MIENC Music Learning Leadership Institute
2008-2009 Team Certificate Program

written by sarah roodhouse, digital music instructor and magnet cluster lead teacher with contributions from natalie butler, band director at bronzeville academy and former music teacher at walt disney magnet school

story: Chicago Fine Arts Magnet School with student body that is diverse and predominantly low-income uses digital music and reading technology to examine to what extent music literacy impacts or predicts success in language literacy achievement. Researchers examined the impact of music instruction coupled with Fast ForWord program instruction on literacy development (music and language arts) and the impact of music instruction coupled with Fast ForWord instruction as it relates to auditory processing and cognitive development.

Download Chicago’s LLSN Report (PDF)

This report contains three extended narratives that illustrate the core narrative:

• Norwalk/Morrison Steel Pan Band – Karen Calhoun
  story: Professional development from the music teacher point of view, showing growth over three years. Focuses on students’ performance success, but also demonstrates the value of sustained partnership and especially mentorship among students. Includes sidebar of student reflections.
• Using Dulcimer Instruction for Music Integration – Lori Knight
  story: Professional development from the classroom teacher point of view. Teacher uses her own interest in the dulcimer to fuel students’ natural curiosity for learning. Features examples of integration with music and language arts (story orchestra), social studies, and math. Sessions and on-line forums with professional musicians create music growth as well as more opportunities for literacy
• Journey of a Teaching Artist – Andrew Grueshow
  story: Professional Development and growth from the teaching artist point of view.

Download Morrison’s Core Narrative by Grande (PDF) | Calhoun | Knight | Grueshow

written by alyson swihart, eric swihart, sallyann tomlin, and wesley j. watkins, iv, ph.d. with sidebar features by eric swihart

story: Isolated school with limited music-teaching capacity forms partnerships (with MILE and MIENC LLSN Network) that led to ever-deeper and richer music-integrated curriculum implementation, professional development, community building, and assessment practices. Early products are visible community-wide, and school faculty comes alive. School commits to pre- and post assessment rubrics, forms useful professional development exchange with local school, and is now on its way to becoming a scale-out hub in the area.

key elements:

• Gold Rush Musical: An important visible beginning for music-integration at the school—continues the following year and extends to other grades
• School Sing-A-Long: An important visible attempt to build community and social-emotional development through music
• Professional Development Exchange with El Dorado: Schools host site visits and share successes and challenges
• In-School scale-out: Backwards-mapping State Music standards through Grades 1-5
• The Jazz and Democracy Project: Effective use of music to teach social studies curriculum that students were having difficulty with
• Student and Teacher transformation: Several extended sidebar stories by Eric Swihart, especially as relevant to the Gold Rush and Sing-A-Long
• Increased commitment to pre- and post- assessments

Download Thorhill’s LLSN report (PDF)