February 3, 1998 Contact: Jamie Lawson Reeves (615) 322-2706 jamie.l.reeves@vanderbilt.edu

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Vanderbilt University program

will prepare good musicians who are also good teachers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A new program that includes a four-year bachelor of music degree and a one-year master of education degree at Vanderbilt University will help meet the need for music teachers as the nation's educational agenda emphasizes fine arts in public school curricula.

The program, which combines the strengths of Vanderbilt's Blair School of Music and Peabody College (Vanderbilt's school of education) will be offered in fall 1998.

This collaborative degree program allows students pursuing a bachelor's degree in music to obtain a master's degree in education and become licensed to teach at both the elementary and secondary school levels in instrumental or vocal/general music.

"This new program will meet a real need in our society, for it allows students to apply their talents and skills directly in the classroom upon graduation," said Blair Dean Mark Wait.

Most teacher education programs in the country do not include a master's degree, said Jane Kirchner, associate dean of the Blair School and a Peabody graduate herself. "This new program will be considerably different from what any other school in the country does," said Kirchner. Many schools have a five-year education program, but with a bachelor's degree as a result, she said.

The program will also help fill a growing need for music teachers. The state of Tennessee recently mandated that music must be taught in public elementary schools, meaning jobs could open up in nearly every one of the state's 959 public elementary schools.

Nationally the program will help fulfill guidelines outlined in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994, in which Congress declared the arts be included as part of a core curriculum for students to "achieve high levels of knowledge and performance." Development of the National Standards for Arts Education, which Tennessee has adopted as the basis for all arts curriculum frameworks, is part of the Goals 2000 legislation. By May 1997, 46 states had adopted or announced the intention to adopt standards that include the arts.

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The program was designed to meet Tennessee State Department of Education requirements for teacher licensure. Music teachers in public schools must have a license from the state in which they work. Teaching licenses awarded in Tennessee are reciprocal with most other states.

"We want strong musicians becoming teachers," Kirchner said. "Basically the program is about good musicianship."

Music, just like other subjects, should not be taught by "glossing over the depth and breadth of information," Kirchner said. "For instance, a second grade math teacher wouldn't just know how to add and subtract - they would know the whole field of math." The trained musician educators coming out of the new Blair/Peabody program will not only know music theory, history and literature, but will be excellent performing musicians themselves.

Students who meet all requirements will earn the bachelor of music degree in four years after completing 126 hours and the master's of education degree in one calendar year. The curriculum includes a strong music performance emphasis; a solid foundation in music literature, theory and the liberal arts; undergraduate and graduate courses in education and psychology; and practical experience during each year of the program, with two student teaching opportunities in the fifth year.

The program had to be approved at a number of levels within the University as well as by the National As`¿H@ools of MusimÝhe NASM has very strict requirements for degree-granting programs, Kirchner said, but the joint program plan was approved on first submission with no suggestions for change. Kirchner said they hope to have 15 students enrolled as freshmen in the new program during its introductory semester in fall 1998.

"This promises to be an excellent partnership, drawing on the outstanding faculty and high level of instruction at both Blair and Peabody," said James Pellegrino, dean of Peabody. "It opens up new opportunities for young musicians and for the communities with which they will share their skills."

During the last semester of the fifth year, degree candidates will be required to complete 15 weeks of student teaching in at least two different levels of K-12 classroom settings. For practical experience in the first four years of the program the students will work not only with Nashville public and private schools, but will also work with Blair's own precollege programs.

-VU-

Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees.

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