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2002 Awards

Examples of Funded Program Abstracts

The following abstracts are from the 2002 competition that was held for music educators only. The 2003 competition is open to all arts fields.

Little Rock School District Professional Development for Music Educators, Little Rock, Arkansas

Recognizing that teachers should learn what they are expected to teach, the Little Rock School District in partnership with highly qualified, nationally recognized clinicians, artists, organizations, and institutions (the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Music; Southern Methodist University,; Meadows School of the Arts, Dallas, Texas; Music Workshop, Ltd.; the National Staff Development Council) has developed a rigorous, comprehensive standards based elementary music education professional development initiative. The initiative is focused on in-depth content knowledge and related teaching practices that will prepare all students to achieve higher standards in the area of music education.

The project design includes six major components: 1) certification in Orff Schulwerk, Levels 1, II, III, and follow-up onsite training, support and technical assistance, 2) summer seminars and ongoing site based workshops in World Music Drumming, 3) collegial networking sessions, 4) establishment of a cadre of elementary master music teachers, 5) MIDI technology workshops, and 6) a "Basically Blues" two-day workshop.

The goals that have been established for Little Rock's Professional Development for Music Educators Proposal are as follows:

  • To establish and nurture a cadre of master elementary music teachers to provide ongoing support for all LRSD elementary music teachers;
  • To provide an intensive, ongoing, professional development program focused on in-depth content knowledge and related teaching practices for all participating teachers;
  • To engage students in developmentally appropriate learning experiences designed to prepare them to achieve the national music standards; and
  • To disseminate lessons learned and "best practices" within a professional network.

Pittsburgh/Wilkinsburg Professional Development for Music Educators Program, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Public Schools in collaboration with Wilkinsburg Public Schools, Carnegie Mellow School of Music, Gateway to the Arts, and the River City Brass Band made a commitment to significantly enhance professional development opportunities for music educators who serve in the two district's middle schools with the highest poverty rates.

Funding would be to expand and extend the project to three additional Pittsburgh Public schools (one middle school and one elementary school) and two additional Wilkinsburg Pubic Schools (two sixth grade music programs at two elementary schools). The goals for the project are:

  1. To improve elementary and middle school music education through the introduction of professional development, professional association and support, curriculum design and instructional modeling opportunities for classroom teachers and university students in music education.
  2. To create professional dialogue between teacher training institutions and K-12 urban schools that will improve the quality of new teachers as well as provide current teachers with greater access to pertinent research and training, while providing renewed energy and updated methods for their challenging responsibilities in the classroom.

Carnegie Mellon undergraduate and graduate students, Pittsburgh Public Schools, and Wilkinsburg Public Schools elementary and middle school music teachers, professors, and professional musicians will work together to achieve the following objectives:

  1. Develop, test and refine a curriculum that will meet the new Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Arts and Humanities and the National Standards for Music Education.
  2. Create classroom activities to achieve these standards using methods that incorporate active participation for the students (DE, WMDC, Improvisation, and composition, including rap).
  3. Identify and work with music that is currently relevant to urban students and develop ways to constantly update this repertoire;
  4. Develop classroom teachers' sense of professionalism and leadership in the profession, in the community, and within their schools;
  5. Strengthen teachers' classroom management skills in order to make high-quality teaching and learning possible; and
  6. Introduce music educators and students to professional musicians/education practitioners for whom music-making is a vital part of living.

Kansas Professional Development for Music Educators Program, Kansas City, Missouri

This project represents a collaborative effort between the Kansas City Kansas Public School System and the University of Kansas Department of Music and Dance and School of Education. We propose to develop high quality, research-based professional development programs designed for K-12 music educators that focus on (1) the development, enhancement, and expansion of standards-based music education programs and 2) the integration of standards-based music instruction into other subject area content. The professional development program will assist music educators in the Kansas City Kansas Public School district in using innovative strategies to implement the National Standards in Music Education within their existing school music programs. The project will further provide professional development of teams of music educators and K-12 classroom teachers in the KCKPS district on the use of strategies to integrate music into other content subject areas within the school curriculum. The professional development programs will be based on appropriate contemporary methodologies that include the use of technology for instruction and evaluation. Also included in the professional development will be information for teachers on understanding the national standards for music and academic content areas as they apply to students with disabilities and those who are at high-risk for academic failure.

The professional development proposed here will be delivered in the form of a summer institute, Music: A 1st Thing, held on the campus of the University of Kansas and continuing staff development at participating KCKPS school sites. Participating music educators and K-12 teachers, supported by grant stipends, will attend professional development seminars that include the following topics:

  1. Strategies for addressing student achievement;
  2. Adapting instruction for students with disabilities and those who come from diverse cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds;
  3. Development of intellectual and leadership potential of participating teachers.
  4. Rigorous and sustained professional development that results in increased content knowledge and classroom effectiveness of music educators;
  5. The use of technology innovations to deliver instruction in music;
  6. Opportunities for educators to discuss and demonstrate new and/or effective teaching strategies with their peers.

 
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Last Modified: 09/01/2010