ABOUT THE SURVEY.

The initiative to undertake the first-ever nationwide survey of music education came from four leading national organizations devoted to education and music: the American Music Conference (AMC), MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and the National School Boards Association (NSBA).

The sponsoring organizations conducted the survey on the World Wide Web with the technical assistance of Giles Communications LLC of White Plains, New York, a public relations firm specializing in music, technology, and education, and Perseus Development Corporation (www.perseus.com) of Braintree, Massachusetts, a market leader in developing Web-based market research surveys. Founded in 1994 by professionals in the software development and market research fields, Perseus survey software products are used within the general business, healthcare, social science, education, and government research markets.

In designing the survey instrument, the participants took care to cast questions in a way that would best illustrate the comparative strengths of local school music programs. In order to ensure that the answers would be applicable, questions were posed that could be answered by different types of respondents: parents, teachers, school officials, and community leaders. Those answering the survey were asked to identify which role they occupied.

To guarantee the highest possible participation, the survey instrument was also designed to work well in a variety of computer environments, across different platforms and browser applications. The form included 36 "one-click" multiple-choice questions, with a space-unlimited opportunity to submit a long-form prose entry at the end.

Data collection was automated through the Web, with results stored simultaneously on the survey host Web server. The data was received into a Microsoft Access database and subjected to correlation and regression analysis using Microsoft Excel and Survey Solutions for the Web, a proprietary software product of Perseus Development Corporation. During the data analysis phase, Yamaha Corporation of America and VH1 Save the Music provided additional assistance to the survey organizers.

An overall score for each county was calculated based upon the answers to each of the questions in the survey. The respondents' data was averaged in accordance with response levels and population demographics to ensure that all locales, regardless of level of representation, were afforded an equal basis of measurement and fair representation in the overall educational quality ranking.