Playback - Summer 2008 - (Page 27)

2008 Best Communities For Music Education Announced The NAMM Foundation recognizes Community Support for Music education Programs in the United States. The NAMM Foundation announced the results of its ninth annual “Best Communities for Music Education” survey, which includes 110 school districts across the U.S. This year’s roster of musical schools represents 29 states, with New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia representing the most districts. The National String Project Consortium Faced with a critical shortage of string teachers for the public schools in the United States, the National String Project Consortium (NSPC) is working to educate more teachers and give them the practical experiences that prepare them for successful teaching careers. Since its establishment in 1998, the NSPC, an independent nonprofit organization, has helped train more than 7,000 children in 32 sites around the nation, and in doing so, refined the teaching skills of hundreds of aspiring string music instructors. The NSPC is a coalition of String Project sites based at colleges and universities that give undergraduate students the chance to earn a stipend while gaining real-world experience teaching students. In addition, many of the children taking lessons wouldn’t otherwise have access to music classes in their public schools. Funding from a NAMM Foundation Program Grant helps the NSPC and its current String Project sites, and provides startup assistance for universities seeking to create new sites. One sign of the program’s success is that 81 percent of the NSPC String Project sites have increased the number of music education majors in their schools. As a result, the NSPC hopes this will help to solve the shortage of string music teachers, create more experienced entry-level string teachers, combat string program attrition and provide an ongoing opportunity for children who don’t have access to string programs in their public schools. “With NAMM’s generous support over the years, the NSPC has been able to start and sustain String Projects at eight different sites around the U.S.,” says Robert Jesselson, NSPC Executive Director. “For every new string teacher who is educated and sent out into the schools, there will be thousands of future music makers over the course of the teacher’s career. It is a smart investment in the future.” To learn more about the National String Project Consortium, visit www.stringprojects.org. The designated programs exemplify community commitment to include music education as part of a quality education for all children. Hundreds of teachers, school and district administrators, school board members, parents and community leaders, representing communities in all 50 states, participated in the annual Web-based survey. The districts were measured across a variety of program support, curricular and programmatic criteria. Furthermore, the results were measured proportionally, so that communities of different sizes were compared equally. To view the complete roster of “Best Communities,” visit www.nammfoundation.org. http://www.nammfoundation.org http://www.stringprojects.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Playback - Summer 2008

Playback - Spring 2008 Contents From the President NAMM Events Music in the News The Local Community Music Store: A Family Affair Commercial Retail Washington Watch Reps in the Field New Domestic Members International NAMM Foundation Music Notes Resources Viewpoint Playback Supplement : Summer NAMM08 Concerts & Events Artist Appearances What to See NAMM University Sessions

Playback - Summer 2008

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