Page 13 - music

Music Department Program Review [​Table of Contents​]
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Recommendation #2: Curriculum and Standards
1. Infuse the National Common Core Arts Standards and Pennsylvania Arts & Humanities Standards within
the Music Department curriculum and ensure vertical alignment and progression according to the
suggested competencies by sub-discipline (e.g. General Music, Composition/Theory, Music Technology,
Guitar/Keyboarding/Harmonizing Instruments, & Ensemble) and through the four functions: (a) create,
(b) perform, (c) respond, and (d) connect.

FINDINGS:

Internal Analysis
● Students in the EHUE Music program develop critical thinking skills and a life-long appreciation of
music through classroom instruction and performance opportunities (Student Voice - Grade 6, 2020).
● Music ensemble participation develops skills used throughout other courses and life (Student Voice -
High School, 2020).

External Analysis
● The National Common Core Arts Standards are organized by 4 anchors: (a) creating, (b)
performing/presenting/producing, (c) responding, and (d) connecting in accordance with the processes
utilized by musicians for generations (National Association for Music Education & the National Common
Core Arts Standards, 2014).
● “​The new standards provide teachers with frameworks that closely match the unique goals of their
specialized classes. The standards are presented in a grade-by-grade sequence from pre-K through grade
8, and discrete strands address common high-school music classes, such as Ensembles and Music
Composition/Theory. The standards are provided in “strands” that represent the principal ways music
instruction is delivered in the United States” (NAfME, 2014).
● Pennsylvania currently holds its own set of Arts & Humanities Standards which serve as the baseline for
our curriculum; infusing the National Common Core Standards into the PRSD music curriculum would
help us to more fully develop our already robust programming in line with best practices and current
research by NAfME (NAfME, 2014; Pennsylvania Arts & Humanities Standards, 2002).
● Performance benchmarks are written by the music department and are updated every year (Spring Grove
SD, 2019).
● Community input is a central point in curriculum development (Spring Grove SD, 2019).
● A major goal of the music department is to “adhere to other curricular areas and do things globally”
(North Allegheny SD, 2019).
● Music curriculum is reviewed and updated every four to six years (State College SD, 2019; Quaker
Valley SD, 2019).
● As a district and community, the Williamsport Area School District embraces K - 12 music education
with a comprehensive and spiraling curriculum (Williamsport Area SD, 2019).
● The learning process is the focus and is more important than the final product (Quaker Valley SD, 2019).
● “Spiraling Curriculum” builds a good base for continuity when moving between buildings (Fox Chapel
Area SD, 2019).
● Curriculum is written and updated every seven years with a plan to implement something new each year
(North Hills SD, 2019).
● Integration of theater elements such as acting, lighting, choreography can enhance the music experience
(Wexford Acting Studio, 2019).
● A variety of program offerings above the National Standards should be achieved (Jeter’s Theatre, 2019).
● Students should understand music at a deeper level (tonality, how is it supposed to sound, nuance) (West

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