ETM-LA INC
Education Through Music-Los Angeles (ETM-LA) partners with inner-city schools to provide music as a core subject for all children, and utilizes music education as a catalyst to improve academic achievement, motivation for school and self-confidence.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Education Through Music-Los Angeles believes that every child deserves access to high-quality music education, taught by qualified and well-trained music teachers. Music can support learning in other key subjects, including math, science, and language arts. Engaged parents and school communities are key to the success of students. We aim to accomplish the following: - Better core learning skills: children's music education has been linked to better reading, writing, and mathematical skills. - Increased IQ: music education in childhood has been linked to boosts of seven points on IQ scores during childhood; this effect has shown to last beyond high school graduation. - Fewer dropouts: kids who are involved with the arts have higher grades and are less likely to drop out of school. - Higher Emotional Stability: kids who play musical instruments are likely to have higher self-esteem, confidence, discipline, concentration, and emotional intelligence than kids who don't play instruments.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Music Education
ETM-LA's cornerstone programs are its multi-year partnerships with Los Angeles County schools and professional development for teaching artists and academic staff. ETM-LA uses music to improve education by supporting students' learning in music and thus strengthening their learning ability in all areas. Partnering with school and community leaders, ETM-LA works to build long-term, sustainable music programs. In the 2020-21 school year, ETM-LA will serve approximately 19,000 children.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of students enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Music Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Each year, Education Through Music-LA increases its services at no cost low-income area partner schools. Our programming reaches additional students each year at no cost to the child.
Number of lessons taught
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Music Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
All children attending our partner schools receive weekly sequential music instruction for the entire year (approximately 30-32 weeks).
Number of parents/guardians engaged in student activities
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Young adults, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Music Education
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of training workshops
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Music Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
ETM-LA provides year-round professional development for our music educators and emerging arts and arts ed practitioners in the field.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Education Through Music-Los Angeles forms long-term partnerships with low-income area 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.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
To accomplish these goals, Education Through Music-Los Angeles' activities focus on the following: 1) Music instruction for every child that follows a skills-based, comprehensive, and sequential curriculum which 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.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
In 2020-2021, the music program has expanded to reach 46 partner schools and approximately 19,000 children across Los Angeles County.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Education Through Music-Los Angeles has accomplished the following:
➢ In-School Music Education that provides weekly, yearlong high-quality music instruction for every child through a proven curriculum taught by talented music teachers, in 26 schools across Los Angeles County.
➢ Year-round Professional Development that includes (1) coaching and mentoring music teachers through workshops, and (2) training academic teachers on how to support interdisciplinary learning.
➢ Leadership training for principals on how to manage sustainable music programs.
➢ Increased parent and community engagement in the arts and education.
Through these objectives, we have accomplished the following goals:
➢ Improved student performance in and attitudes towards both the arts and school.
➢ Increased music teachers' effectiveness at teaching and improved their abilities to integrate the arts with the core curriculum.
➢ Improved students' performance across the curriculum, including math and reading skills.
➢ Increased school and community understanding of and support for arts education, and school efforts toward sustaining arts and music programs.
As a distinguished arts provider and leader for the Burbank, Compton, LA, and Pasadena Unified School Districts as well as parochial schools, ETM-LA provides music education for every child in its partnership schools. We have been invited to share our music education model and best practices with the USC Thornton School of Music, LA Philharmonic's Youth Orchestra LA (YOLA), and LA's Best of the Mayor's Office. Recent accomplishments include:
➢ September 2017: ETM-LA began music instruction at 26 partner schools across Los Angeles County.
➢ March 14-15, 2018: Approximately 600 top students from partner schools perform in concert at the 8th Annual Music Unites the World Festival at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles, California.
Education Through Music-LA utilizes various tools such as year-end surveys, assessments, student essays, interviews, and meetings to measure the progress of our in-school music education program.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Suggestion box/email,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
ETM-LA INC
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Mr. Booker White
Walt Disney Company
Lisa Norton
Author / Retired Lawyer
Patrick S Cole
Investor, theater and film; Former owner/producer of Playhouse Theatre, London's West End
Nancy Smith
Partner, Nossaman Law Firm's Infrastructure Practice Group
Jeff Scofield
Investments, Wells Fargo Advisors
Ingrid Burger
Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center
Tim Davies
Lola Debney
Debney Productions
John Dennis
Walt Disney Imagineering
Michael Gorfaine
The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc.
Gregory L. Gutierrez
Wells Fargo
Larry Kohorn
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Yukiko Kojima
Nossaman Law Firm's Infrastructure Practice Group
Christopher Lennertz
Blake Neely
Matthew White
Sidley Austin LLP's Financial Product Transactional Group
Austin Wintory
Ray Yee
BMI
Julianne Jordan
Format Entertainment
Lisa Norton
Author / Retired Lawyer
Victoria Lanier
Education Through Music-Los Angeles
Linda Mouradian
Music Educator, Cal State UIniversity Northridge
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/03/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.