Music Education Group Ramps Up After Legislative Win

With a new law giving fresh attention to the role of teaching music in schools, the National Association for Music Education  (opens in a new tab) (NAfME) is using its recent legislative victory to attract new members.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which passed in December, specifically touts music education as an important part of the curriculum.

“Putting music on the same footing with subjects such as math, reading and science is not only profoundly symbolic, but also has several noteworthy benefits that can and should be exploited by advocates during implementation of the legislation,” NAfME Assistant Executive Director Christopher B. Woodside wrote in a recent post on Medium  (opens in a new tab).

Some of those benefits are surfacing in NAfME’s membership drive, which was announced on Tuesday, in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. The group is partnering with the nonprofit group Be Part of the Music  (opens in a new tab) to offer an expanded membership kit to all new members, who will be jumping into the organization at a time when the ground is shifting around music education as a whole.

“The experience of the first membership year is vital to membership retention,” NAfME’s director of membership, Thomas L. Stefaniak, CAE, explained in a news release  (opens in a new tab). “We sought to create an onboarding strategy that would welcome and summarize membership benefits while also providing the new member with resources that could be immediately used in the classroom.”

NAfME is also working on legislative initiatives  (opens in a new tab) to strengthen the punch of music education, including requesting that the federal government ask states for data on the performance of music educators and supporting new legislation that would encourage afterschool music education programs.

“This marks a new day for music educators and music education advocates,” NAfME Executive Director and CEO Michael A. Butera explained in the news release. “And NAfME is leading the charge to ensure music educators are ready to take the lead in their profession, providing a quality music education for all students.”

Information on how the association is taking steps to prepare educators for ESSA is available on the NAfME website  (opens in a new tab).

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