Orchestra Outreach

bullet1 Assessment

bullet2 Arts Education Partnership Research

At the Arts Education Partnership , there is a strong movement towards documenting the kind of learning that happens through the arts.  Of the many valuable publications available on their website (free for download, a small fee for published versions), there are a couple that apply directly to the issues orchestras face in their educational endeavors.  One report entitled Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development  compiles summaries of multiple studies in several artistic domains.  It includes a section, “An Overview of Research on Music and Learning” by Larry Scripp, Director of the Music-in-Education Department at the New England Conservatory.  

Another publication entitled Learning Partnerships: Improving Learning in Schools with Arts Partners in the Community  is intended as a resource for building effective partnerships between schools and community organizations.  It is divided in three sections:

      1. the impact arts education partnerships have on improving the quality of education for students and the related benefits they bring to the participating schools and organizations;
      2. the factors that make such partnerships successful over time;
      3. the key questions partners should ask themselves and one another at crucial stages in the life of their partnership. (p.1)

I find significant overlap between the characteristics highlighted in this study and the qualities that Mitchell Korn articulated regarding successful orchestra education practices.

    Besides these, the AEP has numerous other documents of research and policy that orchestra educators may find helpful around issues of feasible program assessment.