The ballots have been cast.
The votes have been tallied.
The results are in.

WAIT A MINUTE. I just want to be sure we are talking about the same thing. You know...the votes you cast about music education advocacy.

As was the case with the general election, some results were expected while others came as complete surprise. Rather than have you sift through seventeen pages of data, I will provide a quick synopsis of the results and a brief take on what it might all mean. But first the results:

96% of you listed advocacy as either somewhat important or very important to the survival of your program
Only 55% of respondents listed current efforts as having an impact in the area of advocacy
According to respondents, the number one priority in the area of music education should be to develop resources to increase enrollment
The next two priorities were developing research materials about academic successes of music students (2), and creating materials to save threatened music programs (3)
Awarding grants(4), lobbying politicians (5), and teacher in-service events (6) rounded out the field.
As far as non-profit institutions making an impact, the top five were as follows (in this order): NAfME, MFA, VH1 Save the Music, NAMM, and the Grammy Foundation
As far as for-profit institutions making an impact, the top five were as follows (in this order): Local music store, Conn-Selmer, Yamaha, professional publications, and JW Pepper Music
51% of respondents stated NAfME was “effective in this area." An additional 5% of respondents stated that they were very effective.

There is much more information to share, but your time and my attention span are limited. If you are a data geek or are just generally interested in all of the results and comments, shoot me an email and I will send them to you.

If you have not taken the survey, it is not too late as we are still collecting both data and comments. You can take the survey by clicking here.