Education Through Music Inc

ETM PARTNERS WITH UNDER-RESOURCED SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE MUSIC (CONTINUES ON SCHEDULE "O") AS A CORE SUBJECT FOR ALL CHILDREN, AND UTILIZES MUSIC EDUCATION AS A CATALYST TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, MOTIVATION FOR SCHOOL AND SELF-CONFIDENCE.

DURING THE 2020-21 SCHOOL YEAR, EDUCATION THROUGH MUSIC (ETM) WORKED TO SUPPORT STUDENT LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT, WHILE BUILDING CAPACITY AMONG SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE MUSIC PROGRAMS. ETM USED MUSIC TO SUPPORT THE EDUCATION OF NEARLY 18,000 STUDENTS THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH 53 UNDER-RESOURCED NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS IN ALL FIVE BOROUGHS OF NEW YORK CITY; THIS INCLUDED 5 NEW PARTNERSHIPS.ETM PROGRAMS PROVIDED STUDENTS WITH COMPREHENSIVE, SKILLS- AND STANDARDS-BASED MUSIC INSTRUCTION THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR; MUSIC TEACHERS WITH ONGOING TRAINING, OVERSIGHT, AND MENTORING; PRINCIPALS WITH PROGRAM MANAGEMENT GUIDANCE; AND SCHOOL COMMUNITIES WITH OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT. ETM ALSO HELPED BRING QUALITY MUSIC EDUCATION TO OVER 18,000 ADDITIONAL CHILDREN THROUGH ADVISING LICENSED AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS IN LOS ANGELES, COLORADO AND BOSTON.WHEN THE NYC SCHOOL SYSTEM TRANSITIONED TO DISTANCE LEARNING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, ETM PROVIDED OUR TEACHERS THE RESOURCES AND TRAINING TO KEEP MUSIC IN THE CURRICULUM AND LIVES FOR OUR STUDENTS WITHOUT MISSING A WEEK OF SCHOOL.CORE MUSIC INSTRUCTION AND ENRICHMENTSTUDENTS IN ETM PARTNER SCHOOLS RECEIVED WEEKLY CORE MUSIC CLASSES DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR. TEACHERS INCORPORATED AGE-APPROPRIATE SONGS AND INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS: XYLOPHONES, HAND PERCUSSION, AND GUITARS. MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUCTION INCORPORATED MUSIC TECHNOLOGY IN STATE-OF-THE-ART LABS. INSTRUCTION FOLLOWED ETM'S GRADE-LEVEL MUSIC CURRICULUM, WHICH ALIGNS WITH NEW YORK STATE AND NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS AND SUPPORTS THE COMMON CORE. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING A FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN MUSIC, MUSIC TEACHERS EMPLOYED INTEGRATION STRATEGIES AND COLLABORATED WITH CLASSROOM TEACHERS TO REINFORCE COGNITIVE SKILLS THAT SUPPORTED STUDENT LEARNING IN OTHER SUBJECTS, SUCH AS ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, HISTORY, MATH, AND SCIENCE.PARTNER SCHOOL STUDENTS PERFORMED IN VIRTUAL, AND EVEN SOME LIVE OUTDOOR SPRING CONCERTS, SHOWCASING THEIR TALENTS TO PEERS, PARENTS AND THEIR WIDER SCHOOL COMMUNITIES.ENSEMBLES AND ENRICHMENTDUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, ELECTIVE INSTRUMENTAL AND CHORAL ENSEMBLES WERE DRASTICALLY REDUCED OR NOT POSSIBLE FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY REASONS. HOWEVER, ETM WAS ABLE TO PRODUCE A SMALL NUMBER OF PROGRAMS USING VIRTUAL TECHNOLOGY AND SAFETY DISTANCING TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING 5 CHOIRS, 4 CONCERT BAND PROGRAMS AND 3 ORCHESTRAS.MUSIC TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTETM DELIVERED OVER 100 HOURS OF TRAINING TO MUSIC TEACHERS. FIVE DAYS OF INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS BEFORE THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR STRENGTHENED MUSIC TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE OF PEDAGOGY AND MUSIC METHODOLOGIES AND ADDRESSED ETM'S CURRICULUM AND APPROACH TO INTEGRATION. TEACHERS WERE PREPARED TO TEACH IN ALL POSSIBLE SETTINGS, FROM REMOTE, TO IN PERSON, TO HYBRID (TEACHING BOTH IN PERSON AND REMOTE STUDENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY). ADDITIONAL SESSIONS WERE HELD FROM SEPTEMBER THROUGH JUNE. AT THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, EACH MUSIC TEACHER WAS ASSIGNED AN ETM MENTOR - ONE OF OUR INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISORS - WHO PROVIDED ONE-ON-ONE GUIDANCE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.BUILDING CAPACITY TO SUSTAIN PROGRAMSPRINCIPALS RECEIVED ONE-ON-ONE GUIDANCE ON PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, ASSESSMENT, BUDGET PLANNING, AND IDENTIFYING FUNDING RESOURCES. ETM PROVIDED ONGOING SUPPORT TO PRINCIPALS DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR TO PROMOTE BUY-IN FOR MUSIC PROGRAMS. ETM STAFF AND MUSIC TEACHERS BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH SCHOOL PERSONNEL AND ENGAGED PARENTS. ETM'S MODEL IS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED WHEN THE SCHOOL HIRES A MUSIC TEACHER FULL-TIME. EVALUATION EACH YEAR, PROGRAM STAFF MEMBERS CONDUCT REGULAR SITE VISITS TO EACH SCHOOL AND MUSIC TEACHER; OBSERVE AND EVALUATE MUSIC TEACHERS USING A RUBRIC TO RATE PLANNING AND PREPARATION, CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT, INTEGRATION, AND INSTRUCTION; AND DISCUSS OBSERVATIONS AND OFFER SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT. OUR OBSERVATION RUBRICS ALIGN WITH THE DANIELSON FRAMEWORK, THE SYSTEM USED BY THE NYCDOE. DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, STUDENT AND PARENT SURVEYS WERE NOT ABLE TO BE ADMINISTERED. HOWEVER, ETM WAS ABLE TO STILL SURVEY TEACHERS. THIS DATA ALLOWED US TO SHAPE OUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS AND ETM ACADEMY FOR THE 2020-21 SCHOOL YEAR THAT BEST SUPPORTED OUR TEACHERS IN THE AREAS THEY IDENTIFIED.NATIONAL ACTIVITIESBEYOND CORE PROGRAMS IN NYC, ETM CONTINUED WORK TO ADVANCE ITS MODEL NATIONALLY THROUGH ITS LICENSED AFFILIATE PROGRAMS. ETM CONTINUED TO ADVISE ETM-LA, THE ORGANIZATION LICENSED SINCE 2006 TO REPLICATE OUR FULL PARTNER SCHOOL MODEL IN THE LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY. IN 2020-21, ETM-LA CELEBRATED ITS 15TH ANNIVERSARY, AND REACHED 19,000 STUDENTS IN 46 SCHOOLS, WHILE PROGRAMMING CONTINUED TO DEVELOP IN NEWER ETM AFFILIATES IN DENVER (ETM-COLORADO) AND BOSTON (ETM-MASSACHUSETTS), AND ETM CONTINUED RESEARCH AND OUTREACH AIMED AT DEVELOPING NEW POTENTIAL AFFILIATES IN ADDITIONAL CITIES.