate children; 3)Music and classroom teachers’ abilities to collaborate and plan effective integration; 4)Community and school support for the arts, especially as evidenced by steps taken towards building capacity to sustain programs.

ETM documents outcomes by conducting annual music skills assessments of students to measure progress against our curriculum benchmarks; annual surveys of classroom teachers, music teachers, principals, parents and students; monthly observations of music teachers using a detailed rubric; evaluation forms of training and professional development; and by collecting lesson plan and work sample materials and maintaining ongoing communication with all constituents. We also collect students' standardized test scores. During 2005-08, ETM worked with an external evaluator, LS Associates, as part of a multi-year program evaluation funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In 2012, ETM hired a full-time Evaluation Associate to staff (made possible through a restricted grant) so that we can improve upon our evaluation activities, and conduct more thorough and ongoing analyses.

An external evaluation in 2005-08 found that ETM supports improvements in students’ music skills, test performance, and youth development, music teachers’ abilities as educators, and teachers’ abilities to collaborate to support learning in all areas. The program evaluation for the 2011-12 school year provides evidence that ETM has continued to improve students’ music skills, support their academic achievement, and enhance their general development. The findings also indicate that ETM teachers continue to provide quality music instruction, and that collaboration remains evident between ETM teachers and classroom teachers to promote music education throughout all areas of learning. Overall, ETM engages the support of the overall school community, including parents of ETM students. Summary of findings: 1)ETM’s instruction is positively associated with students’ musical knowledge and with students’ academic achievement in Math and English Language Arts; 2)The majority of students, parents, and teachers feel that ETM improves students’ general development. Over 70% believe it has a strong impact on confidence and creativity; 3)More than 75% of music teachers and classroom teachers have indicated that they have a collaborative relationship with each other. The majority of classroom teachers believe that music education impacts student learning either “a great deal” or “quite a bit”; 4)Partner school administration and staff highly regard the ETM program, with over 90% of principals and classroom teachers rating it as either “excellent” or “good”; 5)The ETM program has a strong impact on parental involvement, with at least 79% of parents believing that music education has increased the musical activities they share with their children.  Please visit http://www.ETMonline.org/etm-impact for more information.