NAMM Foundation Articles & News

  • Childhood Music Lessons Keep Aging Brain In Tune

    A new study finds that older adults with musical experience perform better on some cognitive tests than those who had never studied music. With only 70 participants, the study was small, but the results match those from other studies of challenging tasks, including findings that learning a second language protects against dementia.

  • 2010-2011 Program Grant Recipients

    NAMM Foundation supports innovative community-based music learning programs that allow more people the opportunity to experience the proven benefits of active music making.

  • FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: The Power of Persistence – Building Community Support for Music Education

    For the past 11 years, I have been the music supervisor for Loudoun County Public Schools in Northern Virginia. I also serve as the Stonewall District representative to the Frederick County, Virginia school board, a position I have held for four years.

  • FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Student Essay Contest Winners Pay Tribute to Influential Music Teachers

    We will do well to listen to what teens tell us about music as a common need and a constant presence in their lives. Music is their social glue – a bridge for building acceptance and tolerance for people of different ages and cultural circumstances. –- Patricia Shehan Campbell, Ph.D., NAMM Foundation “Sounds of Learning” research study, 2008

  • FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Are You Using Social Media Yet to Support Music Education?

    Music educators and advocates everywhere are wisely taking advantage of the many opportunities to learn from and connect with each other through social media. Educational social media is not a new phenomenon, but rather something that has “newly” bloomed into an incredibly organized set of resources. Social media networks offer another way to deepen and share the impact of quality music programs on students everywhere.

  • FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISIONMAKING: Statewide Partnership Model to Upgrade K-16 Music Education is Underway in WV

    Despite diminishing budgets, school districts nationwide are under extreme pressure to produce results on narrowly focused standardized tests. And yes, attempts to push the arts out of schools are occurring. But even under these difficult circumstances, school districts that choose to prioritize the arts for their students are able to offer, build and grow these programs.

  • FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISIONMAKING: Why Creativity Matters

    On November 15-17, 2010 leaders from around the world will converge in Oklahoma City for the 2010 Creativity World Forum. This global event will explore how creativity and innovation drive commerce, culture and education, and will feature some of the world’s greatest thinkers in this area such as The New York Times best-selling author Daniel Pink (“A Whole New Mind;” “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”) and the note

  • FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Award-winning Students Express Why Music Education is Key to a Well-Rounded School Curriculum

    Ten student essay winners captured how music education programs help keep them engaged in school and assist them on their way to becoming responsible citizens. For them, music education is about much more than simply learning to play the notes on a page: it’s about teamwork, communication, discipline, discovering the power of self-expression, joy and enjoyment, and developing respect for others.

  • FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: The Real “Crisis” in This Budget Crisis

    Virtually 100% of our nation’s schools currently face the same budget crisis. Yet this “crisis” is an opportunity for school boards and administrators to take a fresh look at our educational goals, policies and practices, and to re-evaluate what is truly important and what truly works. It’s an opportunity to re-define what comprises “the best possible education for our children.”

  • Grantee Spotlight: VSA

    VSA, the International Organization on Arts and Disability. The Washington, D.C.-based VSA seeks to provide arts and education opportunities for people with disabilities and increase access to the arts for all.

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