Impact of small-group instruction in music

The following are my comments at the public hearing on budget reductions on Thursday, February 10.

I would like to speak about the proposed cuts to music throughout the elementary and middle school levels.

At the middle level, the music staff knows that when 5th-grade students sign up for our classes they will have a good foundation in basic musical concepts due to the hard work and comprehensive curriculum of our elementary general music and string staff, and the interest of the students who enjoy those programs. By reducing the number of minutes for art, music, and PE at the elementary level, and eliminating 4th-grade strings, the district is cutting the curriculum of those programs. Future students beginning 6th-grade will no longer enter middle school with the same musical skills that our current students have.

Then there are staffing reductions in the middle school music performance classes that would limit staffing to one teacher each for band, choir and orchestra. If the proposed cuts were in place this year, the one GDS band teacher would have 215 students. The one choir teacher would have 205 students, and the one orchestra teacher would have 143 students. (These numbers do not take into consideration the 6th-grade music students at Winnequah.)

While it may be true that one band, choir, or orchestra teacher can handle teaching the large-group classes for all three grades, what will suffer dramatically are student’s opportunities to receive small-group instruction which we call GIGs and some other schools call lessons. Large-group rehearsals and small-group instruction serve two different functions. Large-group rehearsals are the means by which public performances are prepared, while small-group lessons make it possible for students to develop their basic performance skills and enable them to become independent learners and life-long participants in music after their school years. Instruction on proper embouchure, breath support, articulation, tone quality for both vocal and instrumental students, and finger and vocal technique for each student cannot be addressed in depth in large-group rehearsals which often contain 50 or more students. Rehearsals are intended to teach skills that affect the whole group, like balance and blend between voices or instruments, phrasing, entrances, and dynamics. Small-group instruction is also the time when advanced music students can be given additional challenges, and when students who struggle can receive the assistance they need to be successful.

The 2009 Wisconsin Deptartment of Public Instruction's guide, Planning Curriculum in Music, recommends that for a quality music program, students enrolled in choral or instrumental classes should receive at least 30 minutes of small-group instruction weekly in addition to large-group rehearsals. This recommendation is for both middle school and high school music programs. Our district already does not allow for this kind of instruction at the high school. The small-group instruction that our middle school music students receive needs to set the foundation for the rest of their experience participating in music in our district. The things that our district values that happen at the high school: not only band, choir and orchestra classes, but marching band, jazz band, pep band, show choir, and the musical all depend on our students arriving in high school knowing the basic skills of playing their instrument or using their voice effectively. Without the foundation of quality instruction at the elementary and middle level, these programs and activities will not continue to achieve the level of excellence that our community has come to appreciate and expect.

I would like to conclude by reading this brief excerpt from DPI’s Planning Curriculum in Music. “The matter of lessons extends into the realm of ethics. Students in performing groups work hard to perform well in order to represent their school and community at concerts, contests, games, and community events – all on their free time. In doing this, they serve their school and community well. However, if they are not afforded substantive individual or small-group lessons that will enable them to be lifelong participants in music beyond school when there may be no large ensemble or conductor, the school and community does not serve them well but is instead using them for non-student centered ends.”

Thank you for listening.

The following are my comments to the school board at the staff "listening session" on Thursday, February 4.

I'm here today to discuss the proposed budget cuts to the middle school music department.

When asked, about the form these cuts would take, we were told by an administrator that the cuts reflected the position of many on the administrative team that the music department at the middle school (GDS) is overstaffed, and that this concern has existed for some time. Their proposal is to reduce each curricular area, band, choir, and orchestra, down to one FTE (full-time employee) each at GDS.

The school board asked for a survey comparing MG music staffing that of area districts. However, the first music staffing survey numbers the board received regarding staffing in the MG district as compared to other districts are misleading. The survey simply took the total number of students in a school and divided them by the number of that school’s music FTE. This did not take into consideration the number of students participating in music. This information does not represent the number of music students per teacher at those schools, or at GDS. After seeing this inaccurate information, the music department surveyed our colleagues in surrounding districts. The results were passed out at the January 13th school board meeting. If you have any questions about these results, please let me know, as I am the one who tabulated the responses.

In looking for a way to figure out what adequate music staffing might be, one place to start is to look at state recommendations for music staffing. The Planning Curriculum in Music guide published in 2009 by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction gives recommendations for staffing a quality music program. On page 162 in Chapter 10 which covers Program Development, are recommendations by the state that reflect common practices in Wisconsin, as well as recommendations from professional associations that represent the level of support necessary if the content and performance standards identified in the guide are to be achieved. The two following recommendations are relevant to this discussion:

* The teaching load for a music teacher, including student contact time and total number of students, does not exceed the load for teachers in other academic areas.

