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About the String Projects
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What is a String Project?
A String Project Model
The Teachers: Undergraduate String Education Majors?
The Program
The Success of the Program
Evaluation
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What is a String Project?
According to an article in the November 1998 edition of the American String Teacher journal, the 'guiding principle.... of a string project is to provide college string majors with teaching experiences while providing pedagogy classes or supervision over a number of semesters in order to prepare the college students for private or public school teaching while promoting the talents of pre-college string students.' (Hurley, 1998). The first String Project was the program at the University of Texas at Austin, which was started in 1948.
The model for the national grants which have funded most of the Consortium sites is the USC String Project at the University of South Carolina.
String Projects provide practical hands-on training for prospective teachers during their college years. As a result, the undergraduates who teach in these programs gain valuable experience prior to taking a job. These programs also attract string players to the teaching profession by giving them stipends for teaching in the program. As a result of this experience while in college, music education majors often discover whether they enjoy teaching before actually entering the field; those that find that they do not want to make it their career may decide to change their majors before getting their first job. On the other hand, performance majors at colleges often discover their love of teaching children as a result of their positive experiences in a String Project.
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A String Project Model
The NSPC builds on the experience and success of the String Project at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. In a city which had few cultural opportunities and no history of string playing, the university created a program 32 years ago which trained teachers, nurtured young students, engendered the creation of public school programs in the area, and fostered a university-public school partnership. The results have worked to the advantage of all, including the students, the university, public schools, the local symphony, and the general cultural climate.
The USC String Project provides practical hands-on training for undergraduate string education majors during their four or five years of college. The program consists of three orchestras, four large heterogeneous beginning classes, small homogeneous second year classes, private lessons, chamber music, and theory classes, all taught by undergraduate students under the supervision of a Master Teacher, a Graduate Assistant and the Director of the String Project. The young students begin in the third or fourth grade. They can continue in the program through the twelfth grade, as long as they participate in their own school programs and play in the Youth Orchestras. There are currently 300 students and 25 undergraduate teachers in the program.
An important aspect of the String Project is that the participants are charged very low fees in order to enable economically disadvantaged children to enroll. As a result of the low fees, the USC String Project has a large number of poor and minority students (approximately 40%). A large number of minority teachers have also come through the program. This has also had a major impact on the community and has altered the 'elitist' image of string players.
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The Teachers: Undergraduate String Education Majors?
The teachers in the program are undergraduate string education majors. However the String Project is not part of the regular undergraduate curriculum; instead freshmen are accepted into the program and given an 'assistantship' which is paid monthly. If they violate any of the rules (i.e. they are late or absent, or if they neglect to fulfill an obligation) their pay is docked. The assistantship stipend is used as a recruiting device, and to encourage students to consider majoring in education.
The university students study their own major instruments, secondary stringed instruments, and take pedagogical methods and technique courses, in addition to the standard undergraduate music education courses. The String Project teachers also attend a weekly organization and pedagogy meeting. They actively participate in all the activities of a professional teacher: recruiting students, planning lessons, writing report cards, keeping records, conducting orchestras, teaching beginning classes, teaching smaller homogeneous second-year classes, coaching chamber music, teaching private lessons, setting up rehearsals, organizing recitals, etc. Therefore, by the time they graduate, these students have had four or five years of practical training and experience and are ready to begin teaching on their own. One of the additional benefits of having college students beginning to teach early in their careers is that they discover whether they really want to teach; those that do not usually change their majors prior to their student teaching experience in their senior year (or often even after they have their first job!).
The full-time student teachers in the program work for 6 hours/week, although their load is considered to be 10 hours/week. The additional hours are calculated to include time spent in the beginning of the semester in recruiting, and at the end of the semester in putting together studio recitals, the large ensemble concert and doing paperwork. Full-time student teachers receive $1600 per year, or over $9.00 per hour for their teaching. First-year teachers usually work half-time while they are becoming acquainted with the program, so that they are not overloaded during their freshman year at college. They receive $800 per year, working for 3 hours/week (although their load is similarly calculated as 5 hours/week).
During their first year in the program, Freshmen university students observe various aspects of the program. They help with the recruiting, are 'assistants' in the large beginning classes and the second year classes, and participate as coaches for the various orchestras. After the first year, they are assigned to teach private lessons and other activities depending on their interest, ability and maturity. By the time they graduate, they will have been able to teach in a variety of pedagogical settings.
The Master Teacher is a part-time instructor who has taught in the public schools for many years. By teaching one of the heterogeneous classes she is the model for the young teachers. She also observes and critiques the classes which the college undergraduates teach.
For many years, the Director of the USC String Project was an applied faculty member at the School of Music. However, as a result of the enormous growth of the program a new position was finally created at the university for a music education string specialist. This step was a direct result of the success of the program and the need for a faculty member to address the specific requirements of music education students.
