Poverty, Barriers, Music & Success: Understanding & Helping Low-Income Music Students Succeed

For some students and families, financial and time barriers are a limiting factor in their participation in school music. There are many labels available to describe students without a lot of money and/or support: Low-income, high needs, underserved, less fortunate, poor, poverty-stricken and impoverished are just a few. In a pandemic world, we may see more families afflicted by poverty, and therefore, we must be prepared to help our students and community.

This course will help teachers to understand where low-income and high-needs students are coming from, present strategies and ideas to help with teaching, supporting, and advocating for students from low-income and high need situations, and will help instructors develop plans to locate financial resources for their students and programs. Every student deserves a good teacher and a fair chance at success, and band, orchestra, choir and general music can be offered to all students.