office and was very knowledgeable about the new ESEA bill. He was a bit concerned with the delays that seem to surround the bill. Congress- woman Wagner sponsors an annual art contest for Missouri Students. The artwork of the winners deco- rates her office and the tunnel that leads from the Cannon House Office Building to the Capitol.
On July 17, the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives passed the GOP ESEA bill H.R. 5, the “Student Success Act.” This version of the ESEA reau- thorization is not very arts friendly and has no language that speaks to a well-rounded education. It is very math and reading oriented and spells bad news for any federal support of music education. Con- gressman George Miller, California, introduced a substitute bill that was a great deal more arts friendly and ensured a well-rounded education, but it was soundly defeated.
It is believed that the House bill will be short lived. The Senate will act on their version of the ESEA bill this fall. Senator Harkin, the presenter of the Senate version, hopes his bill will reach the floor early this fall. Senator Harkin is a strong advocate of music education. I will do my best to stay tuned to the Senate agenda. If and when the bill reaches the floor of the Senate I will send an e- mail to alert everyone that it is time to write your Senator and Represen- tative encouraging their support of the Senate version of the Elemen- tary and Secondary Education Act.
Missouri Educator Evaluation Sys- tem
In May of 2013, the State School Board adopted the Missouri Edu- cator Evaluation System. School districts can adopt the state model or they can create their own evalu- ation systems that align with the new principles and standards. The
Fall 2013
Teacher Standards can be found at:
http://dese.mo.gov/eq/docu- ments/TeacherStandards.pdf.
I encourage all music teachers to familiarize yourself with the posi- tion statement on teacher evalua- tion presented by NAfME found at:
http://musiced.nafme.org/about/ position-statements/teacher-evalu- ation.
As this evaluation system unfolds we are all searching for guidance. While at the National Assembly I attended a session in which a sum- mary of a NAfME Workbook for ef- fective professional development and successful evaluation was in- troduced. This workbook is still being developed and is untitled. The intention is a guide that both teachers and supervisors can use to improve instruction and program effectiveness. We did not receive a target date for publication. I will attend a pre-conference session at the National In-Service in October on Teacher Evaluation. I hope I will have additional resources for you at that time. I will post updates to the web site.
MMEA is dedicated to assisting our membership with music specific criteria for evaluation and profes- sional development. It is our goal to align the Teacher Standards to music-specific language and devel- op a rubric that will offer ideas and suggestions that you can use to as- sist your administrators in develop- ing a fair subject specific evaluation for you and your students. Effective evaluation measures must include a means for determining student growth in the subject area being evaluated. Each teacher and district best does this through the use of Student Learning Objectives (SLO) that should be developed. It is our goal to offer SLO examples for differ- ent disciplines and all levels that you
will be able to adapt for your situa- tion. Please monitor the MMEA web site for these developments. I will host a session at the annual MMEA In-Service Workshop that will pres- ent and explain the “MMEA Model Music Teacher, guidelines for effec- tive educational practices and pro- fessional development.”
STEM to STEAM
STEM stands for Science, Technol- ogy, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
At the federal level STEM Education Coalition represents all sectors of the technological workforce – from knowledge workers, to educators, to scientists, engineers, and techni- cians. In Missouri this group is called the Missouri Math and Science Co- alition. These groups work at the federal and state level to insure America is a global leader in sci- ence and technology. The Missouri Department of Higher Education (MDHE) is committed to improving education and supporting devel- opment of industry in the critical mathematics, engineering, tech- nology, and science (STEM) fields. I completely agree with the need for America to remain a global leader in technology. To be a global leader we need to think in creative ways so science and technology can bet- ter society. What industry leaders need to realize is that creativity is fostered by participation in the arts. To this end a movement champi- oned by the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and widely adopted by institutions, corporations and individuals is called STEAM: STEM + Art = STEAM. The objectives of the STEAM movement are to: transform research policy to place Art + Design at the center of STEM; encourage in- tegration of Art + Design in K–20
see BRANDES, pg 19 9
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