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The Program
Children in the third and fourth grades are recruited from local public and private schools to study in the String Project. The teachers go to about twenty schools each August and play short demonstration programs for the children. In addition, local newspapers print informational articles, and letters are sent to area principals to inform them about the opportunity for youngsters to join. People who are interested in the program are invited to come to an information and registration meeting held at the university. Each year about 120 students are selected for the four heterogeneous beginning classes (violin, viola, cello and bass taught together). These classes meet twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays). The first class (4:00-5:00) is taught by the Master Teacher. The teachers of the other three classes observe the first class, and then subsequently teach their own classes during the next hour (5:00-6:00). At then end of each semester all the students in the program participate in a concert in the Koger Performing Arts Center.
Students in the second year of the program attend once a week for an hour class with like-instruments (homogeneous classes). They also come on another day to play in an orchestra. After the second year, students come for a private half-hour lesson once a week. They also are required to play in the Advanced Orchestra. All students in the program are expected to play in an orchestra (either one of the three String Project orchestras or one of the Youth Orchestras run by the SC Philharmonic Orchestra). They are also expected to participate in their own school programs in order to be in the String Project.
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The Success of the Program
The USC String Project has won national recognition, including the Verner Award and a documentary on South Carolina ETV celebrating the 20th anniversary of the program. When the University of South Carolina String Project was founded in 1974 there was just one small string program in the Columbia metropolitan area. Now all five school districts in the Columbia area have large and active string programs, with orchestras in every high school and six regional youth orchestras.
The USC String Project has had a major impact in a city with no previous tradition for orchestral music in the schools and little interest in the arts. Initially the program provided competent young teachers and well-trained string students. Eventually the large numbers of children playing string instruments created a critical mass and the parents demanded programs in their own local schools.
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Evaluation
The String Project concept has been evaluated in several ways by different outside evaluators. The USC program itself was examined closely in 1998 by an external program audit. Its suitability as a model for teaching young students and training teachers was clearly documented. The study showed that an overwhelming 78% of the alumni (former teachers) of the USC String Project were still teaching. This high retention rate of teachers staying in the classroom is a testament to the preparation that these individuals received as students – they were well prepared to succeed in a public school setting. One of the benefits of this project is that the undergraduates receive supervised, hands-on training in teaching during their college years. This results in teachers who have four years of real teaching experience before they begin to teach in the schools.
Other data has emerged from the evaluation reports of String Project sites that have already been started based on the USC model. The following quotes come from evaluation reports by Frances S. O’Tuel, Ph.D, Jane W. Cassidy (author of an upcoming article on the String Projects in the Journal of Research on Music Education) and James Byo the evaluator NSPC String Project sites):
'Survey questions directed parents to look back and indicate their attitude about music instruction when they were children (77% positive, 19% indifferent), and to do likewise today (99% positive). Eighty-six percent of parents think that their child loves or likes SP. One hundred percent of parents would recommend SP to a friend. The overall positive responses of community children relative to SP, the positive attitudes of parents to music instruction in general, and to their children’s SP experience indicate that the opportunity to study stringed instruments is both extant and satisfying. This also seems to reflect a culture of acceptance regarding and advocacy for public school string programs.'
Byo 2005
'The parents who were surveyed felt that their children benefited in many ways including:
• learning to play an instrument (96%),
• learning to appreciate music (89%),
• developing good work habits/task commitment (79%),
• developing cooperation ability (71%),
• increasing self-esteem/ feelings of personal worth (68%),
The student survey showed that forty-nine percent of the students in the program are members of minority groups.'
O’Tuel, USC String Project Evaluation
'Overall, community children said they:
• loved or liked the String Project (86%),
• would recommend it to a friend (93%)
• intended to do String Project again in 2004-2005 (86%).'
Byo, Cassidy 2005
'The importance of quality mentorship as provided by the master teacher in the USC model is supported by research (Conkling, 2003; Conway, 2002). Student teachers gave strongly positive evaluations of master teachers, recognizing the high quality feedback received from them. According to master teachers, positive attitudes toward the String Project were predominant among student teachers'.? Byo, Cassidy 2005
'It appears that music teaching as a career is promoted effectively when music teachers relate positively to students, demonstrate a love of teaching, create an uplifting learning environment, and provide opportunities for students to teach and conduct (Gillespie & Hamann, 1999; Madsen & Kelly, 2002; Reynolds & Conway, 2002). These attributes are promoted by the USC model and, as evidenced in this study, were replicated by NSPC sites across the country. Student teachers in all settings valued the pre-intern activities afforded by the String Project. Regardless of setting—inner city or rural, large program or small, affluent children or those of modest means—student teachers overall were positive in their evaluations of every facet of the program.'
Byo, Cassidy 2005
'From these data it appears that children studied string instruments under satisfying conditions. Student teachers were engaged in authentic string teaching under productive and rewarding conditions. All project directors reported adhering to the basic tenets of the USC model. Perhaps this model … could be used in other settings, under different financial arrangements, and be a useful protocol for teacher training in band, choral, and general music settings. The fact that success as defined by data collected in this study transcended individual project directors, master teachers, and areas of the country portends well for the applicability of this model to other areas of music teacher training.'
Byo, Cassidy 2005
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