Schoolwide Music Education Sustainability Project

K-12 STEAM education

Central LA East LA South LA San Gabriel Valley San Fernando Valley Gateway Cities South Bay County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit) LAUSD (select only if you have a district-wide partnership)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

While the passage of Prop 28 (2022) guaranteed public school arts funding, there is “a huge hole of qualified arts teachers" (NPR, 2023). A lack of human capital and resources, along with fragmentation of music programming, continue to distress school districts. Inequitable access to music education affects historically marginalized communities most (Arts & Minds, LA Unified, 2022). “It’s no longer just a school issue, it’s a moral issue. There’s a huge equity gap” (L. Smyth, CA Alliance for Arts Ed).
Students enrolled in school arts programs have higher attendance & graduation rates, fewer discipline issues, and stronger social-emotional skills. Yet, in Los Angeles County, ~75% of elementary and middle schools do not have the equivalent of a full-time music teacher (LA Arts Collective, 2023) and many schools do not know how to get music back. Districts/schools need support and guidance leveraging Prop 28 and learning how to build long-term, sequential, comprehensive music programs.

ETM-LA works to change the school ecosystem and key factors which impact the development of an equitable, sustainable, comprehensive music education program. Our dynamic and customizable approach to school partnerships is uniquely comprehensive in its scope and objectives, positioning our organization to create lasting change. ETM-LA is innovating a School Music Program Toolkit resource for principals/districts and website training resources to support the entire school ecosystem to build their capacity to move from dependence to independence: “teaching schools how to teach music.”
The toolkit and website training resources will be constructed from ETM-LA’s proven and piloted strategies – including but not limited to: principal/teacher training, music program oversight, music teacher curriculum/lessons, and program assessment – into user-friendly templates. This will assist districts in marginalized communities along their entire journey – from inception with no (or limited) music education to developing vibrant, culturally responsive school-wide music programs for the long-term.
Transformation of a school culture demands care, coordination, and collaborative planning among school, district, and community members. Whether prioritizing STEAM-focused lessons, multimedia, instrumental ensembles, music tech, strategies for students with special needs, or music therapy practices, ETM-LA guides programming to resonate with the community, reaching every student in the school.

ETM-LA envisions success as scaling our work towards equity & access for more self-sustainable music programs across LA County.
Short-term:
20 ETM-LA partner schools pilot use of School Music Program Toolkit
75% of Toolkit/website users rate as beneficial to their program’s development
95% of schools using toolkit maintain/increase financial commitment to their programs
95% of parents believe music is beneficial to students/school community
90% of ETM-LA partner schools move from dependence to independence with greater confidence through use of Toolkit
Long-term (by 2050):
200 additional music school programs will be launched (~100,000 students receiving music)
50 schools will sustain their music programs
Student performance in & attitudes toward arts/school will increase
Los Angeles will lead as a model for K-12 STEAM education & music/arts
Providing equity & inclusion in music ed. ensures that all children have a brighter future and can experience the life-changing benefits of music.