Reader Andrea Cox emails:
I don’t understand why it’s so important to keep the elementary strings program. Some things have to go because of the budget constraints imposed upon the schools. Strings strikes me as much less important than, say, class size, mathematics, or reading. We can’t have everything without major changes in how the school funding is set at the state level.
(I would have posted a “comment” to this topic, but I couldn’t figure out how to do this on the site.)
I am not a strings parent, nor have I ever been a strings parent. My interest in preserving our strings program stems from the clear and compelling evidence that communities around the country are increasingly turning to the arts to increase student engagement and achievement. (The Ford Foundation did a very good study on this about a year ago.) Madison has been known for its excellent early strings education program for decades. As is the case with ongoing attempts to undermine the visual arts, ongoing efforts to kill the program fly in the face of our interest in maintaining eduational excellence and in closing the achievement gap.
As a board member, I do not see the issue as strings vs. math vs. athletics, which is how the annual budget pageant usually works. I see the issue as strings and math and athletics vs. cost overruns in building projects, growth in business services, and expenditures for contracted services that may or may not benefit our schools.
Attacking strings, or extracurriculars, or sports, will not put teachers, librarians, and other key staff into schools. Nor will it repair curricula that are of questionable efficacy. If we want good schools, the conversation starts with what is in the budget — ALL of the budget — and whether the budget supports the kind of programs that we value in our schools.
Lucy,
Great comment! The School Board needs to look at ALL the budget and where dollars are being spent. Are there budget overruns, where, why? Also, rather than going to referendum for a building addition, an additional $250,000+ is being cut from the budget next year and every year thereafter.
Regarding elementary strings, which is part of the Grade 4-12 instrumental instruction, for 5 springs the District administration has waited each year until late March/April and made strings a budget issue through a variety of ways.
I’m a string parent and spouse of a string teacher (not affected by layoff) and MSO principal bassist. What has annoyed me the most is the lack of good planning and evaluation. For example, there has been no curriculum review and planning during the year, which would be a first step since the DPI requires school districts to have a school board approved K-12 sequential curriculum for a number of subjects, including music education. MMSD’s administrators are not working from that curriculum, which is standards based.
Teachers, music professionals, students, parents, community members have been excluded from the curriculum planning process. In tight financial times, that’s simply ridiculous. Fine arts education lends itself to a community effort and partnership in planning. That is absent – currently have connections that share information about community events via the Fine Arts Coordinator.
I feel the lack of School Board leadership and administrative action and openness has continued to put this area of study needlessly at risk, because their support is critical to successful cooperation and collaboration. Fighting over cut/not cut each year does not move us inthe right direction.
Lastly, I feel a fine arts community committee might have helped bridge the gap created by having 3 fine arts coordinators in less than 5 years. We’ve lost time developing a long-term plan, goals, developing relationships, pursuing grants, private funding,etc.
Dear Andrea,
You asked why strings is important to keep in the 4/5 curriculum. There has been a number of research that has shown music and math correlate. I have also attached a couple of websites that talks about some research done.
http://www.todaysparent.com/education/general/article.jsp?content=20030903_124111_1696&page=1
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web1/czhan.html
In a number of studies, it has been shown that early music (instrumental) lessons help children of any socioeconomic group more capable of understanding math concepts. Learning an instrument helps develop spatial temporal reasoning. Wikipedia defines Spatial-temporal reasoning as “the ability to visualize spatial patterns and mentally manipulate images over space and time. This ability, often referred to as ‘thinking in pictures’, is important for generating and conceptualizing solutions to multi-step problems that arise in areas such as engineering, science, mathematics, art, games (e.g. chess), and everyday life.”
Think about it. Kids will all come in equally with no experience. (Okay, there may be a few who have some experience, but in general, no matter what the child’s income level is, the are all starting out on equal territory.) Then there is the idea that in 4th and 5th grade, there generally isn’t regular homework, so with practicing their instrument, all children learn that in order to get better, they practice. The more regularly they practice, the better they get. They learn to read and understand music, and hopefully not sing monotone like I do. Playing an instument has children feeling more comfortable about being in front of people. Kids are still not completely into peer pressure yet, so more are willing to try something new even if their friends don’t. I would guess playing strings in 4th and 5th grade would allow it to be easier to pick up a different instrument in 6th grade (band) if they are so inclined.
There is a lot of other info on the web about music and math.
Hope this helps.
Judy – who never learned to play an instrument, and children will just start an instrument in 9th and 10th grades.
One of the parents who spoke last night testified about the benefits of the strings program for his son who has been diagnosed with autism. Last year, the board and audience had a brilliant performance by a young Khmer student who is still learning English. We often forget the ways in which this program helps the district to achieve inclusion objectives, but the benefits are very real.
The strings program has also been very beneficial to my autistic son (now in 6th grade). If I had to make a choice between funding, however, it would be in favor of more trained classroom assistance.
That said, Lucy is correct: we should not have to make that choice!