Music educators everywhere believe that music education is important and a right of every student.
But, a high quality music education remains unattainable to all, especially our most marginalized students.
As our schools become increasingly more culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse, K-12 music educators need support to be able to keep up with diverse and ever-evolving needs of their learners.
While the positive results from culturally responsive education on learners is undeniable, unfortunately, many music educators report feeling unprepared to utilize culturally responsive practices citing:
- Uncertainty about what culturally responsive teaching is
- Not knowing where to start
- Concern over causing offense
- Not having enough resources & materials, and
- Not having enough time for planning & research
(McKoy, 2016)
This creates a clear equity problem in music education. This problem, and the challenges it includes, is in direct opposition to our nation’s promise to provide a well-rounded education for every child, no matter their personal circumstance, which includes academic success in the arts (Every Student Succeeds Act, 2015).
If these issues persist, music educators will remain ill-equipped and unsupported to build and maintain high quality music programs that are accessible to all students, ultimately leading to a decline of interest and engagement in our music programs. Furthermore, access to music education will become even more unattainable for our most marginalized students.
And that’s where we come in!
A Cuthbertson Consulting fills the need for high-quality, music-specific professional development, curriculum development, and instructional coaching for K-12 music educators that desire to build and maintain high quality music programs that center equitable and culturally responsive practices so they can better connect with and engage learners of all backgrounds and abilities.
We guide music educators to better attract, engage, and retain music students in their programs by developing cultural proficiency, cultivating culturally affirming learning environments, selecting relevant repertoire, and developing curriculum & instruction that connects to real-world contexts and intentionally centers learner variability.
Guided by the belief that the skillful execution of the principles of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy to music education is the most impactful lever to ensuring equitable music learning for all students, A. Cuthbertson Consulting delivers high quality professional learning to ensure that every music educator is equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to ensure music for everyone.
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About our Founder & CEO
Ashley Cuthbertson is the Founder, CEO, & Principal Consultant of A. Cuthbertson Consulting.
Ashley Cuthbertson, M.Ed, NBCT (she/her) is the CEO & Principal Consultant of A. Cuthbertson Consulting, LLC, an educational consulting firm that helps K-12 music educators develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to deliver instruction that is culturally responsive & relevant to the diverse and ever-changing needs of today’s learners so that all students have an equitable pathway to success in music.
A Nationally Board Certified Teacher, Ashley holds a Master’s in Education, as well as certifications in the Kodály approach and Arts integration. Ashley has over thirteen years of experience in education as a general music & choral educator, a band educator, a K-12 musicianship instructor, a private lessons instructor, lead teacher, new teacher coach, adjunct professor, curriculum writer, speaker, and consultant.
A dedicated music educator with a track record of success working with students in a wide variety of diverse communities and contexts, as a PK-12 music educator in the public, private, and charter schools of the Northern Virginia and DC area, Ashley consistently received highly effective teacher ratings and consistently demonstrated the ability to move students’ musicianship skills forward as evidenced by yearly assessments.
A skilled curriculum designer, Ashley has written curriculum at the district level, as well as led curriculum teams for the Virginia Department of Education resulting in over 15 new general music units for the “Go Open VA” open educational resource database.
With over 9 years of experience as a teacher educator in the professional development sector, and 6 years as an adjunct professor, 95% of professional development participants report that her sessions are engaging and highly useful to their work in music classrooms, and she consistently received above average university departmental student evaluation ratings.
Described as an engaging and charismatic teacher educator, Ashley has created and facilitated over 100 professional development sessions for music educators across the U.S. and internationally on a variety of topics for music classrooms, including Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Universal Design for Learning, Assessment, Arts Integration, and Learner Centered Instruction.
A passionate advocate for music education, Ashley additionally serves the National Association for Music Education as a member of the Music Education Policy Roundtable and the Virginia Music Educators Association as chair of the DEI Council.
A regular consultant for schools, districts, and organizations across the U.S., and a sought after conference speaker, Ashley is dedicated to ensuring music educators get the support they need to ensure high quality music instruction for all learners.
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