The NEA Foundation, in a collaborative effort with MENC: The National Association of Music Education, is now offering Teaching Improvisation Grants, earmarked to support public educators’ work to teach improvisation to middle- and high-school music students.

The Teaching Improvisation Grants are dedicated to the development and implementation of ideas, techniques, and approaches for teaching music improvisation to American public middle and high school students. Improvisation, which is represented in the National Standards for Music Education as Standard 3, is an integral part of the art and practice of many styles and genres of music. In particular, it is a cornerstone of the original American art of jazz. The grants target improvisation as an area of great promise in helping develop the imaginative thinking so important to students in the 21^st century – and in developing that imaginative skill with critical links to key elements of our culture. Both the NEA Foundation and MENC are strongly committed to supporting the development of these skills and attributes among American public secondary school students.

Educators can apply for the Teaching Improvisation Grants through the Foundation’s existing grants programs; either the Student Achievement or Learning & Leadership Grants.

Student Achievement Grants provide $5,000 to proposals designed to improve the academic achievement of students by engaging them in critical thinking and problem solving that deepen knowledge of subject matter and that are centered on music improvisation through the development and implementation of new ideas, techniques, and approaches. Lesson plans developed by the grantees will be posted on the “My Music Class” facility of the MENC web site, where they will be available to all MENC members as classroom resources.

Learning & Leadership Grants provide $2,000 to individuals and $5,000 to teams of teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff to engage in high-quality professional development and to lead their colleagues in professional growth in the techniques and skills of teaching improvisation. Recipients will be asked to report fully on the ways that they developed new techniques and skills. These reports will be summarized and shared nationwide with music education professionals.

Applications for Teaching Improvisation Grants will be accepted on a rolling basis through the February 1, 2010 grant deadline. For more information, contact jgraytock@nea.org.

Apply for Teaching Improvisation Grants

The online application process for the Teaching Improvisation Grants is the same as all Learning & Leadership and Student Achievement grants. Interested applicants can designate their grant application for consideration for the improvisation grants programs in our online application system.  

Apply now for a Learning & Leadership or Student Achievement grant.