*Students enrolled in choral or instrumental classes receive at least 30 minutes of small-group instruction weekly in addition to large group rehearsals.

The first point recommends that music teachers have the same teaching load as those of teachers in other academic areas. The No Child Left Behind legislation defines music as one of the core academic areas. If we look at the teaching load of the core teachers at GDS, they teach approximately 100 students.

The next logical step is to look at this year’s middle school music student numbers. If the proposed cuts were in place this year, the one GDS band teacher would have 215 students. The one choir teacher would have 205 students, and the one orchestra teacher would have 143 students. (These numbers do not take into consideration the 6th-grade music students at Winnequah.) If the proposed cuts to music staffing were approved, the teaching load for band and choir would be double that of other academic staff, and for orchestra would be 150% the load of a Core teacher.

Looking at band enrollment trends over time, beginning in 1993, which is the year I began teaching in this district, we have never had less than 200 band students at the middle school, and have had a highs reaching 265. Our average over that time period is 215 band students per year in grades 6-8.

Another aspect of the music program to consider is the opportunity for all students, including those with special needs, to participate. It is the philosophy of the music department that we will serve all students who wish to participate in music. Teachers in other academic areas have support from special ed. teachers and other support staff for students with different learning or physical needs. They work with these students on skills or concepts for which those students need extra instruction. Unlike many other curricular areas, we serve all student needs with our staff only. We teach cognitively disabled students, physically disabled students, and students with varying social or emotional needs as well as musically gifted and talented students. The musically gifted students often can be grouped together in GIGs for small-group instruction and provided with music that will challenge them. Other examples of accommodations made for students include: rewriting the 6th-grade band book and all concert music to an appropriate level for a cognitively disabled student who could read only quarter notes and rests. We have had multiple students with visual impairments. For one we enlarged the music, but for the other student band teachers learned Braille music in order to teach that student the skills needed to be an independent musician. Not only did we learn and then teach Braille music, but also we transcribed much of the band music and rhythm worksheets into Braille.

If, due to the proposed cuts to the music program, the student to teacher ratio in music classes doubles, future music students will not receive the small-group instruction that is currently provided. Without the ability to teach music students in small-group settings the music staff will be unable to meet the needs of all students.

Proposed Budget Cuts impact music

The Monona Grove School District is facing a deficit of $1,000,000 for the next school year. The administrative team has created a list of possible cuts, and the school board and administration have ranked these cuts. A preliminary list of cuts has been brought forth to the school board. The proposed cuts impact the music program, and the opportunities for students to experience music in the following ways:

* Increase the instructional minutes that define a full-time teacher for Elementary Related Arts from 1280 minutes per week to 1350 minutes per week.

* Reduce instructional minutes for the elementary related arts classes (art, music, PE) from 40 minutes twice a week to 30 minutes twice a week at grades 3-5, and for art only at grades K-2.

* Eliminate the 4th-grade string program

* Reduce staffing in 6-8th grade music programs by 1.53 full-time teachers.
This proposal intends to staff the middle school music programs with only 1 full-time teacher in each curricular area for band, choir, and orchestra.

To see the list of all of the cuts that were proposed, and which ones were selected to bring forward to the board, go to the Monona Grove website at http://www.mononagrove.org/BudgetInformation.cfm
Once there, you can then choose links that show the following:
* 2010-2011 Budget Timeline
* Budget Reduction Hearings
* Preliminary Budget Reduction Proposal 2010-2011 -MGSD Cabinet

If you are interested in making your opinion known on any of the proposed budget reductions you can contact the MGSD school board, the superintendent and/or the administrator(s) at the buildings where the proposed cuts will take place.

If you would like to attend one of the public budget reducation hearings they will be held on the following dates and times:

Tuesday, February 9, 2010
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Glacial Drumlin School - IMC

Thursday, February 11, 2010
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Monona Grove High School – Auditorium

Saturday, February 20, 2010
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. - Winnequah School - Cafeteria

Olympian Jessie Vetter tours Monona Grove

On Monday, January 25, Jessie Vetter toured all of the Monona Grove schools with the MG High School Band. This was a great chance for our students to get to meet an Olympian, and they were excited to see her!


While she was at GDS the band staff got a photo with her. More photos will follow soon...

Best wishes from all of us on your Olympic experience!

Governor Doyle visits GDS

On Friday January 15, Governor Doyle visited Glacial Drumlin School to deliver a speech on Wisconsin's application for grant funding through President Obama's "Race to the Top" education initiative. The 6th-grade band welcomed him to school with a performance of the Olympic Theme, Bugler's Dream.







After the band finished playing, Governor Doyle came over and talked to the 6th-graders and asked them some questions about their experiences in band.


He also posed for a few pictures with the band, which are shown below...