NAMM Foundation Invests in Music Education for Underserved Students

Grants totaling $214,000 support budding arts programs designed to help turnaround low-performing schools

February 11, 2015

Music now resonates through 27 of the nation’s most underserved schools and districts thanks in part to renewed Turnaround Arts support from the NAMM Foundation. Grants to the tune of $214,000 for musical instruments, music teachers, and arts integration into other subject areas will support phase II Turnaround Arts. Turnaround Arts, a President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) program, is a public-private partnership that uses the arts to help narrow the achievement gap, increase student engagement and improve the culture and climate in the country’s highest poverty schools.

“NAMM members have been engaged in Turnaround Arts schools in New Orleans and Washington D.C., and we have been immediately pulled into the positive energy that the arts have infused into these schools,” said NAMM Foundation Director Mary Luehrsen. “We are honored to be involved in this important effort and are inspired by the progress students are making through the power of music and the arts.“

New research, conducted with support from the NAMM Foundation, reveals that between 2011 and 2014, students at Turnaround Arts schools demonstrated significant progress in student achievement. Of the eight observed schools, seven improved their overall reading proficiency rates and six improved their math proficiency rates. Half of the observed schools improved their attendance rates significantly. And more than half of the schools dramatically reduced suspensions. Click here for an overview of the research findings or here for the full report.

“As a result of NAMM Foundation’s generosity, not only are our students getting the opportunity to experience the focus, confidence and joy that comes from engagement in music and the arts, they are also becoming more engaged in learning throughout the rest of school day,” said Kathy Fletcher, national program director of Turnaround Arts.

Turnaround Arts started as a pilot program in eight “turnaround schools,” public schools in the lowest-achieving five percent of their state that are receiving School Improvement Grants through the U.S. Department of Education. Showing progress, Turnaround Arts is now in 35 schools and districts in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon and Washington D.C., with plans to expand to as many as 60 schools.

Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation assisted NAMM with the grant review and will provide technical support to the schools in implementing their music programs. NAMM Foundation’s philanthropic efforts such as this are supported in part by the global music product industry’s support of NAMM Shows and membership in NAMM.

Avenal Elementary School Avenal CA
Barton Elementary School San Bernadino CA
Bethune Commuity School Minneapolis MN
Burbank Elementary Hayward CA
Cattell Elementary Des Moines IA
Chalmers School Of Excellence Chicago IL
Channing Elementary Hyde Park MA
Harding Middle School Des Moines IA
Herzl School Of Excellence Chicago IL
Homer A. Plessy Community School New Orleans LA
Homer Elementary School Homer LA
Hoopa Elementary School Hoopa CA
Johnson School Of Excellence Chicago IL
John C Fremont Elementary School Stockton CA
John Wintrhop School/Boston Public Schools Dorchester MA
Luther Burbank Elementary San Diego CA
Madison Elementary Des Moines IA
Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary Compton CA
Mary Chapa Academy Greenfield CA
Mattahunt Mattapan MA
Meadow Homes Elementary School Concord CA
Northport Elementary School Robbinsdale School District Brooklyn Center MN
Northside Elementary, St James Public Schools St James MN
Oak Park Elementary Des Moines IA
Red Lake Middle School Red Lake MN
St. Helena Arts And Technology Academy Greensburg LA
Warren Lane Elementary School Inglewood CA

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About NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a non-profit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 9,200 members around the world. The NAMM Foundation works to advance active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About NAMM

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $17 billion music products industry. NAMM is comprised of approximately 10,300 members located in 104 countries and regions. NAMM events and members fund The NAMM Foundation's efforts to promote the pleasures and benefits of music, and advance active participation in music making across the lifespan. For more information about NAMM, please visit www.namm.org, call 800.767.NAMM (6266) or follow the organization on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.