In tough times, music educators need every tool they can lay their hands on to support their programs. If you’re a teacher-educator, encourage your music education majors to take a look at the MENC Web site (www.menc.org) to make use of “Make Your Case,” a database of quotes, statistics, anecdotes, research, and other documents that reinforce the value of music and music learning.

“Make Your Case,” powered by SupportMusic.com, offers hundreds of excellent resources for convincing others of music’s value and of the importance of music learning in a well-rounded education.

According to MENC Senior Deputy Executive Director Michael Blakeslee, the “Make Your Case” database is useful because “No one argument fits all. Depending on the people you are working with—the school board, principals—different arguments work.”

The database is available to the public and can be accessed anytime. Find that perfect quote, an eloquent defense, or a statistic that provokes thinking in your community. It’s a free service to all, and one that MENC members can benefit from immediately.

If you’ve got a terrific quote, statistic, or research report to share, you can “make your case” by e-mailing Hannah Sharp at advocacy@menc.org. Submissions are vetted before being included in the database. Says Blakeslee, “Everything is edited before it is approved, but the idea is that none of us is as smart individually as we are collectively.”
 

--Ella Wilcox, October 7, 2009, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org)
 

Share this article with a colleague by clicking on "Share This Page" in the upper right-hand corner of your screen.