ROCK AND SOUL FOREVER FOUNDATION INC
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Mission Statement
We improve students’ lives by filling every classroom with the sound, stories, and science of music. TeachRock empowers teachers and engages students by using popular music to create interdisciplinary, culturally responsive education materials for all 21st century classrooms. TeachRock partners with schools and communities to provide a supported rollout of the standards-aligned, TeachRock arts-integration curriculum. The resources immerse students in the history of popular music and culture. Launched by Stevie Van Zandt and the Founders Board of Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen, TeachRock.org provides free, standards-aligned resources that use music to help K-12 students succeed in science, math, social studies, language arts, and more.
About This Cause
The Rock and Soul Forever Foundation is a 501(c)3 doing business as Teachrock.org. We aspire to: - Keep the arts in the DNA of school systems - Empower teachers with a methodology to engage a generation with the internet in their pockets - Create inclusive spaces through the arts by providing teachers well researched, abundance-framed classroom resources featuring positive representations of all Americans - Eventually, increase graduation rates Teachrock.org currently hosts more than 300 free, standards-aligned resources that use music to help K-12 students succeed in science, math, social studies, language arts, and more. Nearly 60,000 educators representing all 50 states are registered at Teachrock.org. TeachRock's Partner District and Schools Program operates in 102 sites in seven states. TeachRock Partners receive cyclic professional development and technical assistance in curricular implementation with the goal of creating more inclusive and supportive classrooms through arts integration. TeachRock evaluates the Partner District and Schools Program using the Engagement versus Disaffection with Learning (EvsD) teacher report questionnaire (Skinner, et. al., 2009). This vetted instrument measures behavior and emotional patterns by students as a way to gauge increased engagement with the learning process. Initial findings demonstrate that TeachRock resources generate a marked increase in student engagement. ABOUT THE HISTORY OF OUR NAME: When first chartered, The Rock and Soul Forever Foundation worked in advocacy, curriculum development, and some music performance settings. The Foundation’s first educational resources were published at Teachrock.org in 2013, following which the foundation’s work as an arts integration partner to teachers took precedence over other areas of focus. In 2021, Stevie Van Zandt changed his radio station and record labels from “Rock and Roll” to “Rock and Soul,” and the foundation also became the Rock and Soul Forever Foundation. However, all educational material lives at Teachrock.org. TEACHROCK METRICS Results of Pilot with 10 districts in the Connecticut State Department of Education, year 1: 76% of teachers participating in the pilot reported that their students were more engaged during TeachRock lessons versus other resources. 73% of teachers participating in the pilot reported that their students were more enthusiastic during TeachRock lessons versus other resources. 71% of teachers participating in the pilot reported that their students enjoyed TeachRock lessons versus other resources TEACHROCK METRICS - USERSHIP Demographically, TeachRock partner districts and school sites are considerably more ethnically diverse than the general population of the United States based on the 2020 Census. On average, students served via program sites are 42% white, 11% Black, 39% Hispanic, 1% Pacific Islander, and 2% identify as two or more races. The average percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch within the program is similar to the national average with 38% of students in partner sites meeting this criterion. In addition to considering socio-economic factors, TeachRock has been mindful to partner with schools and afterschool programs that serve a diverse body of students ranging from therapeutic setting schools for students with disabilities to arts-themed magnet schools, with the majority of participating schools being conventional district schools or after school programs operating in traditional district schools. Representation matters, and it is more than a platitude. Research shows that culturally responsive and sustaining educational practices empower students to participate in the knowledge construction process, and view their own culture and experiences as a strength while examining and exploring their class work. American popular music creates inherently culturally responsive classrooms through which we see people of all identities and socioeconomic backgrounds as important contributors to the fabric of our society. Music is a natural vehicle through which we can practice abundance-framing, feature diverse voices, and celebrate BIPOC accomplishments. TEACHROCK METRICS - IN THE WORDS OF TEACHERS & STUDENTS: “I feel like every day in the beginning of the school year I was going home and re-teaching the lesson to my parents because I was so excited." - TeachRock Student “I chose to do this class because I was kind of sick of how history was formatted. Everything is just you focus on the facts and you don't really learn about the people. I wanted a bit more hands on, more personal viewpoints of history. And so that's where Teach Rock has really been cool. We focus on the people and the movements, and how the culture has become this way because of music and because of these people. And that's what makes this such a great class for me, is because it's so open to discussion. And it's focused on projects. I like learning about the people, not the dates.” - TeachRock student “Attendance is increased [and] the kids are engaged. They are excited about coming to school. Excited to learn. Learning how to express their hearts, express themselves through music.” - TeachRock teacher “There'slike no bias with music. It doesn't matter their color, their race, their ethnic group, you could just like their song. It brings a lot of people from all different cultures together. It's good to have something where everyone can like it, no matter whatever opinion they have about anything else.” - TeachRock student "Even people that don't really love history that are in our class, they get involved and they have opinions. They'll be in the back of the classroom like ‘That's not right!’ And that is how you know that a class is engaging--even the people that don't find it interesting are in the conversation.” - TeachRock student “I know my students are engaged, because they're asking questions [about things] that maybe I didn't address that had them thinking critically. And they're one step ahead of me already. Like, how did this come to be and why? And because they're thinking out of the box.” - TeachRock teacher A MESSAGE FROM TEACHROCK FOUNDER STEVIE VAN ZANDT: We need to rediscover rock’s power, and pass it on. Instilling its lessons, its energy, its intelligence and spirit in a new generation is our only hope. The day before the pandemic shut down New York, I flew out to California with Bill Carbone, current executive director of my foundation, Michael-Ann Haders, our main fundraiser, and Randa Schmalfeld, who along with Christine Nick, is our arts integration sorceress. We were visiting a partner school. 700 kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, all using our curriculum. People talk about an out of body experience. Well, I definitely had one that day. After working on this thing for 15 years, it was amazing to be able to see it come together. To see how into it those kids were… and the teachers too! Enthusiasm everywhere I looked. It made me feel a little bit better about the world. Most of what I've planned has never happened, and most of what I've done pretty much remains invisible, but this curriculum has a shot to go all the way. The arts really are our common ground worldwide. It's what brings us together. If we can integrate the arts into every aspect of every curriculum of every school, our depressed society has a chance of returning to the optimism of the sixties. The curriculum is my way of saying thank you for that period. And to all the people who turned me on to art and gave me dreams to believe in. Initially my ambition for education was quite modest. All I wanted was for every kid in kindergarten to be able to name the four Beatles, dance to “Satisfaction,” sing along with “Long Tall Sally,” and recite every word of “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” The rest will take care of itself. In Solidarity, Stevie Van Zandt