Music Education

Image of a female student playing the flute, and another student in the background playing a horn.
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Equity & Diversity Laws That Limit Teaching About Race and Gender Imperil Music Instruction
Music educators in states with laws restricting discussions of race, gender, and sexuality aren't sure how to explain spirituals or jazz.
Alyson Klein, March 31, 2023
4 min read
Dressed in her shoulder pads and jersey, 8th grader Julie Michael, 13, holds her flute before playing the national anthem with the marching band at Seven Springs Middle School in New Port Richey, Fla.
Trumpet player Blake Gifford, 12, at right, rehearses with the horn section in the band room on March 8, 2017, at Lakeside Middle School in Millville, N.J.
Ben Fogletto/The Press of Atlantic City via AP
Student Well-Being What the Research Says How a School District Used Music Teaching to Keep Students Connected
A wider variety of music programs may help students feel more connected to school, new research suggests.
Sarah D. Sparks, January 25, 2023
3 min read
Thunder Basin High School senior Brian Jackson marches in line with classmates as the school's marching band preps for the upcoming season during a morning band camp session in Gillette, Wyo., on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Thunder Basin High School senior Brian Jackson marches in line with classmates as the school's marching band preps for the upcoming season during a morning band camp session in Gillette, Wyo., on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Mike Moore/Gillette News Record via AP
Student Well-Being Will Coronavirus Silence School Bands and Choirs?
Educators and researchers hunt for ways student musicians and singers can practice and perform safely despite the risk of virus transmission.
Corey Mitchell, August 24, 2020
6 min read
School & District Management Report Roundup Music Education
High schoolers who participate in music courses may score higher in academic subjects, according to a new study of students in British Columbia.
Sasha Jones, July 16, 2019
1 min read
Curriculum Can Music Class Make Students Smarter in Other Subjects?
High schoolers who participate in music courses may score higher on exams in their academic subjects, according to a new study by Canadian researchers.
Sasha Jones, June 25, 2019
3 min read
Curriculum Video Integrating Music, Dance, and Other Arts Education Into Instruction to Improve Student Achievement – Christie-Jo Adams
Christie-Jo Adams shares her story about helping teachers weave the teaching of arts into instruction to help improve achievement.
May 22, 2019
22:58
Curriculum Video Elevating the Arts to Improve Student Achievement
Christie-Jo Adams, a violinist whose first learned to play an instrument in her public elementary school, is helping teachers weave the teaching of music, dance, and other visual and fine arts into their instruction to enrich student learning and improve achievement in the Richmond Public Schools in Richmond, Va. As the district’s fine arts instructional specialist, Adams is also working to expand students’ access to visual and fine arts courses across the city’s schools. “There are some great boys and girls in Richmond Public Schools that have not been tapped,” says Adams. “It’s because they are growing up in a city, they don’t always get noticed.” This video was produced as part of Education Week’s Leaders To Learn From project, recognizing outstanding school district leaders from around the country. Read more at https://leaders.edweek.org
February 20, 2019
3:45
Professional Development Video With ‘Solidarity Tour,’ Steven Van Zandt Gives Teachers PD and a Rock Concert
Steven Van Zandt, a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and actor from The Sopranos, is touring the country with his rock band to promote the use of music in classrooms and show solidarity with teachers. Teachers attend a professional-development workshop about arts integration, receive a curriculum to use in their classrooms, and get free tickets to a Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul concert. The nearly 30-stop tour will take the band to several states that saw widespread teacher protests, and aims to show unity with the teaching profession, which Van Zandt sees as “underappreciated.”
November 6, 2018
2:42
Steven Van Zandt performs with his band The Disciples of Soul at the Carnegie Library of Homestead in Pittsburgh in front of a crowd with many teachers.
Steven Van Zandt performs with his band The Disciples of Soul at the Carnegie Library of Homestead in Pittsburgh in front of a crowd with many teachers.
Jeff Swensen for Education Week
Curriculum This Rock Legend Is Combining Teacher PD With Live Music
Steven Van Zandt, a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and actor from The Sopranos, is touring the country with his rock band to promote the use of music in classrooms and show solidarity with teachers.
Sarah Schwartz, November 2, 2018
8 min read
Curriculum Video Meet the Students Who Run Their Own In-School Record Label
Students in the Creative Musical Arts and Sciences program at Arcadia High School in Phoenix record and produce songs using technology tools found in the professional music industry. The program acts as a record label within a school, explains music teacher and program creator Richard Maxwell, who sees his role as “executive producer.” In addition to creating their own music, students learn about the many jobs associated with music recording and production in the real world.
October 4, 2018
3:31
Arcadia students practice using an Ableton push pad controller.
Arcadia students practice using an Ableton push pad controller.
Erin Irwin/Education Week
Teacher Preparation A Recording Studio for Every Student: Teaching Music Class in the Digital Era
Teachers say new tech tools give young students more creative freedom in music classes, and offer older students who haven’t participated in band or choir an entry point into the subject.
Sarah Schwartz, October 3, 2018
6 min read
School Climate & Safety Opinion Sing On, Children! How the Arts Help Social Movements Take Flight
An urgent call to teach our children this: Making and appreciating art that reflects our collective joys and sorrows is part of what it means to be human. Art helps human movements and causes take flight.
Nancy Flanagan, March 16, 2018
2 min read
Student Well-Being Opinion Happy Halloween! Be Playful and Artistic in School on Holidays
Dressing up and playing (often challenging) "scary" music is good curricular and instructional practice. It encourages young adolescents to be kids again in an increasingly frightening adult world—playful and artistic, sharing their burgeoning talents with their community.
Nancy Flanagan, October 31, 2017
2 min read
School & District Management Report Roundup Music Education
A new study from the University of Maryland indicates that those who participated in K-12 music education are more likely to continue to be involved with the arts as adults.
Jaclyn Zubrzycki, April 18, 2017
1 min read