Expand Student Access to Culturally Relevant Music Curriculum

Dear Administrator,

I’m writing to inform you of a professional development opportunity that I believe will help our

music program evolve.

Background

Music Will (Formerly Little Kids Rock) is the largest nonprofit music program in the US public

school system. Their mission is to increase student access to music education in underprivileged

areas through professional development workshops, online resources, and a Modern Band

approach (Byo, 2017). I believe that establishing a modern band program will be great for our

school, due to its ability to facilitate culturally relevant instruction, increase opportunities for

student choice, and ultimately increase student engagement levels.

Culturally Relevant Instruction

The uncomfortable reality of music education in the United States is that much of the music

within the canon is rooted in white supremacist bourgeois values that don’t represent the reality

of music in the United States today. An emphasis on culturally relevant music helps students

develop a stronger music knowledge, sets them up better for the future, and ameliorates cultural

divides that can exist between teachers and students (Butler et al., 2007). If our students wish to

pursue music as a career, they will need to have instrumental versatility, a strong knowledge of

music technology, and creativity/improvisatory skills. The Modern Band approach emphasizes
teaching musical technology skills like beatmaking, mixing, and how to use a DAW, as well as

performance skills in the areas of guitar, ukulele, drumkit, bass, and more.

Student Choice

The unique setup of Modern Band makes it so that students have a greater voice in the selection

of music being studied and performed. Studies have shown that student choice in the classroom

increases students’ intrinsic motivation as well as student autonomy. (Patall et al., 2010). A key

feature of the Modern Band approach is approximation, a form of UDL wherein students are

given the autonomy to self-determine the difficulty of the part they are playing. Through

approximation, a class can have students across the musical spectrum all learning together while

also centering student choice and student ability.

Higher Levels of Student Engagement

Studies show that students who participate in music ensemble courses outpace their peers in

academic performance, school attendance, and graduation rates (Eason et al., 2013). A large

demographic of students who feel underrepresented by current ensemble course offerings will

likely seek to join a Modern Band program, thus increasing the attendance rate further and

benefiting the school community.

Proposal

I am requesting funding to attend the July 2024 Modern Band Summit hosted by Music Will in

Fort Collins, CO. Through attending, I will receive professional development training to

effectively deliver this Modern Band curriculum, and be able to procure bulk musical

instruments at a free or reduced cost. The total cost of attending the conference is approximately

$800 US Dollars (Airfare, Conference attendance, Lodging), which is 300 dollars less than a

class set of 12 three-quarter-size guitars from the preeminent school music retailer, West Music.
Implementation

Following the training, I will implement the modern band approach by establishing two new

classes for the 2025-2026 school year: Modern Band, and Music Technology. The Modern Band

class will be offered for grades 6-12 and will be structured as an ensemble class. Units of study

will include improvisation, R&B and its cultural implications/impacts, and other

performance-based units that will be determined via the results of a student-interest survey. The

Music Technology Class will be offered for grades 9-12 and will have units discussing DJing,

beatmaking, and DAW usage, and students will be assessed on their original compositions.

I hope you consider this proposal, as I think it would greatly benefit our school community and

explore the musical potential that is inherent in each and every one of our students.

Erica Taylor
Sources:

● Eason, B. J., & Johnson, C. M. (2013). (rep.). Music Makes us Baseline Research Report.

Nashville, TN: Music Makes Us.

○ https://www.americansforthearts.org/sites/default/files/prelude-musicmakesus-bas

elineresearchreport-finalforweb_6.pdf

● Butler, Abby & Lind, Vicki & Mckoy, Constance. (2007). Equity and access in music

education: conceptualizing culture as barriers to and supports for music learning. Music

Education Research - MUSIC EDUC RES. 9. 241-253. 10.1080/14613800701384375.

○ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237524939_Equity_and_access_in_mus

ic_education_conceptualizing_culture_as_barriers_to_and_supports_for_music_le

arning

● Byo, J. L. (2017). “modern band” as School Music: A case study. International Journal

of Music Education, 36(2), 259–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761417729546

○ https://musicwill.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/12/byo-2017-modern-ban

d-as-school-music-a-case-study.pdf

● Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Wynn, S. R. (2010). The effectiveness and relative

importance of choice in the classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(4),

896–915. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019545

○ https://www.immagic.com/eLibrary/ARCHIVES/GENERAL/JOURNALS/E1011

00P.pdf