Music in Education National Consortium

The Partnership

Music in Schools Today partners with the Music-In-Education National Consortium(MIENC) to provide our signature Music Plus Music Integration program to requesting schools and districts.

MUST and MIENC focus on building school leadership teams at participating schools. These Learning Laboratory School Sites then disseminate structures, principles, materials, and strategies to schools, districts, and state agencies. MUST and MIENC provide Guided Practice Consultants (music integration coaches) and music interns. They offer Professional Development Exchanges, and conferences to explore innovative curricula, guided internship programs, digital portfolio assessment systems, and music’s expanding role in education reform.

The MIENC is a network of seven institutions of higher education, six arts learning organizations and 17 partnering schools in 13 states that investigates the role music plus music practices impact student learning. The strength of the MUST/MIENC partnership lies in its members and in the strength and effectiveness of the collaborations between them. Each adds value to the other and it is this “added value” that is the important contribution of the Network as a whole.

Music Plus Music Integration

Music Plus Music Integration is based on data-rich action research, assessment tools, and work samples that provide evidence of the impact and value of music learning for teachers and students.

All students learn music for music’s sake, including pitch, rhythm, instrumentation, and musical notation based on California State Standards. MUST’s music specialists work with classroom teachers to develop units of study in which music is integrated into the core curriculum, especially language arts, science and math. Schools develop an inquiry question that guides active research. Based on this inquiry question, assessment provides documentation of the efficacy of the program on student achievement and school culture.

Funding

MIENC is just completing the 12th year of a grant from the Federal Improvement for Secondary Education fund of the Department of Education. Its work represents the next crucial step toward large-scale reform in music education.

Oakland Unified School District has received a $1.2 million grant from the Federal Department of Education’s Model Development and Dissemination Arts in Education program. MUST is the non-profit partner.

Testimonials

“Our team was extremely impressed with your arts integration work we witnessed first hand during our Distinguished School visit last Friday at Thornhill Elementary… (this) is the first time that I was able to actually see with my own eyes how a school culture can be transformed through arts. In all classrooms we visited (which were most of them), we observed teachers using the arts as a strategy to make academic content more accessible. The fact that you actually have student achievement data to support your theory of action and your work at Thornhill and other schools is exactly what is needed.”

“In the summer of 2005, El Dorado Elementary began a collaboration with MuST to create a long-term plan for music education. We generated a school-wide plan for the 2006-07 school year, including a pilot program with 2nd and 3rd grade teachers to integrate music and language arts curriculum, mentoring from OUSD teachers, and membership in LLSN and MIENC national consortia.”