Setting up communication tools for the coalition was simple. We recruited a parent with web-design experience to make a website and another parent who was a social media whiz to open a Facebook page. We also expanded our “leadership team” to four people instead of two.


Now what? So far our efforts had gone just as planned: We developed a mission statement, agreed on our coalition’s strategic operating principles and set up tools for communication. Now what? Our district was not suggesting any major cuts to the music programs financially, and there was no impend- ing doom facing the music class schedules. In fact, participation in mu- sic classes across the district had been growing steadily for the last three or more years. Programs were overflow- ing, students were learning and, for the most part, parents were happy.


What does a music advocacy coalition do when the perception is that things are going well? The answer is to pres- ent a “State of Music Annual Report” to the school board. This is the center- piece of our yearly advocacy efforts. It is the tangible, hands on, most impor- tant thing we will do as a coalition from year to year to effectively and positively communicate with decision makers and community members.


The first step in developing our an- nual report was to decide what data to include in the report. Using Dr. Benham’s suggestions and feedback from the all the teachers, we agreed on the following three main points to highlight in our first report:


1) Operating Principles of the Coalition – to communicate with decision makers our desire to be a valuable resource in any decision-making process for gathering and analyzing data about the music programs.


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2) A Brief Three-Year Enroll- ment History – Including district- wide enrollment graphs at each level: general music, fifth-grade band, middle school band and choir, and high school band and choir.


3) All Performances K-12 – Highlighting achievements and awards of performing groups of all programs, festival awards, etc.


To the school board


After deciding what to include on our first report, we began collecting and compiling data, as well as writing and editing the report. Data collection was mostly composed of waiting for teach- ers to respond to emails with their spe- cific data contribution. The report was considered final when all the music teachers in the district had read it and approved of the data and how it was portrayed. The teachers were respon- sible for making sure that each of their administrators had a copy of the report before it went to the superintendent and school board. Administrators don’t like surprises unless it’s their birthday!


In order to present the report to the school board for the first time, we were careful to ask the district what the appropriate process was for com- munication of this type. Carol was asked to meet privately with both the superintendent and assistant superin- tendent for an hour before any infor- mation was passed on to the board. This turned out to be a great opportu- nity to inform them about the coalition and give them a lengthy and personal presentation of the data we had col- lected.


Finally, after being screened by the district administration, we had the “go-ahead” to present to the school board. We emailed the annual report to members of the board in June for their review. In September we had the opportunity to give a brief statement


and have the board make comments and ask questions about the report. Remembering our strategic principle that the coalition is primarily parent- led, Carol stood in front of the board to answer questions and offer com- ments. The response was overwhelm- ingly positive! One board member asked, “Why don’t all the programs give reports like this?” Another said, “It is great to see the teachers working together in such a positive way.” And another said, “What is your great- est dream, your ‘end-all’ vision; I am ready to write the check.”


The second and third reports The second State of Music Annual Re- port added to the data presented in the first report (enrollment information) and new data to highlight other areas of the district’s music programs. The teachers decided to isolate the attrition rate from middle school to high school (eighth to ninth grade) as a data point, a common issue in many districts. Also, because our district had just welcomed three new music teachers in one year, we decided to add short bios of each teacher to the report.


This year’s report will include a continuation of the enrollment data from years one and two, provide data relevant to major changes going on in the district and highlight music student impacts. In every report, we have tried to find creative and fun ways to rec- ognize the achievements, awards and successes of performing groups and individuals in the district.


The moral of the story Over the course of beginning and maintaining the SVSD Music Coali- tion, we have learned some valuable lessons that may help you as you start your own coalitions.


•How you operate (following the principles) is just as important as what you do.


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