Abstract
Photo of Lynn M. Tuttle by Mark Finkenstaedt
As NAfME and music education advocates celebrate the one-year anniversary of President Obama signing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law, what has changed for music education, and what can still be gained through ESSA? An easy answer to this question is “not much has changed, and we are still optimistic about possibilities under ESSA for music education.” That answer, however, doesn’t dig into the specifics of the law, nor does it give any sense of a direction to follow in terms of advocating on behalf of your music education program under ESSA. So . . . where to begin? I suggest we reach back and reuse the old language of Standards—what students should know and be able to do—and apply that to what we as music educators and music education advocates should know about ESSA and then how we can use that knowledge to create better music education opportunities for our students.
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What music educators should know about the Every Student Succeeds Act
1. The Every Student Succeeds Act 1 is our nation’s federal K–12 education law. ESSA is the new title given to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2015 (it’s perhaps better known by its 2002 title, No Child Left Behind). In the United States, public education is governed state by state. Federal education laws support dollars to supplement education funding by states and local districts. ESSA, in particular, was created to help provide additional funding for schools supporting children in poverty and is considered part of the civil rights legacy of Lyndon Johnson’s administration. When people refer to “Title I” schools, they are referring to schools receiving funding under this federal law—in particular, funding under Title I (chapter 1) of the law.
Every Student Succeeds Act, Title VIII, Section 8002—Definitions
“(52) WELL-ROUNDED EDUCATION.—The term ‘well-rounded education’ means courses, activities, and programming in subjects such as English, reading or language arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, geography, computer science,
2. For the first time in federal law, ESSA lists music as a separate subject area. The term well-rounded education in ESSA replaces the definitional term of Core Academic Subjects found in No Child Left Behind. The new “well-rounded education” section of the law (Section 8002, ESSA) lists music, along with the other arts and several new content areas (including health and physical education). The inclusion of music in the listing of subjects has been an advocacy focus of NAfME for the past twenty-five years. Inclusion in federal law follows inclusion of music in the state-level statute or administrative code in twenty-eight states, which list music separately from other subject areas (2015 Arts Scan, Arts Education Partnership). 2 In addition, the inclusion of music in the “well-rounded education” definition carries throughout the entirety of ESSA. “Well-rounded education” is referenced fourteen times throughout law and is found in Titles I, II, and IV.
3. ESSA includes a brand-new funding opportunity for music education in Title IV-A, or chapter 4—21st Century Schools. This section of the law is greatly revised from prior versions and includes a block grant, or direct funding to school districts, for supporting a well-rounded education. Because music is listed in the definition of a well-rounded education, music education can be supported by these block grant funds with two caveats: (1) that music education needs have been identified through a district-wide needs assessment and (2) that these local, identified needs are not currently met through state and local funding and so would benefit from supplemental, federal funding.
4. The language for Title I schools has changed in ESSA to reflect the importance of a well-rounded education. Title I schools come in two varieties—schoolwide Title I schools and targeted-assistance Title I schools. For the first time under ESSA, schoolwide Title I schools are encouraged to include information on how they provide well-rounded educational opportunities, including music education, to their students in their written Title I schoolwide plan. While this doesn’t necessarily mean Title I funds will support those well-rounded educational opportunities, it’s the first time that schools have been encouraged to include a wider range of curricular offerings beyond the tested subject areas within their Title I schoolwide plans. Also for the first time under ESSA, targeted-assistance Title I schools may use their supplemental federal Title I dollars to support well-rounded educational opportunities, including music, for their identified students. These students are identified as the most academically at-risk students in their school based on academic achievement indicators, usually the tested subject areas. Traditionally, Title I funds in targeted-assistance schools have funded supplemental interventions in the tested subject areas. Under ESSA, well-rounded educational opportunities may also be funded for these identified students.
