Sixth Annual "Best 100 Communities for Music Education" Survey Underway

The sixth annual “Best 100 Communities for Music Education” survey will begin accepting online submissions on January 19, and will remain open through the first week of March.

The survey, which people can complete online by visiting the American Music Conference (AMC) on the Web at www.amc-music.org, is open to anyone who wishes to enter information about his or her school district.

Each year since 2000, the survey has used a series of questions designed by music education experts to measure each community’s commitment to music through spending, staffing, variety of programs, instructor certification, availability of private instruction and other criteria. The results are measured proportionally, so that communities of different sizes are compared on an equal footing.

Survey participants are encouraged to either complete the survey themselves, or to pass the link along to school administrators and independent educators in their communities who may best be able to provide all the required data.

“Kids who receive quality music education in school have a number of advantages over kids who don’t—in their other studies, in their social lives and in quality of life,” says AMC Associate Executive Director Laura Johnson. “Through the ‘Best 100’ survey, we highlight the places in America where school music is being done right.”

Following a careful audit of the preliminary data, the 2005 “Best 100” list will be released later in March, to coincide with the annual observance of “Music in Our Schools Month.”

AMC is an affiliate of NAMM, the International Music Products Association (www.namm.com), which supports this and other projects designed to enhance music education opportunities for people everywhere. In conducting the annual survey, AMC is joined by a partnership of key organizations in the fields of music and education: MENC-The National Association for Music Education, The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, The Music for All Foundation, The Music Teachers National Association, The National School Boards Association, Perseus Development Corp., Yamaha Corporation of America and VH1 Save The Music Foundation.