5. Professional development can be funded for music educators under ESSA. Funds from Titles I, II, and IV of ESSA can support professional development for educators, administrators, and other school personnel. With the inclusion of music within the well-rounded education definition in the law, music educators are able to have professional development funded by these dollars now, too. This was less clear under No Child Left Behind and differed from district to district as to whether music educators had access to these federal dollars for professional development opportunities.
6. Under ESSA, states will have to build new accountability systems, incorporating multiple measures within each state’s system. This is radically different from No Child Left Behind, which asked states to adhere to a federal accountability system focused almost exclusively on tested subject area performance (Adequate Yearly Progress). In fact, states must add in an additional measure beyond testing subject area performance and graduation/attendance rates. Some of the possible additional measures include parent engagement, student engagement, or school culture/climate (ESSA, Section 1005—State Accountability Systems).
7. ESSA protects students from being “pulled out” of your classroom in order to receive remediation in reading or math. Like NCLB, ESSA retains language in Title I that discourages schools from providing interventions or remediation for students by pulling them out of “the regular classroom.”
What music educators can do with the Every Student Succeeds Act
Now that you know some highlights of the law, what can you as a music educator do with this information? Here are some suggestions:
Ask to get involved in the ESSA needs assessment committee for your school district. As your district prepares to transition to ESSA for the 2017–18 school year, it will need to pull together a committee of teachers, parents, administrators, and community members to conduct needs assessments for Title IV (that well-rounded education funding opportunity) as well as Titles I and II. You can be part of that team—if you ask.
Identify what the music education needs are for your school district and be prepared for when the district asks as part of the overall ESSA needs assessment. NAfME’s Council of Music Program Leaders (http://www.nafme.org/category/interest-areas/music-program-leaders/) created the 2015 Opportunity-to-Learn (OTL) Standards (http://www.nafme.org/wp-content/files/2014/11/Opportunity-to-Learn-Standards_May2015.pdf), which can serve as a tool for your music program needs assessment. In fact, NAfME hosted a webinar in August of this year, showing just how you can use the OTLs to help with a needs assessment. You can find the archived webinar and the accompanying materials on the NAfME website (bit.ly/NCLBends).
Learn how your state MEA is advocating for music education with your state education agency. Whether it’s called the Office of Public Instruction or the Department of Education, your state education agency is the branch of state government that will need to create a state plan for ESSA, including that new accountability system. Many states are asking for input from parents, educators, and administrators about what should be in the state plan and new accountability system—and music educators need to be part of this conversation. To learn more about what is going on in your state, begin by contacting your Advocacy Leadership Force representative (http://www.nafme.org/take-action/elementary-and-secondary-education-act-esea-updates/nafme-advocacy-leadership-force/) or feel free to e-mail me directly, and I’ll update you on what I know!
Stay in touch with NAfME. While the new law is exciting, the devil, as they say, is in the details of how it will be implemented. NAfME is working to stay on top of what the federal administration is creating in terms of details and is trying to represent the needs of music educators in that process. To learn more, visit our “Everything ESSA” (http://www.bit.ly/NCLBends) page. The policy team at NAfME will be offering quarterly webinars on music education policy and politics, with the next one scheduled for Wednesday, February 8, 2017, focusing on the new administration and the new Congress following the November elections.
If you teach at a Title I schoolwide school, ask how music will be included in the 2017–18 schoolwide plan as part of a well-rounded education. You can even offer to write that section of the plan if that’s okay—so that music gets listed and recognized as part of what your school does to support a quality education for all of its students. [Note: Your administrator may not even know that this is supposed to happen under the new law—so be ready to educate as well as ask!]
Share information with your fellow music educators. Share this article, share the link to Everything ESSA, and update your colleagues about the opportunities in the law. Those opportunities will not come to fruition unless music educators take action to turn the opportunities into reality.
Finally, share any successes you are having in terms of supporting music education via ESSA. NAfME will be sharing models from across the country with you, and your success could help others be successful, too. To share your success, simply e-mail me the information at